Married life had not been kind to Samantha Stephens. Even her worst nightmares at least had more excitement than this. She was just not born to be a cleaner, a dishwasher, a cook (not a chef, Darin’s ulcer did not allow for any sophisticated food) and a whore. Sometimes her housebound existance led her to spend whole days in a nightdress. There was no point in getting dressed; only husband or daughter would potentially see her, and sometimes she barely registered with either anyway.
The drugs were the key to her survival. Always acid, obtained in bulk at cost price due to a special arrangement with the chief of police. She gave up her body once a month, in return for her steady no questions asked supply.
When Darin left on a morning, she would drop a tab or two, and do the essential chores whilst she came up.
” I remember the first time so vividly. It was a sumptuous hot day, and I was stretched out in the garden, feeling the sun-rays dance across the surface of my skin. My body melted with the heat, and the sun’s magnetic field lifted me off the ground, pulling me in.
“Mother’s voice rang out beneath, asking how I expected to keep the perfect man if I spent all my days lazing in the sun. When I rolled over, she was stood towering over my body. For some inexplicable reason, she was clad in full witches garb, pointy hat et al. Whilst she was harranguing me, I found myself able to detect the sub-text to what she was saying, just like it were a bassline in one of those psychadelic rock band’s songs.
” One of us; born with the power. Try it out, unleash your force.”
” And quite how do you propose I do so?”
” