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Prompt: Plush

Hey all! Just a warning, even though these are "daily" witfits, I probably won't be writing every day. The joy of working full-time. Oh, and putting up pickled beets, and making salsa verde (still need to do that), and getting the garden ready for winter...

"Alice tells me you want to participate in the ceremony," Maman said to Bella as she served up beignets coated in powdered sugar.

I glared at Alice who conveniently stuffed the pastry into her mouth to keep from answering. "More like she forced me into agreeing." It was impossible not to laugh as Alice's eyes grew large and she started to choke on the sugar.

"Are you willing to take the risk?" Maman asked, handing Alice a glass of milk.

My hand hung in midair as I stopped reaching for my own beignet. "What risk?"

"You will have to marry him."

"Right away? What if I don't like him?"

She shrugged. "He will be your true love as much as you are his. I doubt it will be right away, though. No one knows the state he will be in if he returns."

I curled my lip in disgust. "He won't be a zombie or anything, will he?" Alice started choking on another pastry. Maman rolled her eyes at her.

"No, but he may not be well. He died of consumption, tuberculosis. It's possible he will still be very ill if he comes back. You might have to care for him." With that she took the plate of beignets off the table and walked to where more were frying. "From what I know, he will be quite thin. Some who died of that disease lost all their teeth, but that could have been from malnutrition."

"What if he doesn't come back, Maman?" Alice asked, brushing powdered sugar off her blouse. "Bella asked if she would be cursed, but no one has ever tried before, so I didn't know what to tell her."

Maman returned with a fresh pile of pastries and set them down with a smile. "No one has tried in the last hundred years or so. Not since the last descendent who knew Lord Edward or the original Alice died. Nothing indicates the women who participated were in any way harmed or had bad luck as a result."

I picked up another pastry and examined it, my thoughts roiling. I'd be fine if he didn't appear, but what if…? My mind reeled at the possibilities.

Maman patted my arm. "Don't fret. He never came back in over a hundred thirty years, so I doubt he will appear this time." She tilted her head as she regarded me. "Would you like to see where we do the ceremony? Maybe then you'd feel more comfortable."

I put down the beignet, my appetite gone, and swallowed. "Sure. Maybe."

She smiled. "Come on, we have it set up in the basement."

That explained why we never went down there. My heart rate increased as I followed her to the top of the stairs, Alice dancing behind me. I turned to look at her and saw a huge smile on her face. "Wouldn't it be cool if he came back for you?" she asked.

"Sure, sure, that's just what I need. A mostly dead man who is bone thin, might not have any teeth, and doesn't even know we won the Revolutionary War. Sounds great."

Alice shook her head and laughed. "You forgot the best part of that, he was a loyalist."

I groaned and turned away from her. This just kept getting better and better. "I bet he also owned slaves."

"Well, duh, Bella," Alice said as she followed me down the stairs. "He lived in the deep south back when slavery was what you did." She paused for a moment, and I turned to see what made her stop. She was frowning. "Although, he made sure his sister was free."

I sighed and continued down the stairs. Maman circled the room, lighting candles. A bed took up most of the space, centered perfectly. Although, to call it a bed didn't do it justice. A lattice of iron roses and leaves covered the top of the four posts that seemed to be carved out of cedar wood. Plush blue curtains hung down from the top, able to be closed around the bed. What looked like fine mesh covered the top of the lattice. Mosquito netting? A coverlet that matched the curtains covered the mattress, which was high enough that I was sure I would have to jump to get on the bed. The flickering candles gave an eerie feel as the shadows of the roses above danced on the blanket.

"We'll have you lie on the bed, close the curtains, and then start the ceremony," Maman said.

I whirled around to look at her so fast I almost fell. "I have to be on the bed? Where will he appear?"

"Beside you, of course."

"What? I have to be stuck on the bed, with the curtains closed, with a zombie?" If any dogs were within a three-block area I'm sure they started barking, my voice became so shrill.

"He won't be a zombie," Alice said.

"No, but he will be mostly dead."

"We don't know that," Maman said. "Don't worry, my son Carlisle will be here just in case."

xoxo!