In the Spring (I Shed My Skin)
(Warning: the following tale discusses cannibalism, murder, and general body horror. This is a sequel to last week but can be read on it's own, I think. Title is from "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)")
There's a newspaper on the hotel nightstand. The headline reads Costume Party Turns to Cannibal Man Hunt, and the article warns of a gruesome tale of a missing child, a hidden life, and the search for a killer (and the parts of the bodies they took with them.)
In the chair by the bed, a woman feeds a baby. The baby girl is in a lamb costume, and gurgling happily as she is being fed. The young woman feeding her is in nightclothes, but on the floor lies the Bo Peep costume she wore last night, that had been carefully hidden under the long coat as she checked in.
"I suppose I should change you, since the whole country knows what you were wearing last night," the woman says.
She smiles, and glances at the paper.
Police suspect the couple's child, Mariana, in their death and the kidnapping of their youngest child, Eloise.
"But there are a few things we have to clear up first," she says.
Her new name is Rana, and to her neighbors, she is a doctor.
"I'm going to call you something better. I very much like the name Wendy. You are my child. My legacy."
She feeds the baby another spoonful of food from the jar. The baby makes a face, but eats it anyway.
"I know," Rana says, "liver is an acquired taste. But it was my mother's, so I do hope you appreciate the gift."
Wendy gurgles again, and Rana smiles back.
"My little lamb, there is so much work we have to do," she murmurs, and dips the spoon into the jar once more.
There's a newspaper on the hotel nightstand. The headline reads Costume Party Turns to Cannibal Man Hunt, and the article warns of a gruesome tale of a missing child, a hidden life, and the search for a killer (and the parts of the bodies they took with them.)
In the chair by the bed, a woman feeds a baby. The baby girl is in a lamb costume, and gurgling happily as she is being fed. The young woman feeding her is in nightclothes, but on the floor lies the Bo Peep costume she wore last night, that had been carefully hidden under the long coat as she checked in.
"I suppose I should change you, since the whole country knows what you were wearing last night," the woman says.
She smiles, and glances at the paper.
Police suspect the couple's child, Mariana, in their death and the kidnapping of their youngest child, Eloise.
"But there are a few things we have to clear up first," she says.
Her new name is Rana, and to her neighbors, she is a doctor.
"I'm going to call you something better. I very much like the name Wendy. You are my child. My legacy."
She feeds the baby another spoonful of food from the jar. The baby makes a face, but eats it anyway.
"I know," Rana says, "liver is an acquired taste. But it was my mother's, so I do hope you appreciate the gift."
Wendy gurgles again, and Rana smiles back.
"My little lamb, there is so much work we have to do," she murmurs, and dips the spoon into the jar once more.