Light as a Feather

Chapter Eight

     The morning of the reunion, Annabelle did not want to wake up. She knew what would happen when she faced everyone. A lot of awkward conversation. She pulled the soft sheets up to her chin and shut her eyes again.

     Apparently, her mother had other plans. Her bedroom door was flung open almost as soon as she did that. "Annabelle Jason, you get up this minute. We're going to pretty-fy you."

     Annabelle slowly rose, stretching her arms. "Pretty-fy is not a word, mother."

     Her mom smiled. "It is today."

                               *****

     About two hours later, Annabelle's hair was perfectly curled, and she had makeup on her face. Her mom had done her foundation, eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, and other goop. She had also made her put on a flowy dress that made her feel like a stupid heiress or something.

     "Mom, is this really necessary?" she asked.

     "Honey, you need to look presentable."

     "I am presentable!"

     "I mean... a more natural look." Annabelle frowned. She knew what her mother meant. Not the gobs of eyeliner and mascara she usually wore. She looked down at her slimmed waist. The dress was black and red, which was not a bad color combination, where she was concerned. It was strapless, and the dress was black except for a wine red rose bud in the middle of the cleavage area of her dress. Tiny red ribbons hung down from the rose and fell past her waist. She hadn't put on shoes, and wasn't about to remind her mother.

     "All right, so this isn't a bad dress. So what? I'm not going to know anybody there," Annabelle said.

     Her mother's Bluetooth was still strapped onto her ear, and she took a call from it. "Mm-hmm?" she said. She smiled at Annabelle and left the room.

     She had never felt so alone, but surrounded in her life. In a matter of minutes, people she hasn't seen in years would be in the mansion. And she'd have to talk to all of them.

     The dreaded time came, and everybody showed up. Dutifully, Annabelle waited for them all and greeted them at the door. Most of them either gathered in the lobby or the sitting room to wait for everyone to get there so they could eat.

     The odd thing was, it didn't feel like a family reunion. It felt like a ball, or a gala. Everyone was dressed up to look their best, which basically meant putting on uncomfortable dresses and suits that no honest human being would want to wear.

     Annabelle smiled when she realized who the woman coming through the door was. It was Jilah. "Hello, dear," she said, kissing her cheek.

     "Hi," she answered.

     Jilah said, " Quite a lovely party, isn't it?"

     Annabelle nodded. "Delightful." She wondered if Jilah knew that she was being sarcastic. She either didn't notice or didn't care because she simply nodded and walked away. Annabelle realized that she was alone again.

     After everybody had come in the door, Annabelle left her spot and went outside. The garden seemed to be even brighter than it had before, and she was sick of being smothered by all the people anyway.

     After staring at the roses for a while, Annabelle saw a sparkle in the grass, the same one she had seen before. Curious, she walked over to it, and bent down to see what it was. She expected it to be a candy wrapper or something like that, but that wasn't it at all. It was a necklace. The necklace. The one that her grandmother had been missing in the picture.

     Her fingers picked it up and she stood up straight. As soon as she touched it, she felt odd. But things got stranger when everything came into focus. The roses and grass were brighter, the sky bluer. Even the sun was more blinding. She blinked, wondering what had happened.

     And then she saw something. Something so odd, it was unimaginable. There was a small human being with wings flying past her head. It stopped and stared at her. She was wearing a pink petal dress, and her brown hair was done up in a braided bun. Annabelle blinked again and took a step back. The little human began to speak, but it wasn't with words. She used it with notes of song, sort of like Morse code. Even weirder? Annabelle could understand. She knew what the little woman was saying.

    And that was when she fainted.