Author's Notes: My entry for the Bumblebee Equinox Prompt, which I'm currently hosting over at The Village Square! Runs until June 27, so hop on over and check it out! Oh, this little old thing? Blame Alfred, Lord Tennyson for this one. And read The Lady of Shalott, while you're at it. Or listen to Loreena McKennitt's adaptation of it. Killer poem.
I Am Half-Sick of Waffles
Situated on a peaceful island out in the sea - rolling hills and majestic mountains, blossoming trees and sparkling waters - sat Rainbow Sash Island, home of the residents of Waffle Town.
The small community - rich with abundant nature and high-calorie theme naming - was friendly, neighborly. Nobody much more than a stone's throw away from the next doorstep, always a smile and a wave as they passed each other in the street, going about their own daily business. A widow nodding to a housewife, a carpenter calling out to a waitress, a receptionist exchanging a pleasant bow with the doctor. Small, but rich with color, rich with life.
Yet, however close the residents were with one another - knitting, playing tag, fishing, sharing a picnic - the island still held its mysteries: The dead, hollowed-out tree atop Mt. Gelato; the strange flowers blooming beneath the large oaks spread about the land; and, within the shadows of the Cannoli Tailor... the Blue Seamstress.
...Or, at least, that was what the more melodramatic residents of the island called her, eliciting eye rolls from their peers, Colleen. Everyone else just knew Candace Kozlowski as Candace Kozlowski. Cardigan, long skirt, and thick braids all draped the pale waif in muted shades of periwinkle and cornflower. Quiet, back always turned away from the customers, tucked away in the living area of the building. Weaving, weaving, ever-weaving, like a living sewing machine. Always found hunched over her vanity, hemming a shirt, sewing a button, taking in a wedding gown the size of Denmark.
She wove steadily, dutifully, her cool blue eyes only occasionally flicking upwards to chance the beauty of the reflections before and behind her - the bustling life of Waffle Town. Her neighbors, her family, going about their business, their lives, making friends...
It was fine. She wasn't really all that into the social scene, anyway. Her heart would probably burst from the anxiety if she ever turned away from her weaving for a mere moment, even to face her own little sister directly. No, her eyes only ever stayed fixed on shadowed replications, or on her creations. Numerous and beautiful, they littered the top of the vanity before Luna resignedly came to take them to the front of the store to sell (unless Candace specified that a particular piece was meant for Luna or Shelly's wardrobe), or to bring her food, or more materials.
She wasn't exactly sure what compelled her to persist in this, for as long as she could remember - certainly, it brought her comfort, but it... it was rather tedious, too. Perhaps she'd been cursed for not eating her vegetables as a child. Maybe Julius's long-past bullying had extended to soliciting some sort of voodoo priestess to bind her to the vanity, turning her destiny as a seamstress into a sole purpose. Or maybe she was more of a wuss than even she could dare to fathom.
Still, she just knew that if she ever turned away, to face her sister and her grandma, face Waffle Town, face the world... great, terrible things would happen.
And so she didn't, even as Luna held the hand-mirror under Candace's nostrils for a few seconds one April morning, pulling it away and nodding in flat satisfaction at the twin circles of fog quickly fading from sight. Only a little jarred by the regular occurrence, Candace heaved a quiet sigh and continued her latest project - a needlepoint of herself, Luna, and their grandma Shelly.
"Just checking," Luna explained brusquely, giving her big sister a gentle pat on the shoulder, and craning her neck to observe Candace's latest pile of creations - her eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of a sheer, black nightie and a lacy red thong. Crotchless, at that. Holy shit! How the hell did she make those without dying of embarrassment?! Luna wondered, cocking her head and scowling. Sheesh, maybe Grandma was right about calling a shrink for her... Sighing, she turned to head back out into the store, rolling her eyes. "Let me know if you're hungry - Grandma's getting lunch from the inn. I'll be up front, 'kay?" With the phone book, she didn't add aloud.
"S-sure... th-thanks," Candace murmured, looking at to watch her sister's reflection retreat towards the front of the store, fingers continuing to move nimbly as the images in the mirror continued their cycle, a moving scrapbook of images melting from one to the next. Sometimes, Candace couldn't help but wonder what little bits and pieces of life she missed when she fell asleep at the vanity, mindful not to prick herself on her needles, or mess up her life's work...
