KarMel Scholarship 2004
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“No Monsters” By
Amelia Bitely, WV Desciption
of Submission: “A short fictional piece wherein which a
little girl discovers that her mother is a lesbian.” – Amelia |
Little Chrissie tiptoed down the hall to Mum's room. She'd had a scary dream again--the big monster was coming after her! Could it come out of the dream and get her? She knew it wasn't under her bed, of course; she was four years old, and knew that the monster was too big to fit under her bed. But what if it came and knocked the house over? Mum would know what to do to make her not feel scared anymore . . . Mum knew how to scare the monsters away.
Chrissie heard her mum's voice in the bedroom, and someone else's--it must be that pretty woman who liked to visit Mum. The pretty woman sometimes gave her candy. Mum and the pretty woman would stay in the kitchen for just hours, talking about things like feminism and Great Women while Chrissie drank her orange juice and played with blocks. Chrissie knew a lot about Great Women. They were all like her mum, pretty and strong and not afraid of anything.
Chrissie's mum never read her daughter fairy tales.
She reached up to the doorknob that was right in front of her eyes and turned it. Chrissie opened the door, and it didn't creak like hers. She looked into the dim room and saw her mum standing next to the bed . . . only Mum looked bigger, like two people. Chris stood on her tiptoes to reach the light-switch.
Her mum wasn't bigger; she was just hugging the pretty woman. And they had their mouths put together like Cynthia and Charles were always doing on TV. Both women turned to Chrissie in surprise.
"Chrissie, what are you doing out of bed at this hour?" Mum asked.
"I had a scary dream," she answered, looking into her mum's brown eyes. The eyes widened.
"With a monster in it?"
"Yeah." Chrissie shuddered. "It was big and hairy and it wanted to eat me!"
Her mum knelt beside her. "It's okay, lovey. The big hairy monster can't come here."
"Why not?"
There was a pause. "Because I've put a magic spell on this house that protects us from monsters."
Chrissie nodded, satisfied with that answer. Then a thought struck her. "Mum?"
"Yes, love?"
"Why did you and the pretty lady have your mouths put together?"
The other woman chuckled at the description, and Chrissie's mum paused for a longer time. When she spoke again, her words were halting, as though she wasn't sure how to phrase them. "It's because I love her a lot, and I wanted to show her that."
"Then why don't you put your mouth with mine?"
Her mum laughed. "It's called a kiss . . . and I do kiss you. On the . . . forehead," and she kissed her daughter there, "and the . . . cheek, and your belly button--"
"No!" squealed Chrissie as her mother tickled her stomach. She retreated toward the door, out of the reach of the tickling fingers. "I love you, Mommy. G'night! G'night, pretty woman."
The pretty woman smiled indulgently. "My name's Maria. And you're a pretty little girl--your mother is very proud of you. Good night, Chrissie."
"Good night, lovey. I love you, and we'll always protect you from the monsters." With that affirmation from her mother, Chrissie padded back down the hall and to her room. She soon fell asleep, with nebulous dreams of being a Great Woman.