Chapter 5: Return of Forgiveness
People passed by and kicked the corpselike angel lying in the road. They were too busy counting all the joys of Christmas to be bothered by the tragedy underfoot. Loretta was so pale and wan that she blended into the snow halfway. She couldn't see anything. Suddenly, Loretta stood, and looked at the window of a nearby home. It was so warm outside, but she wanted to go in. They were all. So. Happy. So she stepped inside and the family welcomed her to the table. Just as she was about to take a bite of the Christmas steak, she found she instead was biting the ground, and the food was indeed just rotten old snow. "Christ," she whispered. She stood up wearily, and brushed the snow off. Following some strangely small footprints in the soft delicate snow, she found herself at a weavery. A tall, very thin woman opened the door and one long cotton hand begged entrance. Lana was mezmerized by a colorful rug on a loom. It seemed to glow. "Would you like to buy anything, dear?" asked the fairy-like shopkeeper. "No, but I would very much like to look at all of this stuff." Loretta replied. "Well, I'll go down to the tavern and get us some cider. Look around as much as you like." As soon as the door was closed, Loretta snatched the beautiful tapestry from the loom, and frolicked out the door. This was what she really wanted. She stopped dead. The fairylike woman was lying on the street under a car. "Oh great, she's dead!" People were saying. "Who are you?" they asked, noticing she'd just come out of the shop, with the loomwork. "I'm her assistant. I'll just continue the shop now that I need to do that." and with that she wandered back inside, folded the lacy thing back up, and sat at the loom, completely blank. Then, unaware of what she was doing, she took a jillion of white threads and wove them all together, in no time making a huge piece of silk fabric. She sewed it into a wedding dress in what seemed like a few hours, and in time, sold it to a happy young woman. The woman, you don't know this, died a few seconds later by being bitten by a cobra. And the dress was sold, unused, to a store, where it was hidden in the attic for years. Years passed. Still she kept up shop and sewed beautiful dressed and still she had no friends and no house. She slept on a hammock she made. All she ate were beets. One day, when Loretta was almost 20, a song crept into her heart, like ivy made of feeling. A lilting melody carried from the dust of time and laid to rest once more in Loretta's smile. Loretta began humming "Hey Jude" as best she could. A woman in her fourties entered the store, and asked for a nice prom dress. Loretta nodded, showed her the prom dress part of the store, and continued humming. "What is that song?" the lady asked. "It was a song my dear mum used to sing to me." Loretta replied. "Loretta?" her mom asked. The name shot like a bullet into Loretta's mind, spewing chunks of memory on the opposite wall. "Loretta. So that was my name. ..Mother?" And indeed it was her mother. They had the nicest party alive. Eating and catching up and sewing and shopping and dancing! It was the best day of Loretta's life. She was Loretta again! The following week was her birthday. They all went out to eat when suddenly a wizard came in, and he had a scythe. Everything went black, and when Loretta woke up, her mother was gone. She remembered every detail of that day as if it were the back of her hand. And maybe it was. When she was looking for her mother a beautiful man came up and said "Excuse me, are you the one who's mom was carried off by the vampires?" "Yes." She replied huskily. "Do you know a sparrow?" he asked. "I did. It died. And then I knew another one. It too, died." she said. She stopped to think. Maybe the second one was still alive. "In any case, everyone I meet dies." she said. "I met your sparrow. I was an old dying man. At it's words I became young again. Now I am only 21. I will do anything for the girl who owns the sparrow. Let me buy her something." Loretta hid her mouth with her left hand and mumbled for awhile before finally saying, "I always wanted a victorian-style bed." And that guy bought her one. It was too big for her little shop, so she left it unbuilt in a box. The man's name, it turns out, was Toby. Toby had light sandy hair and a red shirt and cargo jeans. He was terribly handsome, and smiled so much. Loretta soon fell in love with him. They took long walks in the woods, and Toby showed Loretta how to speak to animals. One day she walked into her store to start her work day when as she opened the door a stampede of vibrantly red roses tumbled out, and inside was full of petals. Swimming through all of them she found a balloon that said "Will you marry me?" "Yes!" she screamed. Toby and Loretta were to be married in November. In October Loretta was looking for the perfect dress when suddenly she found it! The first dress she'd ever made was in a shop window! She pressed her face against the glass in disbelief. Little did she know how much she would come to hate that dress. Loretta was given a dozen of the most deeply scarlet roses ever to consume earth. They reminded her of Penky so much. Nervously, with pursed lips, she sat on the stone steps of the cathedral, awaiting the arrival of the love of her life.
