SIDEWINDER
As Wendy and Charlotte strolled around the run-down Sidewinder, they could feel the air sharpening around them. Charlie knew the signs; after years of living at the Overlook, she could tell when a snowfall was imminent. She brought it up at last night's dinner, and Wendy declared that they would all take a trip down to Sidewinder beforehand, to 'get some new air before the big snow' as Danny phrased it.
Unfortunately, the 'big snow' wasn't reason enough for Jack. He was convinced his play was finally getting somewhere, and that he couldn't afford to leave and risk the inspiration leaving too. Danny, ever the daddy's boy, wanted to stay behind with his father. And so it became a girl's outing, rather than a family trip. Not that Charlie was family, she forcefully reminded herself. Her 'family', the selfish Stuart Ullman, was out likely having the time of his life away from his daughter.
"How about we stop and get a coffee?" Wendy had stopped and was staring at Charlie with her doe eyes. "I'm awful thirsty after all this walking."
There was a cramped little café near the end of Sidewinder's main road, and so they each ordered a drink and found a booth back by a fireplace, whose sad embers were giving the appearance of warmth, but not much of the actual sensation. Wendy put some shopping bags on the seat next to her, while Charlie sat hers between her legs under the table. They had been to the only clothes store in town and Wendy found a cute little pair of Snoopy slippers for Danny's upcoming birthday. Charlie had spotted a dingy second-hand bookstore with surprisingly great books, and they had both found some they liked. While Wendy was outside, Charlie secretly bought a bunch of picture books for Danny.
She knew she wasn't part of this family, in fact she couldn't quite manage to escape that thought, but she still felt an affection towards the little boy and wanted to please him on his birthday. Charlie could feel the edges of the books poke into her legs as she sat across from Wendy.
Now that they were sitting down in an empty café, Wendy looked like she wanted to say something. Her eyes were all shifty and her hands were fidgeting on the table.
The silence was growing uncomfortable. Charlie took a breath, "Is everything-"
"I'm worried about Danny."
Another long silence. Charlie froze; she couldn't know about the shining, could she?
"I'm worried about him because, well, now that we are going to be in the same building for months on end, and now that Jack is always so busy and distracted and angry, and I know he has a history, and I know that Tony-"
"Wait, slow down, Wendy." Charlie tentatively reached out and rested her hand on Wendy's. "What do you mean Jack has a history?"
Wendy looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper. "He was an alcoholic. And one time he got really angry with Danny, and he-" Charlie gently squeezed Wendy's hand, almost scared of what she was about to say, "he broke his arm. And now that he is so fixated on his play again, I'm so scared that Danny is going to say something or do something and then Jack will just snap."
"Is he still drinking?"
"No. God, I hope not."
"Then Danny will be fine, and you will be fine, and- wait, who's Tony?"
"Danny's imaginary friend who tells him what to do sometimes." Wendy laughed bitterly and Charlie could see the tears in her eyes. "I don't want Tony to tell him to do something that'll upset Jack. He always listens to Tony. The doctor says he'll grow out of it, but- I don't know. It's weird, I guess. Sometimes he just knows things, things no one tells him, things no one else even knows. I don't know." Wendy sniffed her nose and looked up at Charlie.
She knew. Well, she couldn't name it, but Wendy knew about the shining. Charlie didn't know whether to tell her or not. She had never had to tell anyone about the shining in her life; that was Dick's job. As the coffees arrived and Wendy wiped her eyes and started sipping, Charlie had to make a decision.
"I'm sure everything will be just fine."
Charlie couldn't tell her.
"In fact, how about we buy a game or something, something to help entertain us tonight?"
Wendy nodded. Charlie smiled, but it felt plastic.
Later that evening, the four were gathered around a coffee table in their suite, playing the new game of charades Wendy and Charlotte found at the Sidewinder toy store.
So far Wendy was winning, with Danny coming second, and Jack finishing last. He seemed a little frustrated with it, and became more and more competitive with each round. Wendy and Charlie were a little wary, but Danny just giggled at him.
"Go, Chuck, it's your turn!" Charlie grinned at the nickname Danny insisted on, and pulled a card from the deck. CHOPPING FIREWOOD, the card read. As Wendy started the timer, Charlie made an up and down motion, miming holding an axe.
"Cutting vegetables!" Charlie shook her head at Wendy.
"Hammering a nail?" Charlie shook her head, and Danny made a dramatic "oh, man!"
"Chopping up…" Charlie nodded, and Jack scrunched up his forehead. "Chopping up dead bodies."
Everyone froze. "No," Charlie breathed out weakly.
"Chopping up firewood?" Wendy near whispered. Charlie nodded and gave the card to Wendy. The shared a scared look over the table.
Danny burst in to a squeal of laughter. "It's not Halloween, dad!" Jack broke his concentration and laughed with Danny. "It's my turn now!" Danny pulled out a card, took a minute to read it and then called out "What job do I have?"
