The Survivor, the Sister and the Sailor

The Survivor, the Sister and the Sailor

By Kami Bryant

Tamsin, carrying a black and white yarn spirit doll that resembled a witch doctor wearing a grass ghillie suit, walked through the open doorway of the dilapidated barn and paused on the bare concrete floor. The front door had been propped open with a cinder block as it had a tendency to slam shut on its loose rusted hinges with a bang terrifying the inhabitants. A big beautiful black woman with short natural hair in twists, a slight gap in her front teeth wearing a navy blue pantsuit and sensible shoes stood waiting at the pulpit. Three folding metal chairs sat before the woman, two of them occupied. In one seat sat a tanned, rugged, blond man wearing a scallop shell necklace on a chain and in the other was a mocha skinned skinny girl wearing a silver butterfly necklace. Tamsin took her seat in the waiting empty chair and set her witch doctor spirit doll in her lap.

“Welcome to this week’s meeting of the Apothecary Support Group,” loudly announced the meeting’s leader who was also known as Lawful Good.

The Apothecary and her younger sister True Neutral perched on the bare wooden rafters of the old barn high above the little group. The Apothecary snorted and T.N. shushed her.

“It is L.G.’s turn,” hissed True Neutral. “You already had your turn.”

The Apothecary peered down at the trio of her former victims. James, the sailor, Celestia, the sister and Tamsin the survivor.

“Puhleez,” said the Apothecary. “Look at that sorry lot. Do you really think L.G. can change their minds and convince them to do the right thing?”

T.N. shushed her older sister again hissing, “Give her a chance!”

Lawful Good continued speaking. “Now, the Apothecary has given you each a gift that protects you. But this gift has sinister motives. James, your shell necklace with its creature living inside it, that the Apothecary can awaken whenever she feels like it, to rip you to shreds.”

“What?” asked James his eyes wide with shock.

“But the hibernating creature within its scallop shell, protects you from the Yakuza who you owe money. They can’t seem to find you or even see you when you are standing right in front of them because the creature conceals you from their eyes.

“Or your butterfly necklace, Celestia, that protects you from succumbing to the cancer that it keeps in remission, caused from all the arsenic you ingested when your poor departed sister tried to kill you.

“Or you Tamsin, with the spirit doll that helps you succeed in life by telling you the right thing to say or do. He whispers to you what to say and how best to make friends and influence people. But he also has a mean streak and killed your ex-boyfriend by stabbing him in the ankle causing him to stumble and fall onto the tracks in front of an oncoming light rail train.”

The spirit doll twitched in Tamsin’s hands where it rested in her lap.

“I heard that,” said Lawful Good to the yarn doll. “You have such a potty mouth!

"Anyway, I am asking you to give up the Apothecary’s gifts.”

“But we will die without them,” said Celestia fingering her butterfly necklace. “I will die of cancer. James will be murdered by Yakuza and Tamsin will…what will happen to Tamsin?”

“I will have to go back to work for the physician’s answering service for minimum wage,” said Tamsin. “A fate worse than death really.”

The spirit doll bounced in her lap as if it was laughing and dancing on Tamsin’s knees.

“You need to give them up,” began Lawful Good. “You need to do the right thing.”

“And die?” asked Celestia.

“Yes, Celestia. Die of cancer but donate your three hundred thousand dollars that you killed your sister for, to a children’s hospital or to cancer research.”

“I didn’t kill my sister,” said Celestia. “The Apothecary killed Aurora.”

“Actually, the tree she crashed her truck into killed her,” said the Apothecary from the barn’s rafters. “Or her trip through the windshield when her pickup hit the tree did.”

“Shhhh,” hissed True Neutral.

“You shush,” replied the Apothecary.

“You both shush!” shouted Lawful Good.

“What?” asked Tamsin.

“Not you,” answered L.G. “What do you even spend your money on?” asked Lawful Good of Celestia. “You live your life in the house that you grew up in. A house full of 1970’s furniture. You don’t go anywhere except for our weekly meetings. You don’t spend hardly any of your money that your sister fought you over. You live off the interest mostly. Was any of it worth killing your sister over?”

“I didn’t kill my sister,” shouted Celestia. “I never asked the Apothecary to kill Aurora!”

“I think Celestia will be the first to crack,” commented T.N. “and give up your gift. Look at her wracked with guilt.”

“She won’t,” answered the Apothecary. “She is too afraid of the pain of cancer. She will just go home and drink some cheap wine until she passes out on the couch. James is too much of a coward and Tamsin is enjoying the good life too much. Do you think she will trade her job as Executive Assistant to the President of a Fortune five hundred company for minimum wage working in a call center? Look, I didn’t force any of them to take my gift. I just gave them what they wanted. I helped them”

“Whatever you say, Ursula,” laughed True Neutral.

“What?”

“Ursula, the sea witch in The Little Mermaid.” True Neutral starts singing, “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

“And do I help them? Yes, indeed.”

The Apothecary watches her younger sister, her eyes narrow and she says, “I’m cancelling your Disney Plus account.”

“Will you please be quiet?” hissed Lawful Good.

“I didn’t say anything,” mumbled Tamsin.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” said L.G. “I was talking to them.” L.G. points to the bare rafters of the run down barn where a pair of crows are perched. The larger crow was angrily screeching at the smaller bird who was prancing and preening on the narrow board. “My younger and my older sister. I am the middle child and the only one with any sense,” yelled L.G. “You know the three-fold goddess?” she asks Celestia who shakes her head.

“Maid, mother and crone,” answers Tamsin. L.G. nods encouragingly. “And you are the middle one, the mother.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m confused,” said James. “The birds are your sisters and you are a mother?”

“Never mind,” replied Lawful Good. She sighs. “Okay, I guess our time is up. Please think about what I said. You think her gifts are giving you what you want, but think about the innocents who have died since you first met the Apothecary. Celestia’s sister and Tamsin’s ex-boyfriend. The gifts are evil. Do what is right. Side with good.”

James, Tamsin and Celestia stood up from the metal chairs and walked across the bare concrete floor and through the barn’s propped open door. Celestia walked over to her parked red fifteen-year-old Audi.

“Hey,” called out Tamsin. “You guys want to go get a beer?”

“No, thank you,” said Celestia not breaking her stride and sliding into her car.

Tamsin turned to James, “How about it, Sailor. Want to go get a beer?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Would you give up the Apothecary’s gift?” asks Tamsin.

“And go back to hiding from the Yakuza? I don’t know. But, it does scare me what she said, that there is a sleeping monster in it that the Apothecary could activate to kill me if I displease her. Seems like either way I die,” answered James stroking the scallop shell he wore around his neck.

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t?” asked Tamsin.

“Yeah. I could go back to hiding out. I probably have a better chance of surviving the Yakuza then some monster creature.”

“Or not. As long as you do what the Apothecary says, she won’t turn on you.”

“But what if Lawful Good is right? The Apothecary is evil and her gifts are evil. And what about you? If I piss you off will you sick your little friend on me?” asked James pointing to the spirit doll.

“No, I mean we are only going to get a beer. But just in case, don’t piss me off,” said Tamsin laughing.

A crow cawed raucously from inside the old barn as if joining her in laughter.

The End