Black Christmas (Plus Bonus Story "Black Supper") Read Online Free Page B
Author: JC Andrijeski
me.
Thanks for that, he muttered as I re-locked the door. Now I’m going to worry about your fucking neighbors, on top of everything else...
Did any of them see that? I sent.
There was a silence, and I shook my head when I realized he was actually looking.
You’re ridiculous, I told him.
I’m worried about you, he snapped.
Biting my lip when I felt the emotion behind that, I decided to let it go.
I looked at the box I held in my hands. His mind had gone silent again, so I didn’t have access to any of my usual guessing games.
Pausing to light a few candles on the coffee table where I’d left matches earlier, I sat cross-legged on the floor by the same table, on a rug I had left over from my parents’ house. Pulling one of the glass candleholders down to the floor, I placed the box down in front of me. I didn’t bother to look for scissors but found the seams in the brown paper with my fingers, plucking at the tape and then tearing the paper to get it open.
The box was relatively small. It was square, about the size of something that might hold a coffee mug, or a balled up T-shirt.
Wrong and wrong, Black sent, but his voice sounded calmer again, almost amused.
I finally got the box open, only to find tissue paper inside.
Look harder, he sent, smiling at me through the space.
At the bottom was a felt bag. Lifting it up and hefting the weight a little, I opened it, and a pendant dropped out, landing in my palm.
I held it up to the candlelight, and immediately flinched, recognizing it.
Fingering the design compulsively, I realized I could feel him on it too and stopped, swallowing. Where did you find this? I asked him. Realizing tears had come to my eyes, I blinked them away, swallowing. It was lost. It wasn’t on her when––
I know, he sent. And I can’t tell you how, not right now.
But it’s hers? I sent, almost afraid of the answer.
Yes. He sighed, and I felt grief on him, real enough and intense enough that it closed my throat. Do you know what it means, Miri? he sent, his voice softer, but lighter somehow too. I could feel him pulling on me softly, trying to pull me out of the spiral where I could feel myself going. It was your mother’s once, wasn’t it? Before she gave it to your sister?
I nodded, wiping my face with one hand. I found myself clutching the pendant again once I’d done it, unwilling to let go of it with either set of fingers.
Yes, I sent. Yes. It was a wedding present. It was supposed to be about her and my dad.
I expected Black to be puzzled by that, to ask me what I meant.
Instead, he went completely silent again.
That means something to you? I sent.
I felt him hedging, but not really in avoidance.
Maybe, he sent after that pause. I honestly don't know. But where I’m from, the original seers, it was said that the seer races first came from the ocean. Some of the original clans... older tribes I mean, where I was from... they believed some animals were the relatives of seers. They thought that even now, those same animals carried their souls. And humans, they were the third race, according to that myth. The third race is said to come from the stars...
He paused, and I could almost see him there, sprawled out on a couch, his arm slung over his head as he gazed up at the ceiling.
The main myth that people believed, they called it the Myth of Three, he added. It got distorted a lot over the years, and used by different groups for some pretty dark things, political and otherwise. But the original Myths, they’re beautiful, Miri. Like living light. It’s like music to hear them... especially when they were spoken by some of the elders.
I listened to him, realizing I’d never felt him like this before.
Looking down at the symbol in my hand, I nodded, thinking about his words.
Whatever it was to Black, to me it was Tlingit art, a Native American tribe from the Northwest. Some of my ancestors supposedly came from that tribe, on my mother’s side. My mom proudly
Thanks for that, he muttered as I re-locked the door. Now I’m going to worry about your fucking neighbors, on top of everything else...
Did any of them see that? I sent.
There was a silence, and I shook my head when I realized he was actually looking.
You’re ridiculous, I told him.
I’m worried about you, he snapped.
Biting my lip when I felt the emotion behind that, I decided to let it go.
I looked at the box I held in my hands. His mind had gone silent again, so I didn’t have access to any of my usual guessing games.
Pausing to light a few candles on the coffee table where I’d left matches earlier, I sat cross-legged on the floor by the same table, on a rug I had left over from my parents’ house. Pulling one of the glass candleholders down to the floor, I placed the box down in front of me. I didn’t bother to look for scissors but found the seams in the brown paper with my fingers, plucking at the tape and then tearing the paper to get it open.
The box was relatively small. It was square, about the size of something that might hold a coffee mug, or a balled up T-shirt.
Wrong and wrong, Black sent, but his voice sounded calmer again, almost amused.
I finally got the box open, only to find tissue paper inside.
Look harder, he sent, smiling at me through the space.
At the bottom was a felt bag. Lifting it up and hefting the weight a little, I opened it, and a pendant dropped out, landing in my palm.
I held it up to the candlelight, and immediately flinched, recognizing it.
Fingering the design compulsively, I realized I could feel him on it too and stopped, swallowing. Where did you find this? I asked him. Realizing tears had come to my eyes, I blinked them away, swallowing. It was lost. It wasn’t on her when––
I know, he sent. And I can’t tell you how, not right now.
But it’s hers? I sent, almost afraid of the answer.
Yes. He sighed, and I felt grief on him, real enough and intense enough that it closed my throat. Do you know what it means, Miri? he sent, his voice softer, but lighter somehow too. I could feel him pulling on me softly, trying to pull me out of the spiral where I could feel myself going. It was your mother’s once, wasn’t it? Before she gave it to your sister?
I nodded, wiping my face with one hand. I found myself clutching the pendant again once I’d done it, unwilling to let go of it with either set of fingers.
Yes, I sent. Yes. It was a wedding present. It was supposed to be about her and my dad.
I expected Black to be puzzled by that, to ask me what I meant.
Instead, he went completely silent again.
That means something to you? I sent.
I felt him hedging, but not really in avoidance.
Maybe, he sent after that pause. I honestly don't know. But where I’m from, the original seers, it was said that the seer races first came from the ocean. Some of the original clans... older tribes I mean, where I was from... they believed some animals were the relatives of seers. They thought that even now, those same animals carried their souls. And humans, they were the third race, according to that myth. The third race is said to come from the stars...
He paused, and I could almost see him there, sprawled out on a couch, his arm slung over his head as he gazed up at the ceiling.
The main myth that people believed, they called it the Myth of Three, he added. It got distorted a lot over the years, and used by different groups for some pretty dark things, political and otherwise. But the original Myths, they’re beautiful, Miri. Like living light. It’s like music to hear them... especially when they were spoken by some of the elders.
I listened to him, realizing I’d never felt him like this before.
Looking down at the symbol in my hand, I nodded, thinking about his words.
Whatever it was to Black, to me it was Tlingit art, a Native American tribe from the Northwest. Some of my ancestors supposedly came from that tribe, on my mother’s side. My mom proudly
Readers choose
Cecile de la Baume
Adalynn Quinn
John David Krygelski
Paul Kidd
Rae Rivers
Jennifer Quintenz
Craig Spivek
Steph Swainston
Barbara Barrett