Priestess Adularia: I'm somewhat disappointed that this wasn't that popular, but oh, well. I changed the cast slightly. Terra ( Tara) is the character Norma, yada-yada-yada.
«§Ж§»
Rain of Stones Reported
It was reliably reported by several persons that
a rain of stones fell out of a clear blue sky on
August 17. The stones fell principally on the
home of Mrs. Angela Roth, damaging the roof
extensively but ruining two of the gutters and a
downspout valued at approximately $50. Mrs.
Roth lives alone with her three-year-old daughter
Raven.
«§Ж§»
"Over!"
Girls in black shorts and yellow tees jumped about, batting at a ball. A whistle shriek pierced the air, loud and shrill.
"Game point: 14-15, this team serves!"
The volleyball game was almost over, and one of them had an idea that, thus far, had always worked. "Throw it to Raven, she'll blow it!"
They were speaking of a slender girl at the back of the group wearing gray lipstick and eye shadow which made her look paler. Unlike the others, she stood without moving. Her pale face wore an expression of boredom, her huge eyes staring impassively ahead.
"Don't blow it Raven!" shouted a blonde girl with flashing blue eyes.
"Hit it!"
Usually she would do nothing, but now it was aiming right at her. She flapped an arm aimlessly, and the ball bounced away. A chorus of groans filled the air.
"Raven!"
"You blew it again!"
Their gym teacher, a black curly-haired woman with full red lips and a slim figure, blew a whistle. "All right, that's a wrap."
Raven stood dully as the girls passed her. The blonde, Tara, smacked her on the back of the head with her hat as she passed.
"We'll never win with her on the team," a girl sneered.
"Look at her!" a second agreed.
"Even in normal clothes she looks satanic," another girl said with something of a smirk.
As she passed her, Caron Andrews, a pale girl with thin eyes and long strait black hair, turned and snarled, "You eat shit."
Raven hardly reacted. She had heard it all.
"Come on, Raven, we don't have all day," Ms. Charles stated.
"One second," she responded. When she was sure they were all gone, she turned her large captivating eyes to the ball. It lifted in the air and leapt over the net.
«§Ж§»
"—well, Speedy said he hated it on me but—"
"—my sister's boyfriend picks his nose—"
"—shower after school and—"
"—too cheap to spend a goddamn penny so—"
The locker room was filled with laughter, chatting, and the sound of water splashing on tile. Girls stretched and writhed in the showers, chatting, flicking water, squirting white bars of soap from hand to hand. They were like swans. Raven stood stolidly among them, ignoring stares. She could out-stare any of them.
Showers were turned off one by one, girls stepping out, toweling, applying deodorant, checking the clock over the door. Steam hung in the air, so much so that the place might have been an Egyptian bathhouse.
As Caron passed her sister Stella, she whipped her with a towel. Stella, who was trying to work a comb through her long red hair, giggled sweetly.
Raven was the last to come out. She had a cross necklace, and a raven was tattooed on her back. Under it was an image of Anima Sola, the Lonely Soul.
"Period!"
The catcall came from Caron Andrews as usual. "Hey Tara, Raven's got her period."
Raven stood emotionlessly in the middle of a growing circle, water rolling off her skin in beads, aware that the joke was on her as always but uncertain as to how.
"Have a tampon, Raven," said Caron, laughing as she threw a tampon.
It struck her in the chest and fell with a plop at her feet. A red flower stained the absorbent cotton. Dark drops of menstrual blood struck the tile in dime-sized drops.
"She thinks they're for lipstick!" yelled Kitten Moss with cryptic glee, then burst into shrieking laughter.
"Hey, clean it up!" shouted Tara with hoarse, uninhibited abandon. She opened the broken dispenser on the wall and grabbed tampons and pads, passing them around. "Plug it up! Plug it up!"
It was becoming a chant, an incantation. Stella, opening her locker, grabbed her pads and threw them as well, also screaming, "Plug it up, plug it up, plug it up, plug it up!" All the while, a little voice in her head assured her, there's no harm in it really no harm in it really no harm really no harm…
After a point, Sarah Charles seemed to notice what was going on. Standing up and entering the locker room, she attempted to get through a ring of girls shrieking, "Plug it up!" over and over again.
Stella, always a good kid, was standing somewhat behind the rest. Ms. Charles grabbed Stella by the shoulder and shook her. "What are you doing?"
"Raven's got her period," she replied, laughing.
"Who's got her period?"
"Raven!"
"What are you doing?" she bellowed.
But even she couldn't stop it. The laughter, contemptuous and disgusted, had risen and bloomed into something jagged and ugly. Raven stood blankly as she was bombarded with tampons and pads. The blood was almost black and terribly heavy, both her legs were splattered with it.
A tampon hit her thigh, and she glanced down.
A horrible scream filled the air, silencing the chants. There was a bright flash overhead, followed by a pop as a bulb sizzled and went out.
During all her years of torment—her was bed short-sheeted at Christian youth camp and she slept on the floor, a love letter was copied and passed to the entire school, thousands upon thousands of insults that she never reacted to, obscene photos in her locker that she never seemed to hear, peanut butter in her hair when she fell asleep that she washed out, her clothes being stolen during Gym, a snake in her shoe that she became friends with, pinches until she was bruised that didn't even react a wince, legs outstretched to trip her that she always stepped over, Kitten asking her if she knew that ravens were satanic—Raven had never revealed a shred of emotion.
Now she screamed like a banshee, her arms flailing uselessly, her tiny white feet slipping against blood and water as she backed into a corner and dropped to her knees.
For a long, long moment no one spoke. Raven's hysterical shrieks had tapered off into nothing. She sat, arms limp, staring into space.
It was Tara who finally ventured, "I think this is the first time she…"
She trailed off, but it was enough to bring Ms. Charles out of her shocked state. She whirled on the girls. "All of you," she hissed harshly. "This isn't a pep rally. Get out!"