He got up from the table and started miming writing and typing. Charlie grinned, "Ooh, it's a tough one!"
Wendy smiled and played along. "Hmm, is it a banker?"
"No!"
"A teacher?"
"No!" He giggled and started pointing wildly at Jack, miming again, and then going back to pointing.
"A murderer!" Jack grinned and clapped his hands, going up to reach for the card.
"No, silly! I'm pointing at you!"
"That doesn't even have anything to do with the mime," Charlie joked, trying to ease the tension between the three adults that Danny seemed to be finally sensing.
As soon as she said that Jack whipped his head around and glared at her, before stretching his mouth into a sarcastic smile.
"Is it a writer?" Wendy weakly said. Danny said yes and handed the card to her, his previous excitement gone.
Danny looked to his father, "I was pointing to you because you're a writer, dad!"
"Of course!" Jack knocked himself on the head, "how didn't I guess that?"
There was an awkward silence as Charlie quietly packed the game away and the husband and wife stared at each other. Wendy broke first. "I'm tired, I'm going to bed now," she declared.
"Tuck me in, then, mommy." Danny stuck his hand out and Wendy held onto it tightly and walked out with him.
Charlie could hear the sound of their breathing. She felt too frightened to say anything, now all too aware of what Jack was capable of when he was mad.
He grabbed the game of the table and walked behind her to put it away. "Well, I'm pooped!" There was a silence, where Charlie wasn't willing to say anything. "I guess I better get off to bed with my wife." Suddenly Charlie was squeezed between two strong arms. She jumped, but he didn't let go. "Goodnight," he whispered and finally let go, wandering out the door.
Now that everyone was gone, Charlie started shaking. She allowed a few tears to escape, but then steeled her resolve and headed off in the other direction towards her suit. She promised herself that she would call Dick tomorrow and tell him what was going on.
CHUCK! CHUCK!
Charlie burst up in a sweat. Her sheets were all damp, and the clock read 3:46 am. If she had just had a nightmare, Charlie couldn't for the life of her recall what it was about. She didn't even feel all that shaken up. Just as she shifted on to the dry side of her bed to try and get some more sleep, she heard it again.
CHUCK! CHUCK, COME ON! WAKE UP, PLEASE, CHUCK!
It was Danny. Her ears rang, but the night was still silent. It must've been the shining, which was a confusing thought. Dick had always told her that she didn't have even an inch of the shining, so how could Danny still reach out to her? Her only conclusion was that he must be pretty damn good at it.
She stuck her feet out into the cold air and straight into her slippers. She grabbed her dressing gown and padded down the hallway towards his room.
She knew there was no way she could talk back to him, so she just tried to walk as fast as she could. It can't have been an emergency or he would've called out, but nevertheless she shuffled along the dark hallways and down to the family's suite. The door was open, so she quietly pulled herself through the gap and into Danny's room.
He was sitting up, thumb in his mouth, and there were tears on his cheeks glinting from the moonlight.
"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Her maternal instinct came out and she sat on the bed and gave him a hug, slowly rocking him back and forth. "Are you alright?"
"Tony showed me things." His voice hiccupped and cracked, and he wrapped his arms around her neck. She felt his wet cheeks on her neck.
"What did he show you?"
"I'm so sorry, Chuck!"
"It's alright, Danny, you can tell me."
"Tony showed me you, and you were on the ground and there was blood everywhere."
"That isn't going to happen, Danny."
"Daddy killed you."
Charlie didn't know what to say to that.
"Please don't kiss him, Charlie!"
Charlie stopped rocking. "What?"
"Don't kiss him, or mommy will see and she'll get mad. That's what Tony says."
Charlie slowly lowered Danny back down onto his pillow, but he grabbed onto her hand and wouldn't let go. "It's okay, that won't happen. Tony was wrong about me dying, and he's wrong about that, too."
Danny hiccupped. "How do you know?"
Charlie scrambled for a reason. "What day is it, Danny?"
He rolled around and checked his calendar. "Tuesday, April 1st."
"It's April Fools, Danny. He's just playing tricks on you."
Danny gasped and turned back to Charlie, his eyes wide. "Really? Do you think so?"
"I know so. Now go to sleep, I'll be right down the hall, okay?"
"Can you stay until I'm asleep?"
Charlie didn't think the Queen of England could resist those puppy-dog eyes. "Okay, then."
And so Charlie waited until Danny finally drifted off, and his grip on her thumb loosened.
"Tomorrow," Charlie quietly reminded herself, "I'll call Dick tomorrow."
Special thanks to Super-Wario-Bros for reviewing! Hopefully this chapter meets expectations!
And let's pray that adorable little Danny won't pull on our heartstrings too much!
As always, you don't have to review, but I ain't stopping you if you want to. I love hearing from you!