Chapter 6: A New Hope.
Hours passed. He never came. She sat there until evening, until after dark. It began to rain. Her dress was dry clean only. She stood, and walked to her shop. "This store has been bought by Toby" the window said. "Somebody besides the owner sold it to him because the owner wasn't there." She broke a window in her rage. Toby sat inside, saying things like "I changed my mind." "I'm already married." or "I didn't put all those rose petals there." She was so miserable that she threw eleven of the roses into the dust and stepped on them tightly. She picked them up, set them on fire, and threw them at Toby. Firemen rushed in, she never knew what became of Toby, but she took the box that had her bed in it and fled into the deep sanctuary of the neighboring woods. Loretta walked for a long time, speaking to nothing, eating nothing, feeling nothing. Finally, exhausted, she fell at the foot of an old, overgrown with ivy, boxy little house. Opening the unlocked door, she was amazed at how well everything within had been preserved. As if little elves had dusted and sprinkled moth balls everywhere. This was her home. This was where she belonged. She built the bed herself and put it far away as possible from the window. She cleaned up, putting things that gave her sorrow in the basement. She dressed in normal clothes, and then tore her wedding dress, a long, thin tear right up the skirt part. The ashes of the roses she'd thrown at Tony she now had preserved in a box. The last rose was dried, and she left it with the dress away in the attic. Time withered everything, wearing deep into Loretta's stormy lashes. November came and went six times. On the seventh, Loretta opened her basement and threw everything out. The birdseed, the cloaks, the diary, the music box, the poetry book, everything was left outside to rot even faster. All but the wedding dress. Loretta couldn't bear to part with it. That day she raised her shining face and looked at the stars, and the dress, and her past, and cried herself to sleep gently.
People passed by and kicked the corpselike angel lying in the road. They were too busy counting all the joys of Christmas to be bothered by the tragedy underfoot. Loretta was so pale and wan that she blended into the snow halfway. She couldn't see anything. Suddenly, Loretta stood, and looked at the window of a nearby home. It was so warm outside, but she wanted to go in. They were all. So. Happy. So she stepped inside and the family welcomed her to the table. Just as she was about to take a bite of the Christmas steak, she found she instead was biting the ground, and the food was indeed just rotten old snow. "Christ," she whispered. She stood up wearily, and brushed the snow off. Following some strangely small footprints in the soft delicate snow, she found herself at a weavery. A tall, very thin woman opened the door and one long cotton hand begged entrance. Lana was mezmerized by a colorful rug on a loom. It seemed to glow. "Would you like to buy anything, dear?" asked the fairy-like shopkeeper. "No, but I would very much like to look at all of this stuff." Loretta replied. "Well, I'll go down to the tavern and get us some cider. Look around as much as you like." As soon as the door was closed, Loretta snatched the beautiful tapestry from the loom, and frolicked out the door. This was what she really wanted. She stopped dead. The fairylike woman was lying on the street under a car. "Oh great, she's dead!" People were saying. "Who are you?" they asked, noticing she'd just come out of the shop, with the loomwork. "I'm her assistant. I'll just continue the shop now that I need to do that." and with that she wandered back inside, folded the lacy thing back up, and sat at the loom, completely blank. Then, unaware of what she was doing, she took a jillion of white threads and wove them all together, in no time making a huge piece of silk fabric. She sewed it into a wedding dress in what seemed like a few hours, and in time, sold it to a happy young woman. The woman, you don't know this, died a few seconds later by being bitten by a cobra. And the dress was sold, unused, to a store, where it was hidden in the attic for years. Years passed. Still she kept up shop and sewed beautiful dressed and still she had no friends and no house. She slept on a hammock she made. All she ate were beets. One day, when Loretta was almost 20, a song crept into her heart, like ivy made of feeling. A lilting melody carried from the dust of time and laid to rest once more in Loretta's smile. Loretta began humming "Hey Jude" as best she could. A woman in her fourties entered the store, and asked for a nice prom dress. Loretta