She spotted Hanna MacArthur and Irene Kwan rocking by the fireplace at Brownie Ranch - much like Candace herself, they were mostly engrossed in their own needlepoint, yet carrying on a spirited conversation about their families. Hanna's daughter had spent an awful long time in the forest with the sweet, young fisherman from Waffle Town that past Friday night (and returned with her shirt on backwards). Meanwhile, Irene's grandson Jin had quickly stashed something very blue in his coat pocket the other day, when Irene had poked her head into his room to ask for help with dinner.
The Ganache Mine district blurred into view shortly afterward - Luke Potter and Owen Samuels were tossing a football back and forth in the clearing by the mine itself, with Owen's little cousin Chloe jumping between them and fruitlessly trying to knock the football off-course. With a devious grin, she called out to an approaching Kathy Sullivan, causing Owen's face to go red as he once more tossed the football and turned his attentions to the curvy blonde.
The diversion only lasted a split-second before the shattering of glass from Souffle Farm drained the color from four very terrified faces.
When Ruth Sellers burst out of her house with a rolling pin in her hand and demonic fury in her voice, the image shifted once again, same as ever... colors stretched and mingled, muddied and brightened...
...And caught Candace's attention quite abruptly.
Of course, he always did, these days. There stood the rather striking man she'd known since her childhood - Julius Pasternak, a melodramatic and high-maintenance sort of dandy, still retaining flashes of his fiery temper, even as maturity gradually wove genuine friendliness into the tapestry of his being. Expertly made-up and walking with a teasing sway in his narrow hips, he turned heads and incited whispers even after all his years in town - and he loved every second of it.
Along he strolled on a sun-dappled road, the light catching the rainbow streaks in the lavender ponytail. Green, yellow, and pink stripes shimmered with each platform-booted step, and he waved well-manicured fingers at Anissa Sellers as they passed. He wore a simple, long-sleeved white button-down - unbuttoned just a bit at the top to expose his smooth, pale chest - and his black pants accentuated slender legs before flaring out at the bottom. Only a pink feather boa draped about his shoulders splashed any further color across the rather understated ensemble.
Candace had steadily crafted shirt, pants, and boa alike for him at some point in time - she could scarcely remember anymore, every day bleeding into the one before and after. Still, Julius had been so thrilled that he'd insisted on taking her out for dinner as repayment, despite Luna trying to leap up and drag him out by his hair multiple times, bellowing that "YOU PROBABLY MADE HER LIKE THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE, RUPAUL!"
"RuPaul's black, darling," he'd responded simply, giving her an offhanded nudge back with his foot.
If he had indeed made her like this, Candace bore him no ill will for it - his intentions had seemed genuine, and her heart had raced to flush her face a cherry red as the implications became clear. Fancy Man fancied her. Mousy, compulsive, possibly-cursed Candace. Someone pined for the Blue Seamstress. Appreciated her craft, her skills with such fervor that he was rendered lovestruck.
He stopped by the shop quite a lot, now that she thought about it. Always buying something she'd made herself, after verifying with Shelly (or, occasionally, a pissed-off Luna, charging him triple every time) that lovely Candace had, indeed, personally crafted his latest exquisite purchase all on her own.
Still, despite the warmth that swelled in her bosom whenever she thought of him, she was rooted to her spot at the vanity, long past the point of wondering when exactly the whole arrangement was due to end. She could never face him. And Julius - sweet, fancy Julius - could move on, someday...
On to...
Her eyes widened as his sparkled, his arms spreading out to embrace-
ME?!
The loom clattered onto the vanity atop Candace's shocked gasp, watching Julius's slender arms enfold her. Same thick, periwinkle braids hanging down her back; same cardigan and skirt that probably really needed washing by this point; same creamy skin, shy smile, thin lips.
They pulled back for brief seconds, only to meet again in a chaste kiss. Candace couldn't help but wonder how hard her counterpart's heart was ramming against her ribcage right now.
"H-how?!" she breathed, fingers flying to her own lips in shock. Wondering, in some small part of her stunned mind, what Julius's own glossed lips would feel like on hers...
