Charlie laughed. Hysterically.
She laughed and angry tears rolled from her eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me. You've got to be fucking kidding me."
She wasn't talking to anyone. She leaned against the tiny door that was lodged under the grassy hill.
"A hobbit hole. Christ." She rubbed her stomach, no longer torn up from the blade Eldon had used on her.
He laughs faded and she took in her surroundings. In front of her was a long, hilly path, lined with cobblestones. It felt familiar. It felt weirdly safe and open. The feeling of overwhelming relief waved over her.
The Shire. This was her heaven.
She screamed.
She screamed to see if anything would come for her. She screamed to see if it would wake her up. She screamed because she couldn't believe she died. Alone. She felt angry, no matter how 'calm' her surroundings were supposed to be.
She sat down and cried, her legs splayed out like she used to tantrum as a little kid. She let the sobs rock through her back and head, her hands ripping grass out of the ground.
It felt really good to cry.
Charlie laid down, her head cushioned by the soft patch of land outside the door of her hobbit house.
Her sobs slowed down. Her quiet tears slid down the sides of her face into her ears and she tried flicking them away.
She looked at the sky. Her sky. It was a perfect blue, with big white cotton candy clouds. Each one looked like an animal, like it was on purpose. Charlie watched a family of cloud-elephants float through the sky above her.
Her hands thoughtlessly reached up and felt a bush covered in purple flowers. Without looking, she pulled them from their stems and tucked them behind her ear. This was fine. She could do this.
"Get up." Charlie told herself. "Let's go."
She jumped on her feet. She looked at herself more carefully.
Even though the sun warmed her face, she was the perfect temperature in her pink hoodie and Ravenclaw t-shirt. Her black jeans were appropriately ripped in one knee and she was even wearing her favorite pair of converse, which had a streak of blue paint on the side. She smiled sadly down at them.
Charlie stretched herself out, cracking her knuckles and twisting her back. She shook out her hands and rolled her head.
Clearing her throat, she held her head high and said, "Alright, self. Let's get on with it."
She started down the path, the light spring breeze ruffling her short red waves.
&&&&&&&&###&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Charlie walked until her legs couldn't make the same long strides. She looked down at her feet and saw her feet were now in red Keds with cheap red and gold boot covers held to her calves with elastic bands.
When she looked up, the path in front of her was to a house in her old neighborhood, and she held out a bucket that looked like a pumpkin in her right hand.
Her nails were meticulously painted red and gold. She smoothed her left hand over her polyester costume and tutu. She smiled, genuinely this time. And she instinctively held out her left hand to have it clasped by a warm palm.
"Okay, Celeste, do you remember what you say when they open the door?"
Charlie looked up at her mother, whose brown eyes sparkled down at her. She was dressed up, too, wearing a black bodysuit that shimmered above the silver belt around her waist. She had big crescent moon earrings that jangled when she turned her head. Charlie smiled at her. The Donna Troy to her Wonder Woman.
Charlie gulped down whatever was welling up inside her.
On cue, she responded: "Trick or Treat, right mommy?"
Gertrude Middleton leaned down to kiss the top of Charlie's head. "That's right, my Wonder Woman." She lovingly adjusted the gold plastic tiara on her head.
Charlie approached the front door of the suburban home. A tall, gray haired man opened it. She looked back at her mother, who was nodding excitedly with a camera and giving her the thumbs up.
Charlie looked at the man and smirked. "Trick or treat!"
She held out her pumpkin pail expectantly.
"Aw, how cute! It's Wonder Girl!" He rubbed the top of her head and Charlie pursed her lips, recalling her next line.
"It's Wonder Woman, you dummy." Charlie grinned. The words still felt good in her mouth, like a chocolate bar she would eat later that evening.
"Excuse me?" He said, raising his eyebrows down at her.
"Celeste!" Her mother scolded from down the path.
Charlie bowed her head, still holding out her pail. "Sorry, mister. Treat?"
"Oh sweetheart, we're sorry but we ran out of candy!" His eyebrows furrowed together in a feigned apology.
Charlie's eyes narrowed at him. "That's a lie." She pulled a gold spray-painted lasso out of her teddy bear backpack.
"What?"
She whipped her little lasso around his legs and yanked with her entire body. He tripped weakly and fell off of his doorstep onto their porch.
Charlie grinned and raised her arms in victory. "I WRAP YOU IN THE LASSO OF TRUTH. I SEEK JUSTICE. I AM WONDER WOMAN!" She yelled towards the rest of the neighborhood. She put one foot on the shoulder of her fallen neighbor.
Her mother rushed towards her, red faced and scooped Charlie up off of the porch, swearing and apologizing to the man as he pushed himself up and untied the lasso from around his knees.
She jogged with a full-grown Charlie in her arms down the street out of sight of the house and set her down. Charlie looked up at her mother, waiting for her words.
Gertrude smiled at Charlie and started laughing. They sat on the sidewalk and laughed together. Charlie wiped a tear from her mother's eye and kissed her on the cheek.
She took a breath. "Happy Halloween, Mommy."
"Happy Halloween, Leste."