nodded, showed her the prom dress part of the store, and continued humming. "What is that song?" the lady asked. "It was a song my dear mum used to sing to me." Loretta replied. "Loretta?" her mom asked. The name shot like a bullet into Loretta's mind, spewing chunks of memory on the opposite wall. "Loretta. So that was my name. ..Mother?" And indeed it was her mother. They had the nicest party alive. Eating and catching up and sewing and shopping and dancing! It was the best day of Loretta's life. She was Loretta again! The following week was her birthday. They all went out to eat when suddenly a wizard came in, and he had a scythe. Everything went black, and when Loretta woke up, her mother was gone. She remembered every detail of that day as if it were the back of her hand. And maybe it was. When she was looking for her mother a beautiful man came up and said "Excuse me, are you the one who's mom was carried off by the vampires?" "Yes." She replied huskily. "Do you know a sparrow?" he asked. "I did. It died. And then I knew another one. It too, died." she said. She stopped to think. Maybe the second one was still alive. "In any case, everyone I meet dies." she said. "I met your sparrow. I was an old dying man. At it's words I became young again. Now I am only 21. I will do anything for the girl who owns the sparrow. Let me buy her something." Loretta hid her mouth with her left hand and mumbled for awhile before finally saying, "I always wanted a victorian-style bed." And that guy bought her one. It was too big for her little shop, so she left it unbuilt in a box. The man's name, it turns out, was Toby. Toby had light sandy hair and a red shirt and cargo jeans. He was terribly handsome, and smiled so much. Loretta soon fell in love with him. They took long walks in the woods, and Toby showed Loretta how to speak to animals. One day she walked into her store to start her work day when as she opened the door a stampede of vibrantly red roses tumbled out, and inside was full of petals. Swimming through all of them she found a balloon that said "Will you marry me?" "Yes!" she screamed. Toby and Loretta were to be married in November. In October Loretta was looking for the perfect dress when suddenly she found it! The first dress she'd ever made was in a shop window! She pressed her face against the glass in disbelief. Little did she know how much she would come to hate that dress. Loretta was given a dozen of the most deeply scarlet roses ever to consume earth. They reminded her of Penky so much. Nervously, with pursed lips, she sat on the stone steps of the cathedral, awaiting the arrival of the love of her life.
Chapter 6: A New Hope.
Hours passed. He never came. She sat there until evening, until after dark. It began to rain. Her dress was dry clean only. She stood, and walked to her shop. "This store has been bought by Toby" the window said. "Somebody besides the owner sold it to him because the owner wasn't there." She broke a window in her rage. Toby sat inside, saying things like "I changed my mind." "I'm already married." or "I didn't put all those rose petals there." She was so miserable that she threw eleven of the roses into the dust and stepped on them tightly. She picked them up, set them on fire, and threw them at Toby. Firemen rushed in, she never knew what became of Toby, but she took the box that had her bed in it and fled into the deep sanctuary of the neighboring woods. Loretta walked for a long time, speaking to nothing, eating nothing, feeling nothing. Finally, exhausted, she fell at the foot of an old, overgrown with ivy, boxy little house. Opening the unlocked door, she was amazed at how well everything within had been preserved. As if little elves had dusted and sprinkled moth balls everywhere. This was her home. This was where she belonged. She built the bed herself and put it far away as possible from the window. She cleaned up, putting things that gave her sorrow in the basement. She dressed in normal clothes, and then tore her wedding dress, a long, thin tear right up the skirt part. The ashes of the roses she'd thrown at Tony she now had preserved in a box. The last rose was dried, and she left it with the dress away in the attic. Time withered everything, wearing deep into Loretta's stormy lashes. November came and went six times. On the seventh, Loretta opened her basement and threw everything out. The birdseed, the cloaks, the diary, the music box, the poetry book, everything was left outside to rot even faster. All but the wedding dress. Loretta couldn't bear to part with it. That day she raised her shining face and looked at the stars, and the dress, and her past, and cried herself to sleep gently.