Shaking the thought from her mind, jaw still hanging open like a snake's, she watched as they laced their fingers together and set off down... an unfamiliar road. Not anywhere on the island she'd ever seen... not in all of her years of observation, memorizing every last stretch and corner...
Once more, the image shifted, to yet another strange sight: a verdant peninsula. Mountains steadily rose up on the eastern end, from a thick forest; the western end played host to rolling fields of crops and flowers. A colorful seaside town lay in the shadow of the mountains, old stone buildings seemingly carved from the face of the cliff.
She saw them, ambling slowly down a path, still holding each others' hands. From what she could see, they looked... so happy...
The image began to rapidly shift backwards, like a camera on a dolly - zooming straight across the sea, before the familiar shores of Rainbow Sash Island eventually slipped back into view. Back over Cream Beach, through the walls of the tailor, and fading into her own shocked, flour-white face. Behind her, Luna was setting up a stack of freshly-sewn shirts for display; and Candace could see part of a beautiful, poofy white dress in the storefront.
A wedding dress she'd sewn herself... that she'd never be able to don, with Julius by her side...
But, the.. the mirror...it could... no, no!
Breathing hard, she gulped, fingers clenching the top of the vanity. The mirror... it showed what was. The present. No more, no less. With each season, the colors, the weather, the situations shifted. It didn't show what could be, would be, what she desired deep in her heart... she knew that much already.
So... WHY?!
The answer lay across the sea, in a land so foreign, yet so familiar...
And in an unexpected flood of boldness, Candace pushed her stool away from the vanity. She stood up, spun around on her heels - her flying braids knocking a pile of polka-dotted socks to the floor - and bolted for the front of the store, bumping into and passing her startled sister, out the door into the minty spring sunshine-
"CANDACE!" Luna shouted, landing hard on her butt as the blue flash stammered an apology back, clogs pounding down the street. Wincing and rubbing her tailbone, Luna clambered up to her feet and hissed. "About... fucking... time..."
A loud crack startled her, and with a strange feeling suddenly roiling in the pit of her stomach, she slowly turned her head to the back of the store, walking in an almost trancelike state as she rounded the corner and rested her ocean-blue eyes on the vanity.
The mirror, dark and cloudy, now sported a large crack that ran from side-to-side in a joker smile. What it found so damn funny, she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know.
"Okay, I am so selling the shit out of you at the next flea market!" Luna snapped, jabbing a finger at the offending piece of furniture before stomping over and glaring at it with her hands on her hips. "You know, I bet you and... and Mister Lola set this whole thing up, didn't you?!"
Moments passed in tense silence before she stole a furtive glance about, snatching the lacy red thong from the vanity and stuffing it down the front of her dress. Looking around once more, she clasped her hands behind her back and strolled off with a casual air, whistling innocently and wondering if Gill was free for dinner later.
The door to On the Hook flew open with a loud BANG! against the wall, causing Toby Nishimura to jump a bit as he dropped the shrimp he'd been deveining into a bucket of shells. Seeing Candace there - looking like a wild animal, hair in disarray and panting heavily from her short sprint to the fishery - he gave her a disarming smile, green eyes lighting up. "Hey, Candace! It's great to finally see you out and about. How have you been this past... uhh... decade...?" he murmured, counting off on his grimy fingers as his voice trailed away. His silver eyebrows shot up in surprise as he reached the unspoken answer. "Oh, wow."
At a loss for words as Toby resumed his nonchalant peeling and deveining, Candace's mouth moved with a few stammered grunts. "U-u-uh... um! W-w-well, I... I-I... f-fine!"
Spotting a picture of a boat on the far wall, she suddenly pointed, like a five-year-old demanding a shiny toy. "B-boat!" she squeaked, causing Toby to look up and over his shoulder at the picture, nodding. "P-P-Pascal, u-ummm... c-cross th-the s-s-s-sea! Umm, p-please," she added quickly, clasping her hands before her and bowing to politely punctuate her request.
"Across the sea?" Toby repeated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, slender fingers dirty with bits of smelly shrimp shells and other bits of grunge. "Well, sure, that shouldn't be a problem. Pascal's actually out right now, though," he added with an apologetic shrug, turning back to Candace. "You see, Kevin's out visiting Selena at Toucan Island, so I'm not sure when they'll be back..."
