Skip to main content

The Mental Ward - Iguana Gates (21)



       The whole reason Emery had taken this job at the asylum was because her family was facing hard times.  But times had not always been this hard for the Claytons.  Once upon a time, Emery's father had been an undergardner at the grand Carlysle Estates.
      Emery grew up in a modest little home on a backward street, not far from the Carlysle Estate.  Every morning, her father kissed them goodbye and left for work.  And every evening, he returned home with stories for his girls and money for his family.  On rare occasions, he took Emery with him to work.  Emery loved the gardens and the big house, but the thing that fascinated her every time she and her father went through the gates were the iguanas.
      They were huge, created out of wrought metal, entwining themselves in the gates.  Such exotic creatures did not exist in the city, and Emery thought they were mythical dragons.  But her father told her that they were patterned after iguanas that the master had seen on his travels.
      Emery was 10 years old -- and Alfred was just a baby -- the last time she saw the iguanas.  Shortly afterward, her father came home with no job.  The Claytons left their modest little home for a tiny apartment, and then they left the apartment for a drafty room on the poorest end of town.
     Things did not improve for the Clayton family.  Soon after Johnny was born, their father left to search for work.  He sent letters home at first, but it had now been over two years since they had heard from him.  Emery's mother worked until she got sick.  And now their only hope was Emery's new job at the asylum.
     Rumor had it that the illustrious Carlysle family had not faired well since that date either.  Their fortune was intact, but they lost something that money could not buy back.  Their daughter died around the same time as Emery's father lost his job.  And Lady Carlysle had worn black ever since.  Emery's mother told her children that they must forgive the Carlysle's for dismissing their father and harbor no ill will against them.

     All of this rushed through Emery's mind when Beth talked about the iguanas, and she stared at the girl in disbelief.
     "You couldn't have been there when I was," Emery murmured.  "I would have remembered you.  I played with all the other workers' children."  She cocked her head at the girl.  "You would have been about 4 years old when I was last there.  Maybe your family came there later.  What did your parents do for work?"
     "I sat in the Box and thought about it all the time." Beth leaned dreamily against the wall in the hallway and chewed her lip.  "There was a whole roomful of toys!"  Her face lit up.  "I liked that room."
     Emery nodded her head sympathetically.  She knew what it was like to see other people's pretty things and not be able to touch them.  "But you couldn't play with them," she prompted.
     Beth jerked her head up.  "Yes, I could.  They were MINE."
     "Yours?"  This didn't make sense.  "Then maybe you only visited there.  Because the Carlysle's only had one daughter and she's d..."  Emery's voice trailed off.
     Beth nodded and pointed to herself.  "Elizabeth Carlysle."  She cocked her head at Emery and lifted one corner of her mouth in a half-smile.  "And we had a cat named Precious."

Comments

  1. Oooh! I'm liking the turn things have taken!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh! Is Beth going to go back? I hope she does!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooooo!!! More!!!! Also, I have been wondering, is it a Beauty and the Beast re-telling?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That idea hadn't occurred to me, Erudessa. Hmmm. It's kind of a stretch, but you can pretend it is Beauty and the Beast if you want to. That's a neat comparison, now that I think about it.

      Delete
    2. It was the names and the way that it was playing out that made me wonder that.

      Delete
    3. "The content of this story is a work of fiction. Any similarity to events or characters of other fiction works is purely coincidental."
      That being said, yes, I totally see now how it looks kind of like it.
      Cool! Neat observation!

      Delete
  4. MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I LOVE THIS STORY

    ReplyDelete
  5. You guys make me smile. A really big smile. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....

Infinity Dreams Award

Rules 1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you. 2. Tell us eleven facts about yourself. 3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer. 4. Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them. STEP ONE:  Dear Tracey Dyck at http://traceydyck.blogspot.com, thank you for nominating me. STEP TWO:       I am the tallest girl in my family.      My hair is probably the same color as Tracey's.      I love red hair.  Long, rich, wavy, red hair.  Yes.      Death doesn't scare me.      Thunderstorms make me feel safe.  And happy.      I've seen about 170 human babies be born, and I haven't even counted the little animal babies that I've seen.      I think math is fun.      I think school in general is fun.      Im a vairy gud speler.      I am an aunt.    ...