Eerie, Indiana fanfiction: Shears
A light breeze, too warm for the time of year, snatched up the fallen leaves and tossed them into the air, turning them into a dervish of reds and golds that danced across the lawns grown patchy and piebald with dead and dying grass. The sky was a hard and merciless blue, the lack of cloud cover presaging the coming cold snap, but right now it was almost balmy and the suburban fathers labouring in winter-brown back yards worked in shirt sleeves and paused often to mop sweat out of their eyes. Edgar Teller set the heavy pair of garden shears aside, pushed his battered straw hat further back on his head to shield his bald spot from the pale November sun, and rubbed at his forehead.
He could have sworn the shears had gone back on the tool rack the last time he’d used them, the blades carefully oiled and wrapped in greased paper to keep the edge and prevent against rust. Yet now they were coated in a sticky black substance, almost like tar, and beneath the viscous gloop the blades where blunted and nicked in several places. As a result, a brief half-hour trimming the hedgerow in the quiet of early morning had turned into an exercise in frustration.
He glanced up at Marshall’s bedroom window, the window open a little, the curtains drawn tight. Of course it was possible that he’d simply forgotten to store the things properly, but he had a vivid memory of Marshall walking through the front door one afternoon, covered in band-aids and reeking of iodine and sporting a long in his treasured Giants sweatshirt. He’d had horrible visions of hulking middle-school bullies and homework tossed in the undergrowth, but Mars had insisted it was a fight with a Briar Witch and so he and Marilyn had let it drop for the moment.
He’d picked up some leaflets about mental health services for young people from the foyer of Eerie General, just in case, but an alarming number of them made references to electro-shock, straitjackets in a variety of shades to suit every complexion, and what he was fairly certain was a euphemistic description for dealing with emerging psychic powers in teenagers. They’d gone in the recycling bin in his lab along with that day’s newspapers, the paper bag he’d brought his lunch in, and a rough sketch for a new food processer speed that would bend time and space enough to turn tomato puree back into tomatoes. He’d given it up when he actually read the ingredients list on the back of the jar and realised how little of what he reconstituted would involve the actual fruit.
Now, with the mangled gardening tools in front of him and the phantom smell of iodine strong in his nostrils, he was beginning to wonder. The resealable freezer bags were kept in a box under the kitchen sink, and he rummaged through it until he found one big enough to hold the shears. As he zipped it shut and tossed it on the back seat, he tried to push the questions from his mind and focus on the upcoming weekend. Maybe they could all go out for pancakes at Grandma’s Kitchen, or to see a scary movie at the Eerieplex.
Wasn’t there a new Corn Critters showing this week?
Teller Family History
First Date by froodle, in which a young Edgar Teller shows off one of his earlier inventions
Popcorn by froodle. Friday night is always movie night in the Teller household.
The Teller Home for Displaced Youth by froodle, in which Edgar harbours some doubts about his new home town
Lawn by froodle, in which Marilyn Teller contemplaces some yardwork
Tornado Day, Revisited by froodle, in which Syndi learns exactly what it means to be Miss Tornado Day
Wildlife by froodle, in which Simon and Marshall go to the beach
Culinary Delights by froodle, in which Syndi's terrible cooking may or may not have been an accident
Camping by froodle, in which Syndi cannot sleep
Artist in the Family by froodle, in which an immortal creature takes a liking to Syndi
Without Due Care and Attention by froodle, in which Syndi finally becomes mobile
Waiting In by froodle, in which there is an ice-storm and a handyman does not arrive
Brunch by froodle, in which Marilyn does not appreciate Edgar's help in the kitchen
Handmade by froodle, in which the Tellers receive a Christmas package from Marilyn's mother
Poor Life Choices by froodle, in which Syndi loves her brother anyway
Lillian by froodle, in which Marilyn's mother has concerns
Visitor by froodle, in which Marshall's grandma comes to stay
Nap by froodle, in which Marshall has a quiet moment in the Secret Spot
Fresh Sheets by froodle
Tradition by froodle, in which Dash and Marshall decorate a Christmas tree
Hometown by froodle, in which Mars and Syndi visit New Jersey