Shaking her head rapidly, Candace started hyperventilating, clutching the door frame tightly as Toby continued speaking:
"But, I don't mind rowing you over to-umm, Candace?"
He blinked as he caught sight of the door, wide-open, with Candace making a break for the nearby docks.
"C-can't wait," she breathed harshly, nimble fingers working to untie the rough rope anchoring the leaky little dinghy to the dock, the word "NONPARIELS" painted on the side. Ignoring Toby as he watched curiously from the doorway of On the Hook, scratching his head, Candace managed to finally free the little boat and hopped in clumsily, slipping and knocking her head against one of the oar handles.
"Candace! Are you okay?!" Toby called in alarm, jogging over, his sandals slapping against the wet sand as Candace scrambled up into a sitting position and grabbed the oars, shaking her head rapidly.
"N-no time!" she squeaked, beginning to row away frantically. "I-I... I need to... I... th-thanks, Toby!" she called as, inch by painstaking inch, she managed to nudge the boat out into the gently-rocking sea. He waved and nodded, barely growing much smaller in the span of five minutes of rowing.
"Oh, anytime. Be careful, okay?"
"Y-yes..."
Toby stood there for roughly another half-hour, hands in the pockets of his shorts and watching Candace gradually work the boat out farther and farther into the water, aided by the gentle waves.
He couldn't help but wonder if he should tell her to row a little bit harder.
Eventually, as the sun began to set and seagulls began to circle overhead, Candace found Rainbow Sash Island disappearing from view. Her heart still thudded like a paddleball in her chest, and her arms were sore and screaming protest as she finally got it into her head to pick up the pace of her rowing - yet on she went, images of the mysterious couple in her whirring mind. What could it have been? Mockery? Even the now-persistent feeling of wanting to stop and hurl into the sea was shoved aside by a burgeoning determination she'd never known she possessed before.
Still, she couldn't help but vaguely appreciate the vibrant beauty of the world around her as she moved ever forward - the sapphire and aquamarine hues of sea and sky alike, shimmering and sparkling; the cool April breeze gently brushing the sunlight's heat into pleasant warmth. The gauzy patches of gray-tinged cotton stretched across the sky in wisps and tatters. Were she to chance a glance downward, she'd spot silvery schools of fish darting past her, perhaps challenging her to a race to the other side of the mirror.
No more shadows, no more reflections. This was the world the mirror had shown her, in glorious technicolor.
...Oh, no... do I even know that Julius is over there right now? she thought with a pang, suddenly feeling rather stupid. A tightening began in her chest, and her head throbbed from where she'd struck it earlier. Her heartbeat picked up in pace once more. The tailor shop had a phone. She could've asked Luna to just call the blacksmith's, or Julius's house... see if some other Candace was walking around the island, living the life she could've had, while she was at it. At least one of them would be happy.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't quite that simple. Not in that strange and beautiful land she'd seen...
...The strange and beautiful land that, as she wore on into morning - kept awake by determination, curiosity, and her frazzled nerves - began to take shape before the boat... slowly, but surely.
Her heart swelled as the familiar panorama came into tortuously gradual focus in front of her eyes - colorful buildings, looming mountains, rolling plains and terraced ridges... the land seemed to stretch off to her right, part of a larger landmass over which the vermillion sun rose. The salty sea breeze washed over her, and she breathed it in, feeling her veins flood even further with a maelstrom of mixed emotions. Fear, excitement, uncertainty, déjà vu...
The vibrant, picturesque seaside town bobbed closer and closer in the crisp morning sunlight, casting the new world in its beautiful light, and illuminating the most absurd images before Candace's wide eyes.
Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, the adrenaline, the... everything. That had to be it. That was why she saw Kathy and Luna chatting nonchalantly by a shocking-pink building, with mannequins posed in bold and beautiful styles in the large window up front.
That was why Selena Kapule was sitting on a chained railing overlooking the ocean, eyes closed and face blissfully turned skyward as she soaked up the sun.
That was why Toby was at the end of the dock, near a rickety little shanty boat, setting his fishing pole down with a perplexed look on his face.
