Little House Fan Fiction

Crystal is Crazy Part 1

Twelve year old Crystal was relatively new to Walnut Grove, and hadn't made many friends. It wasn't that she didn't try, or that she wasn't nice; the problem she had was that she was never in school consistently. She didn't skip; she simply was extremely ill. She would get violent headaches that plagued her so much that she wasn't able to leave her room. Her parents, while not being rich, weren't poor either, and had taken her to doctors, but they were all perplexed at Crystal's state. If she had lived a century later, she would have been immediately diagnosed with having severe migraines. At this point in time, however, such a thing was not known, so she had to suffer.

It had been decided that she would do better away from the noise and pollution and other stressors of the city they had lived in, so her parents had promptly packed up all of their belongings and headed off to small Walnut Grove.

The school year was already in session when they had come, and Crystal had struggled to get caught up. Miss Beadle was more than understanding, but it concerned her that the young woman was extremely withdrawn.

One day, two weeks after she had just started going to her new school, the children were let outside for recess. She retreated to an old tree as was her habit, praying that she would just be left alone so she could try to make up some of her school work. All of a sudden, Nellie, Willy, and a few of their friends came up and surrounded her.

Crystal cowered; she knew that just fed bullies' hunger, but she couldn't help it!

"Well, well, well," taunted Nellie, "if it isn't little miss Crystal. Where've you been? This is only the third day in two weeks you've been in school!"

"Yeah!" piped up Willy. "I'll bet you've been skipping!"

"I have not!" Crystal replied indignantly. "I've been sick!"

"Yeah right," snorted Nellie. "My Ma says something's wrong with your head. You must be crazy!"

"I am not! I get headaches!" argued the young girl.

"Don't lie!" yelled Nellie as loudly as she dared.

"Crystal is crazy!" teased Willie. Before long, half the boys on the playground were gathered around the blond, taking up the chant.

"Crystal is crazy! Crystal is crazy! Crystal is crazy!"

Crystal felt tears welling up in her eyes, despite how vulnerable it made her feel. This is part of why they had moved from the city; all of the taunting and tormenting had been too much. Supposedly it was supposed to be better here, but Walnut Grove was proving to be no better than the eleven years of taunting she'd been subject to in the city. Her adrenaline began pumping, and suddenly all she could think about was giving Nellie Oleson and her brother a big black eye.

At that moment, across the school yard, Mary and Laura saw the throng of kids circling someone. They didn't know who it was or what it was about, but they knew it wasn't good. "Laura!" cried Mary. "Go get Miss Beadle! Hurry!"

Laura, who was ten at this time, took off, her legs practically flying. Mary ran the other way, over to the throng. She weaseled her way through the multitude, and saw the new girl raising her arm to punch Nellie's lights out.

"Crystal! Don't!" Mary screamed, in order to be heard over the noise of the chant.

The poor girl was shaking and crying by this time. She and Mary were the same age, and Mary's heart went out to the poor girl. She put a comforting arm around her, easing the arm she had planned to use to strike Nellie down, but didn't attempt to get her through the throng. She could just see Miss Beadle racing out of the schoolhouse, and figured it would be best for her to see the crime scene the way it was.

"What is the meaning of this?" she hollered over the roar of the chant. Upon seeing their teacher, the kids immediately began to back off. All of them, that is, except Nellie and Willie.

"Miss Beadle!" Nellie whined, ready to turn this whole thing to her advantage. "Crystal here was just about to punch me and Willie when you came out here! Aren't you going to punish her?"

"Well it certainly didn't look like that to me, Nellie," Miss Beadle retorted. "Crystal, would you please tell me what happened?"

Crystal was stuck. She didn't want to get Nellie and Willie into trouble, because she knew that they would be just that much worse the next day. "I really wasn't going to punch her Miss Beadle! Everyone was making fun of me, and I was threatening them; honest, that's all it was. I just wanted them to leave me alone. Nellie was the closest, that's why it was her. Please don't be mad at me, Miss Beadle."

Mary was shocked! She didn't feel like she could tell on Nellie, because she didn't know exactly what had happened. She knew there was more to this story, though, than this girl was telling.

Miss Beadle, on the other hand, bought it completely. If she was completely honest with herself, she would admit that she was favoring the slight-built young woman, but at that moment, it didn't cross her mind as such.

"Well, I'm sure that if you really didn't intend to hurt anyone, then there is no problem here. I don't like the idea of people making fun of you, though. Would you tell me who it was?"

Crystal was caught between a rock and a hard place. "I, it was a lot of people, ma'am. It's okay, really." Mary could believe her ears, and wanted to speak up, but not knowing anything about what had just taken place, she felt it was really out of her hands.

"Well, then, I think recess is over for today, boys and girls," replied a surprised Miss Beadle." Grudgingly, the class came in out of the beautiful weather to resume their seemingly boring lessons.

After school let out for the day, Crystal set out sullenly by herself to go home. Mary signaled to Laura, and together they raced after the dejected girl.

"Hi, Crystal, I'm Mary. I'm afraid we didn't quite get properly introduced earlier," Mary introduced herself.

