Chapter 20

Queer Happenings

Sometimes being magical was fun. You could sneak extra cookies. You could know when a guest was coming. You could do nice things for your friends. Other times, being magical was frustrating. You could wander far beyond what people called “boundaries” and meet the funniest sorts of folks. Though you never knew who might follow you home! However, being magical could also be a little scary. Queer things would happen to you. Spooky things! Sometimes all day long.

Once, Sophie had been alone in her room sewing a new dress. Suddenly, all the buttons and beads in her kit started floating around her! On another occasion, she was planning a scene in one of her plays. She thought of the fireworks she might use. “Pow! Bam!” she had said, imagining it. All of the sudden, one of her props caught on fire. “Eek!” She nearly burned down the house! The spookiest of all was the time she wandered a little too far in one of her “dreams” and ended up getting lost. She was asleep for days and many began to worry that she might never wake up.

Because of this, our heroine often wished she didn’t have her powers. What if she accidently hurt someone? What if she got her village in trouble one day? Sometimes she felt so worried and scared that she would be sad for hours on end. It was a good thing she had a best friend she could talk to. Someone who was just as skilled at keeping secrets.

“Narissa!” she yelled, banging on her friend’s door. Something spooky had happened again that morning, just after she’d visited Motumbo. It sent Sophie running as fast as she could to tell her about it. “Narissa! Hello!” she continued, banging some more. “Are you there? It’s important!”

“Just a minute!” a voice from the other side called back.

Their farms were right next to each other. Ever since they were little, their families had walked to church together.

Sophie tried her best to wait patiently. What was taking her so long? She put her ear to the door and listened. It sounded like Narissa was rustling through her closet.

“I’m coming! Hold on!”

Then Sophie heard some stomping. It got louder and louder—and closer! A moment later, the door swung open, nearly knocking her right off the steps. A girl with a big, bright smile and rosy cheeks emerged. She was a little taller than Sophie and had fabulous, bouncy blue hair.

“O-kay! I’m ready!” she yelled, posing in the doorway.

image [https://i.imgur.com/6oAEHll_d.jpeg?maxwidth=520&shape=thumb&fidelity=high]

“Golly,” sighed Sophie regaining her balance. “That was a close one! Good morning, Narissa.”

Then the girl froze. Her eyes fell to Sophie’s dress. She just stood there, staring at it. The smile slowly started to disappear.

“Umm . . .” Sophie stammered, feeling a little nervous. “Narissa?” She glanced down at herself, wondering what the problem was. But she didn’t see anything. “Is . . . there something wrong?”

The girl groaned.

“Yes, there is,” she answered, crossing her arms. “Look! Your dress! It’s completely different from mine! We’re supposed to be matching today! Don’t you remember?”

Sophie paused and thought about it. “Oh . . .” she sighed. “No, I don’t think I do. Sorry!” She could be so forgetful sometimes. But then she thought a little more and—“Hey, wait a minute . . . Are you sure we agreed to—”

But thankfully Narissa had already forgiven her.

“Yep!” she interrupted, rushing forward and covering Sophie’s mouth.

“Mmm!” was all that came out.

“But don’t worry! I can fix it! I just have to get changed, that’s all!”

“MmMmMm!”

Then, without warning, Narissa seized Sophie by the arm and started hauling her around the corner.

“Come on! Around back! Yesterday was laundry day. My dresses are all out on the clothesline, drying.”

“But . . .” whimpered Sophie, struggling free. “I need to tell you something!”

“Then you can tell me on the way. LET’S GO!”

The only problem with our heroine’s best friend, reader, was how rough she could sometimes be. She was always pinching, prodding and grabbing her. When she hugged Sophie, she’d pick her right off the ground and squeeze her so tight she couldn’t breathe. When she held her hand, she’d almost never let go. Sophie’s favorite game was “dress-up.” But with Narissa, it felt more like wrestling. During their sleepovers, she would raid Sophie’s closet and handle her like a rag doll . . . bending her this way . . . contorting her that way . . . and stretching her into all kinds of uncomfortable positions. She’d pin Sophie down and tickle her until it wasn’t fun anymore, break into her house at night to kidnap her for midnight swims, and chase her with a towel at the village bathhouse, whipping her like a racehorse. Sophie loved her best friend dearly, but sometimes it could be so painful! She was no less rough with her that morning.

“Hey, quit pulling so hard, Narissa!” she squeaked. “You’re going to tug my arm off.”

“You’re walking too slow!”

“But this is as fast as I can go . . .”

“Okay,” she answered, smiling. “Then I’ll have to carry you!”

She turned to Sophie and scooped her up.

“Eek!”

“There! That’s better! Now, what was it you wanted to say?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Sophie had learned that being in Narissa’s clutches was a little like being in quicksand. The more you struggled, the tighter she squeezed. The more you squirmed, the more her hands would look for other, ticklier places to hold onto. It was safer to just relax and let her have her way.

“Well . . .” she began, doing her best to talk. It was hard with all the bouncing and jostling. “After visiting Motumbo this morning . . .oof! . . . I went into the bathroom to fix my hair. Oof! I looked in the mirror and no one was there, but me. But after I put away my brush, I looked again—and saw someone standing behind me!”

“Wow! Really?” asked Narissa, excited.