"Candace?! But I... I thought you were picking up some fish at my place!" he called out, cupping his mouth with his free hand to carry his voice across the water, and jabbing his fishing pole in the direction of a white brick house behind him.
"T-Toby?!" Candace squeaked back, rowing even more frantically as her heart threatened to burst. "B-but... ah - W-Waffle T-T-Town! Y-you, I - b-b-boat! H-how?!"
Lips twisting into a confused grimace, Toby ran a hand through his messy, silver hair and chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, w-well, uhhh... don't... worry about it. I must just be imagining things, that's... that's all..."
Before either of them could say anything else, the door of the house behind them creaked open, just as Candace reached the dock and stared up at Toby in a comical mixture of horror and confusion. Her blood ran cold in her veins.
Yet, when she caught sight of the other Candace emerging from the house - "Shamisen Fishery," judging by the sign over the door - she let out a long, high scream, prompting the other Candace to spin around, drop her bag, and emit the exact same sound.
Toby merely jumped and cowered at the unexpected bursts of noise, looking back and forth between the two girls with saucer-wide eyes, his fishing pole clattering to the dock. "W-What the-?!"
The next time he looked back to the boat - almost heedless of the footsteps thumping down the stairs to the dock, pattering out of the fishery, and overall bringing a small crowd around him - the other Candace lay limp and lifeless in the little dinghy, face frozen in a mask of shock. Her right hand was clutching at her heart, and her eyes were dark and glassy.
Harmonica Town's Candace, meanwhile, was very much alive and utterly hysterical, her screams fading into loud sobs.
Processing the situation and accepting it as it was, Toby let his shocked, unfiltered opinion slip free into the salty morning breeze blowing through Harmonica Town:
"Whoa, holy shit!"
The other townsfolk were far too stunned to even pay any mind to his uncharacteristically coarse language, though a few nodded in faint agreement with his assessment. Ashes to ashes, holy shit.
"Okay, did a Candace cosplayer seriously just row up to us and die?!" Selena chimed in brusquely, pushing past Hayden and Kathy to get a closer look. She blinked as she took in the sight, before turning to the Kozlowski sisters - who, shaken and pale, clutching each others' hands tightly, had approached the scene slowly. "You two! Explain!" With a snap, she jabbed her finger in the direction of Dead Candace, causing Living Candace to burst into another round of frightened tears and bury her face in her hands, and causing Luna to scowl. "What the hell is that doing over there?! You'd better be the real Candace, do you understand?!"
"Go shave your greasy bush," Luna snapped at the dancer as she marched past, getting an "At least I can grow one" in return. She pushed past Toby and gazed solemnly at the corpse of what appeared to be a perfect copy of her older sister, cocking her head to the side and scrunching her face up in confusion. "Yeah, so... I... I don't know. I am so not okay with this - this is totally fucked up. Did Julius order a second Candace?!" she suddenly accused, looking up at her living, breathing sister and stamping her foot indignantly. "Because if he did, I-!"
"N-no!" Living Candace protested, wiping her eyes and shaking her head wildly. Luna calmed down and huffed out through her nostrils. "L-Luna, h-how, would h-he ev... even... h-he w-wouldn't! I-I... I kn-know it!"
"Who wouldn't what, Turtledove?"
Stiffening in shock, Candace let out a few strangled grunts as her fiancé strolled up behind her, stroking her shoulder and planting a dainty peck on her cheek. The assembled townsfolk slowly turned to face him with shock, sympathy, and hesitance playing across their faces.
One arm around Candace's trembling shoulders, other hand on his hip, Julius tossed his hair over his shoulder and sniffed disdainfully. "And what exactly are you people staring at, hmm? What's with all this... hullaballoo, anyw-oh, my," he suddenly murmured, standing on the tip-toes of his platform boots to catch sight of the disturbance for himself. Going very quiet, he let his arm slip off of Candace's shoulders and sashayed up to the boat, kneeling down and peering into it, at...
"She has a lovely face," he mused thoughtfully, cocking his head to the side and crossing his arms atop his knees. Such a pity. "Why, isn't she from that town where there's a Calvin that can't get married?"
"Oh!" Snapping his fingers in realization, Toby nodded. "You know, now that you mention it, I think she might be."
