Frances
She saw him in the doorway, all glowing and brilliant. His
magnificent bronze wings fluttered in greeting. Who said all demons were
bad? “Sit down, Dark Lord. I was just
having breakfast.”
He looked quiet this morning, which was
alright. She didn’t mind carrying the
conversation. In fact she didn’t mind anything as long as she was away from her
mother’s sick room.
Fifteen years caring for her mother. Listening to
a lost life, a life lived and ended sadly when illness and old age finally
encroached upon the mediocre life that was there.
“Frances! Frances I want you!”
Frances sighed and glanced over at her demon. “You
see, you see how it is?”
Dark Lord told her he understood. He knew because
he came from hell and could always recognize someone else’s purgatory.
Purgatory because Frances and all the Franceses who are driven nuts get mean
and wind up toe dipping in the lake of fire no matter what they do. They get a
taste of perdition beforehand. All the damned knew that.
“I know how you suffer, Frances.”
Frances closed her eyes. His voice sounded so
caring. He understood everything.
“Frances!”
She was being summoned again. She wanted him to go
with her, but he rarely did because he scared the old woman. “She sees me you
know. She didn’t always but she does now.”
Frances understood that because it took her years
of pain and anguish to see him herself.
Her mother called her name again. So she’s off,
shuffling her flat feet along the dusty floors toward her mother’s room.
A big smile full of perfectly honed false teeth
greet her. “Good morning, Frances.”
“Morning.”
Frances replied, reaching for the full bed pan.
Yeah it’s a tough life—no one gets out alive.
It’s early but the room is already hot. It faces
the Harlem River and the last river breeze passed out and died somewhere on a
Washington Heights’ street hours ago.
“Sleep well?” Her mother doesn’t always answer it
depends on her mood or perhaps her increasing dementia. Actually Frances does
feel sorry for her, it’s Mom’s purgatory too. “I can put the fan on.”
The fan starts up but it sounds like it’s
shuffling cards.
“Can’t you make it quiet? It used to be quiet.”
Quiet, I remember quiet, Frances thinks. It goes
with peace.
“No, it’s fucked up, Mom.”
Her mother winced. She hated swear words. “Frances
please.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
Ah yes, the famous proclamation declared
intermittently that all that is horribly wrong is actually alright.
“I’ll get your breakfast.”
Breakfast and lunch and dinner too, and then it
starts all over again with work tomorrow. Perhaps Dark Lord might come along just for fun.
*
She never took him with her to work before. He was
like that, aloof and sometimes difficult to figure out but he did seem to
understand her need to have him finally come with her.
“Of course I will go with you, Frances. It is my
pleasure.”
Ah pleasure, that was something she was sadly
short of. At age forty something she was grossly overweight because her only
pleasure came from over-eating, ice cream in particular. Pleasure is pleasure
after all.
Ten minutes on the subway and they had arrived.
“This is it, Dark Lord.”
He was very impressed, she could tell the way he
was nodding.
Into the lobby they went and across to the
elevator. “It’s on ten, Ten East, nuts
are us—the psychiatric ward!” She expected him to smile, but he didn’t. “Watch
your step!”
Buzzers and metal rattling and they’re inside.
A few of the other nurses greeted her, although a
bit warily. She was after all Head Nurse and they were just little shits next
to her.
She was eyeing each of them carefully to see if
they saw her own personal demon. She could see none of them did.
Dark Lord would tell her later how proud he was of
her. “It’s a demanding job you have here, Frances. You should be quite proud of
yourself.”
She told him she was. They were in the nurses’
lounge when she told him that and more: “They’ll be nurses’ notes next at shift
change. You’ll find that interesting I’m sure.”
He did. She kept glancing up at him as the nurses
notes were read aloud all about bowel movements and medication and new
arrivals.
It was a good night only one suicide attempt.
At last it was time to go on the ward. She had
already briefed him.
“They’re mostly all delusional although some are
catatonic. They’re a nurse’s best friend. They just sit around and aren’t any
trouble at all. The doctors can be a major pain in the ass though. The one to
watch out for is the administrator’s husband. But he rarely comes up--just when
he has to, usually around accreditation time, you’ll be fine.” She declared.
A couple of new patients passed them without
noticing him at all.
“They don’t see you.”
Dark Lord smiled. “Oh but they do, look!”
Frances turned and saw they had gone down on their
knees apparently paying Dark Lord homage. “Isn’t it nice the respect you get?”
Dark Lord smiled. “It makes it all worthwhile.”
*
They had decided to go to the movies after work.
She thought Donnie Darko was appropriate even though Dark Lord wanted to see
The Devil’s Advocate. Well he was a fan of Pacino.
They were just leaving the hospital when they
passed two cops. One looked after them. “Hey, Frank! Did you see that?!”
His partner looked but all he saw was a fat lady
in white waddle past.
© copyright 2011 Carole Gill
“Carole Gill’s talent is a wonder to experience. She has the uncanny ability to craft horrors imbued in fairy tale finesse.”
.
“House of Horrors is a fine addition to my Kindle, and I’m sure I’ll be going to read this again and again…”
“A veritable blood feast for vampire fans everywhere!”
“If you are a fan of horror, you won't want to miss this one!! High marks to Ms. Gill.”
“There are so many different monsters in this book the no matter what your biggest fear is or your favorite one to read about you are gonna find it without fail.”
“I grew up with horror legends such as King, Koontz, Poe, Shelley, Stoker and I added Gill to that list.”
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