Ellora

A Story by Merrioh

Ellora

“Every old lady lives in shoe,” says the boy as he throws his bag onto the bench, while kicking his muddy shoes off into the closet. He looks over at his father proudly at this new found knowledge.

His father smiles, “where did you learn about these old hags in shoes?” The boy gives him a look that says ‘you should know where.’

“Mommy “, he says in a matter of fact way.

His father sighs, “When did she tell you this? You haven’t seen her since you were two and I know you haven’t talked to her on the phone cause I pay attention to who you talk to.”

The boy smiles as he walks into the kitchen, “I can’t tell you Skye. It is top secret and if I were to tell you than I would be authorized to kill you.” He rummages through the cabinets looking for food. Skye seems startled knowing what it means when Casper uses his name instead of dad. It means he is or already did something troublesome.

“What did you do at-“

Casper interrupts, “We learned about the constitution today. I have to write a report about Ben Franklin. Plus some more boring information that teachers throw at us during the day.” Skye sighs knowing he was lying, but not sure how to get out of him what he wanted. Casper over did this lie and knew, at the age of eight, he was getting witty and someday would out smart his father.

Trying to unwind this lie Skye replies, “What was some of this other boring stuff they were teaching you?”

Casper smiles unfazed, “In my math class we did long division although it started out with me telling hysterical math jokes. The teacher didn’t seem very fond of them but laughed anyway. Then my crazy science teacher ended up sending me on a field trip to the principal’s office.”

Skye sighs, “Why did you get sent to the Office?”

Casper laughs as he pulls down the cookie jar, “Now that is a question for the record. But it was merely a misunderstanding on my teacher’s part. He simply didn’t understand that I wasn’t trying to be troublesome but was actually concerned for the well being of the class. I just couldn’t let those poor souls be led to believe all that BS.”

Skye getting irritated now, “What did you do?”

Casper smirks, “I kept sneezing which interrupted the teacher causing the teacher to tell me to blow my nose. I tried to tell her of my condition but she thought I was trying to be funny so that in essence is why she sent me to the office.”

Skye shakes his head smiling, “I’ll write you’re a letter to your teacher explaining your condition.”

Earlier that day…

Casper climbed off the bus when it arrived at the school but instead of following his classmates in he cut through the playground. The teachers only noticed him when he wanted to be seen otherwise he could slip through the cracks of time. Arriving at the woods he gazed admiring the beauty, wanting to remember every moment of his blissful walk through creation itself. He delicately breezed to the center of the woods, not disturbing anything down to a speck of dirt on dirt. The leaves falling around him gracefully to the ground as if they were in slow motion and wanted to show him the beauty of the world moment by moment. All those different colors seem to blend in together, the oranges, reds and yellows.

He sat leaning upon a tree waiting ever so patiently for her. The one who loved him so much she brought him into this world. It seemed perfectly normal to him that they met secretly in the woods. He knew that if anyone found out she would be hauled away by the men in white coats that his father seemed to talk about scornfully. He pushed that thought away he couldn’t bear to think of all the needles they would use and how they would treat her. He heard the people sent there ended up becoming crazy because of all the things the men in white coats did.

Shaking his head he finally got the image out of his head but his stomach seemed to have a mind of its own complaining about not getting enough food. It seemed to be almost time to leave to catch the bus now but he decided to wait a little longer because he knew she would come. He looked up as soon as that smell came to him. It was the smell of her perfume. She seemed to float to him. He leapt up hugging her never wanting to let go but knew that she only had a short amount of time. That was just how it was meant to be. This was when she told him about the old ladies.

“Casper, do you know about the old ladies?” He shook his head ready to hear what she was to say. He valued all that she told him it was more sacred to him than that of his life.

“They live in shoes. Each one has their own. Its makeup is always based on their personalities.” She kissed his head signifying that it was time and slowly backed away.

“But why do they live in shoes?”

The leaves began twirling around her and she disappeared leaving only her simple reply that made all the sense to him.

“Because they can.”

Myranda Catalano

09-16-10