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Only work submitted for the Game of Thrones |
| The Trio In their high school, Julie, Melissa and Brenda were “the Three Musketeers.” Where you found one, the others were not far apart. At night they would go to their homes and then be on the phone all night talking about those vastly important things that simply could not wait until the next day. During the day, they would spend time walking between classes together, they took the same classes whenever possible, they would seek each other out for the lunch break. It was in the month before school got out for summer break that the girls decided to go find Mary Jane’s grave. Mary Jane was a pioneer woman who left an interesting epitaph. Everyone in the school knew about it, but only a few knew where it was and how to get there. The fiery redhead was excited, “I know where it is. I found it.” Melissa and Brenda bent in close, foreheads almost touching and voices dropped to warn off eavesdroppers. “Where? Where is it?” “A mile in from Brown’s Park, we’ll have to walk.” The girls picked a date and bounced off the walls for the next two weeks. On the day appointed, Melissa picked everyone up and drove out to the park. They joined the other high school students for a while, reminiscing, bragging, planning, and those other things high school kids should know not to do, but do it anyway. As late afternoon approached, the girls each moved away from the group and started out on the trek to the grave. Their talk was peppered with “This is so cool.” Or “I can’t believe we are doing this.” Or “I wonder what it will be like.” Half way there, Julie dared, “We should do something nobody else has done.” Melissa was curious, “Like what?” No one had the answer until Brenda suggested, “What is the most scary thing?” Melissa needed to “think about it for a minute,” and Julie was sure “we should just forget about it.” But they underestimated the tenacity of Brenda. A dare was laid down, a dare would be carried out. By the time they reached the boundary, she knew what needed to be done. “We need to jump over the grave.” Melissa and Julie stared at her silently imploring her to laugh, giggle, anything to indicate it was a joke. But she was serious. The girls slowed their walk to Mary Jane. They did everything together and it seemed even in this, they tracked each other. If Julie tossed her long red hair, Melissa would toss her long autumn blonde hair, and Brenda would toss her flat-ironed brown hair. If one laughed, the other two would join in. The same with tears. The same with anger. Now, the steps were in marching band unison, with the same length step and Left, right, left rhythm, they even hesitated in the same places. They stood in front of the stone. It took almost as long to transverse the few steps to this hallowed spot as it did to cross the fields to get here. Brenda read aloud: KIND FRIENDS BEWARE AS YOU PASS BY, AS YOU ARE NOW, SO ONCE WAS I, AS I AM NOW, SO YOU MUST BE, PREPARE, THEREFORE, TO FOLLOW ME. Julie spoke softly, “I wonder what it means.” Melissa was eager to answer, “It means we should leave. This is just wrong and you know it." Brenda scoffed, "Stuff your morals. We're the good guys." Melissa was not convinced, “How can we be the good guys?” Brenda attempted to answer, “You know, we are proving there is nothing to be afraid of, that nothing will happen.” Melissa persisted, “What about Roskop? He got in that accident after …” Julie was the first to laugh. “Shut up. I’ll go first. You two can stand there scared or follow me.” With that she took a step to the side and jumped over the grave. The other two waited, witnessed no ill effects, they too jumped over the grave. Again, nothing happened. The soft cooing of the owl’s hoo-hoo-hoo serenaded them as they sat down by the grave, laughing, telling stories, and passing the flask. Brenda was the first to make the observation, “You know the Indians think an owl hooting means someone close to you is going to die.” Melissa and Julie made the usual derisive remarks. Those tales were fine for others, but they were young and knew everything. They could not be bothered with warnings. **** And time passed. The girls each expressing an interest in a boy and taking time out from the trio to explore these new and budding body sensations that occurred when they were with a boy, not just any boy, but the one. Each girl eventually married, not just married, but a vetted and approved marriage. If the man did not pass the trio’s test, they were out. Brenda was the first to marry. Passing the trio test was easy when he just wanted to do was date the girl. All he had to do was be charming and lie. Brenda and he had dated for three years, and she did not see the need for him to pass the trio test a second time when they married. It’s just as well, she knew he was a liar, and married him anyway. Julie married second. Her choice did not have the luxury of the trio test. She was battling an aggressive form of cancer and wanted to be married to the love of her life before she died. The trio test was put in abeyance for Julie. Melissa decided to marry quickly after Julie so that Julie could be in her wedding. The trio test was a mere formality by then. Julie did not have energy to be formally engaged in vetting this man who claimed Melissa’s heart. Melissa’s choice was good enough and Julie would have given anyone a thumbs up. **** Shortly after Julie’s funeral, Brenda and Melissa held each other tight as their husbands stood by in awkward silence looking for something to capture their attention. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Brenda had to know, “Am I responsible for this?” Melissa tilted her head ever so slightly with furrowed brow. Brenda enlightened, “I mean back at Mary Jane’s grave. She was the first to jump.” Melissa just shook her head. Brenda asked, “What does that mean? I mean I went second. Does that mean I’m next? That something’s going to happen to me? What does it mean?” Melissa just kept shaking her head, it didn’t make the questions go away, it just made it so she did not have to speak her concerns out loud. Even though the time of the funeral became a memory, Brenda could not distance herself from the fear as long as she stayed in this town, in this state. She moved as far away as the money allowed and built her home far distant from Mary Jane’s memory. It meant that she and Melissa would soon drift apart. It’s funny how not speaking to a participant in the memory is the biggest assist in forgetting the harbinger. It was only on the tenth anniversary of Julie’s death, 18 years since the jump date, that Brenda, too, was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of cancer. She may have tried to fight, but even she knew that Mary Jane called. She, too, would make her exit from the harshness of this life. At her funeral, Melissa approached Brenda’s sisters. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I’m scared and I’m so sorry.” Then she ran off tears rolling down her face to find her husband to beg him to take her home. “What was that all about?”, Vanessa wondered. Sheila enlightened, “They jumped Mary Jane’s grave. First Julie, then Brenda. Melissa’s next.” Vanessa scoffed, “Yeah, maybe in another 15 years.” **** The prediction all those years ago was not far off. On her 45th birthday, Melissa should have been celebrating with her family. Instead, she watched the steady drip of the chemo tubes and listened with half an ear to the uplifting chit chat of her husband and mother as they wait patiently for the session to conclude. How could she tell them that this was an effort in futility, that Mary Jane was calling? Week 4 Prompt 1: Use the following piece of dialogue in your story: "Stuff your morals. We're the good guys." Please bold it to make it easier for the judges to spot. ~ Story [word count: 1388, story only; 1390 with title] |
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