“Yeah!”

“Cool!”

“Cool?” Sophie gasped. “How is that cool!? It scared the life out of me, Narissa! Just thinking about it gives me the creeps!”

“So, what happened? Who were they?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know! They vanished the moment I saw them. I don’t even remember their face. Only . . . their eyes . . .”

“Maybe it was a ghost.”

“Agh! A ghost!?” Sophie squeezed up close to Narissa and trembled in her arms.

“Maybe!” her friend smiled. “After all, it wouldn’t be the first time you saw one, would it?”

Sophie gulped.

“Well . . . regardless, I’ve come to tell you that I’ve made a decision, Narissa. I’m not going to use my powers anymore! Not even to help people. It’s too dangerous! And frightful!”

“What!?”

Narissa plopped Sophie down next to the clothesline.

“They’re not powers,” said Sophie. “They’re a curse! I just want to be normal. I can’t always control them . . . but if I try really hard, maybe they’ll just go away.”

“Hey, come on. Don’t say that. You’re not cursed. You’re just different, that’s all. I like your powers!”

“But what if God doesn’t want me using them? What if it makes him angry . . . or disappointed . . . or worse . . . what if it makes him . . .” Sophie gulped and started tearing up. “ . . .not like me anymore . . .”

But sometimes a little of Narissa’s roughness was exactly what our heroine needed. She may have been bossy to Sophie. She may have been stubborn, manipulative and nosey. She may even have been a tad abusive at times. But she was also brutally honest, impossible to deceive and fearless of all things strange. Sophie could tell her absolutely anything. Narissa wouldn’t get spooked, disbelieve her, or look at her any differently after. She encouraged Sophie, loved her fiercely (perhaps a little too fiercely at times) and was always there for her. Many people in the village wondered how they could possibly be friends, given how different they were. Often, Sophie wondered it herself. But it was times like this, when our heroine was feeling blue, that she always remembered.

“What!? No way!” said Narissa. She grabbed Sophie by the shoulders and pulled her close. “God loves you, Sophie! He made you just the way you are! Don’t listen to any bad feelings like that. He has a plan for your powers, just as He has a plan for everything else. There is a reason He gave them to you. We just . . . don’t know what it is yet . . . that’s all.”

“Really?” sighed our heroine, sniffling more. “You really think so?”

“Yeah!” Narissa let Sophie go. “So, don’t give up! Okay?” She smiled and winked at her. Then she pushed Sophie’s spectacles back into place and dried her tears with her cuff.

“Well,” Sophie replied, feeling a little better. “Maybe . . . maybe you’re right.”

“Of course, I am!”

“I just wish I knew what it was, that’s all. If only I knew . . . then maybe it wouldn’t be so scary.”

“Well, maybe there’s a way to find out.”

“You think?”

“Maybe.” Narissa shrugged.

“I hope so. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. At this point, I think I’d do just about anything to find out.”

And that’s when Narissa suddenly got her brilliant idea.

“Hey, wait a minute. I know!” she shouted.

Sophie looked at her curiously.

“Why don’t you ask Jean-Pierre today!? He knows lots about God, right?”

Jean-Pierre was the village priest. He lived in the temple at the village square.

“Oh, yeah . . .” Sophie remembered. “That’s right!”

“He’s who I talk to whenever I feel confused. He gives marvelous advice!”

“But . . .” stammered Sophie, “you never take his advice, Narissa . . .”

“So? It’s still good advice! Well, come on. What do you say? It’s a worth a try, right? We can go right now!”

But Sophie wasn’t yet sure.

“Golly . . .” she sighed nervously. She never really thought about asking Jean-Pierre before. But Narissa was right. If there was anyone in the village who could help her figure that out, it was him. But did they have time that morning? She pulled out her pocket watch to check. Fortunately, Narissa snatched it out of her hand before she could see and threw it into the bushes.

“Yes, now!” she ordered. “Trust me, we can make it! I know a shortcut!”

Sophie thought and thought.

“Hmm . . . hmm . . . hmm . . .”

She was never was very good at making decisions.

“Hey! Don’t make me twist your arm!”

“Eek!”

Finally, she made up her mind.

“Okay!” our heroine cheered. “Let’s do it!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I want to! Let’s go!”

The two friends held hands and started jumping up and down. It was settled. They would go to the temple at the village square. The only problem was getting there.

“Okay, which way?” said Sophie pulling her.

But Narissa wouldn’t budge until she did something first. She hurried over to the clothesline.

“H-hey . . . wait . . . what are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m getting changed.”

“But . . . out here?”

“Why not? Don’t worry.” Narissa winked at her. “It will only take a minute.” Then she started undressing.

“Eek! Are you crazy!?”

And now you see, reader, why it was so good that Narissa had a friend like Sophie too. With lightning-fast reflexes and gallant speed, our heroine dashed to the nearest bedsheet. She tore it off and used it as a wall to cover her.

“Jiminy crickets!” she yelled chasing Narissa, who kept running away. “Get back here! Someone might see you!”

Who knows what would have happened to this girl without Sophie? At the very least, I think you would agree—she wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun.

“Come on, Sophie!” she teased. “You’re going to have to be faster than that.”

“Goodness gracious!” Sophie kept exclaiming. “Heavens to Betsy! Great Scott!”