"And I'm Laura!" piped up the brown-haired tomboy. "I'm her sister. Is it true you were going to slug Nellie Oleson one?"

Crystal shrugged. "I don't know what I would have done if Mary hadn't come along," she said. "I've put up with bullying my whole life; I was told that it wouldn't happen here, but they were wrong."

"What exactly did she do?" inquired Laura.

"Well, she started teasing me about just missing school, and about how her mother says I have something wrong with my head. That's partially true, because I have this disease that gives me constant headaches that keep me in bed all the time. That's why I'm never in school. Not because I skip. But then Willy started up a chant of 'Crystal is Crazy' and I was just about to lose it when your sister got to me."

"Well, I think it's too bad you DIDN'T give Nellie a black eye. It would have served her right!" stated Laura.

"Laura!" admonished Mary. "I can't believe you! Besides, the last thing Crystal needs is a sore backside to accompany a sore head."

"Huh?" asked a truly perplexed Crystal.

"Oh, don't be silly! I'm sure your pa would skin you alive if you beat up another girl, even if it IS Nellie Oleson," replied Mary.

"Oh, don't be so sure," chuckled Crystal. Laura and Mary exchanged looks. "My ma and pa don't believe in spanking me."

"Man, I wish I was you!" breathed Laura.

"No, you don't. It isn't fun… and, well, if I tell you something, do you two promise not to tell anyone else?"

The sisters didn't know what to think, but they shrugged. "Of course you can tell us… everyone knows the Ingalls are the best secret keepers in Walnut Grove!" said an enthusiastic Laura.

"Well… I wish I was more normal. My parents not spanking me just alienates me from everyone else. Or at least it feels like it."

"Oh, don't let THAT bother you! I'm sure there's one or two other kids here who haven't felt the burn of a spanking here in Walnut Grove," Mary said unconvincingly.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and then suddenly Laura broke out into a HUGE grin. "What's so funny?" demanded Crystal, whose sensitivity made her think that Laura was making fun of her.

"Nothing… except… well, I probably shouldn't be telling you this…"

Now it was Mary's turn to be concerned. "Laura," she said warningly.

"No, what is it Laura?" asked Crystal, whose curiosity had peaked now that she knew that Laura's grin wasn't because of something she had done.

"Well… we both want to see Nellie get a black eye, right?"

"Well, yes…"

"And YOU want a spanking, right?"

"Well, yes, but I don't see how that would make any difference! I already told you… my parents don't believe in using spanking…"

"Your parents haven't been confronted by an angry Mrs. Oleson yet, though, have they?"

Even Mary had to grin, now. If Harriett Oleson found out that Crystal was responsible for hurting her darling little daughter, no matter the reasoning, she would DEMAND that she get fair retribution.

"I don't know," replied Crystal, though. "My parents would still probably get out of it."

"No they wouldn't," said a laughing Mary. "Harriett Oleson would not let someone who hurt her precious flesh and blood get away with it. And even if Nellie doesn't get in trouble, she'll be sporting a black eye for a while… and she'll probably keep her distance from you too!"

"That would be so neat… but are you SURE my parents would have to actually spank me?"

"Well, if you really want a lickin', yes, I KNOW this is one way to definitely get it," Laura giggled. She still didn't understand why someone would WANT a skinning, but if that's what she wanted, so be it. "If you do it right in front of Mrs. Oleson, there is NO WAY you could get away with it."

Crystal positively beamed at the thought of getting back at Nellie. "I wonder what it would take to get Nellie in trouble too…" she pondered.

"Well, you could always do it in front of BOTH of her parents… Mr. Oleson wouldn't let her get away with it… if you could get her to tease you first, that is," Mary mused.

"How?" she asked.

"Hmmm… well, I suppose you could ACT a LITTLE like you were crazy… just dancing a little jig for no real reason. And if anyone asks, we could say you were practicing for the barn raising coming up," schemed Laura.

"I LOVE the way you think!" exclaimed Crystal. "It's set then."

"Crystal… I don't know if this is such a good idea… you don't know how bad a spanking can hurt," said Mary.

"EXACTLY… I need to know. Besides, it can't be any worse than my headaches."

Mary was dubious, but she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"When should I do it?" asked the newcomer.

"Tomorrow is Friday. Nellie always has a bunch of her snooty friends at the store then. We could walk over there with you, pretending that we were looking for a birthday present for Ma. It wouldn't take much. With some luck, Nellie will fight you back; if Mr. Oleson sees that, he won't stand for it!" said Laura excitedly.

"Yeah, but what if he isn't there?" asked Crystal worriedly.

"That's not a problem. Friday is always the busiest day of the week for the Olesons because it's payday. Everyone is there; Harriett can't handle that many customers all by herself. And since Mr. Oleson always takes the cash register when it's both of them in there, he will have a clear view out the window AND the door," smiled Mary.

"It's settled, then!" exclaimed an excited Crystal. "We'll meet directly after school, give Nellie and her followers time to get to the store, and then make our way over there! You guys are the best!"