"Didn't they fix that?" Hayden grunted gruffly, stroking his beard and staring down at Candace's doppelganger as well. His cool blue gaze was unnervingly steady. Unblinking.
"Well, either way, it's gonna suck majorly for those folks back on... uhhh..." Kathy rapped her knuckles against the side of her head a few times, screwing up her face and trying to recall the name. "Waffle... Town? Yeah, Waffle Town. Poor girl," she added with a sympathetic shake of her head. "So, should we send for someone to pick her up or somethin'? I mean, I don't wanna sound like a bitch, but I kinda feel weird about buryin' some other Candace in our cemetery when there's a perfectly good Candace walkin' around alive. Feels wrong."
Maya Talbot nodded in agreement, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering. "Like, totally! Gives me the heebie-jeebies!"
"And our own Miss Kozlowski already has rights to the burial plot for when she kicks the bucket," Mayor Hamilton mused rather insensitively, giving a prim nod in affirmation of his own assessment while Living Candace let out a mortified squeak.
"Hey!" Luna rounded on her friends, sweeping her arm out. "As what may or may not be her next of kin, I'll make those decisions, thank you! Legally, I have the right - not you people!" However, her indignation quickly faded into confusion. "Umm... I, uhh, I think... anyway... does it even work like that in this case? Does - does Candace have a say in this, too?" she added, turning to the mayor, who simply shrugged.
"Beats me, dear! Hmm..." Folding his arms and rubbing his pudgy chin, he sighed heavily. "Well, decide what you will - but I personally think that at this point in time, the best course of action is to simply... push her back out the way she came. Let her drift back home and get buried there."
Going silent, Luna, shrugged and nodded halfheartedly. He had a good point.
"Wow, that's... that's pretty cold," Selena muttered, looking appalled at the idea. "And I thought your son was heartless!"
"Oh, he is," the Mayor agreed with a jovial wave of his hand, "but Kathy's right - our only other option is a bit too spooky. Having another Candace just buried in our town would be all wrong. Why, who's to say some poor, baffled soul won't just dig her right back up at some point and stare at her remains in confusion? Just... staring..." At this statement, he leveled a pointed gaze at Toby, who blanched and held his hands up defensively. Next to them, Hayden continued watching the corpse intently, without receiving any sort of accusations or admonishments whatsoever.
"Really?" Toby piped up, shaking his head. "Me? That's kind of gross, sir. Paolo, don't do that, okay? It's impolite," he added quickly - for his little cousin had snatched up the dropped fishing pole, and was now cautiously poking Dead Candace with it. "C'mon, that's enough of that. You don't want to get grounded, do you?"
As Toby spoke, Hayden sat himself down on the edge of the dock, pressing his feet up against the bow of the dinghy and giving it a firm push away. Everyone fell silent and watched thoughtfully as the other Candace's resting place bobbed away slowly on the waves, the oars slipping out into the briny depths. Back she went, back to her strange home land. A grim return. Who knew what other mysteries lay across the sea?
Living Candace gulped audibly and pressed a fist to her trembling mouth; Luna put her hands on her hips and huffed loudly, brow still wrinkled with utter befuddlement. "This is really gonna suck if there's another Luna and Shelly back over there."
Everyone else nodded and hummed in agreement, sighing and turning to leave the strange, macabre scene for the day. It had been enough excitement to last them a good while.
Kathy, meanwhile, turned back on the heel of her boot halfway up the dock and watched the boat continue to float away, mind whirring with the implications of the events.
If the second Candace's home land played host to another Kathy and Owen...
Allowing herself a dirty little grin and a lewd giggle at the thought, she turned back around and made her way up the stairs, for the Brass Bar. She had a call to make.
Author's Notes: I should do some sort of tally to figure out how many times I've killed people off in my stories by this point (does it count if there's a perfectly good Candace still alive at the end, though?). But, hey - at least I didn't use Luna and Candace to recreate The Bonny Swans. I can't see Candace drowning Luna for Gill's affections, anyway. Selena, yeah, albeit more out of spite than out of envy. But not Candace.
Thanks to Show The Cook Some Love for the pre-read! Feel free to leave a review, if you'd like. Maybe the number of a good psychiatrist. Enjoy what's left of spring!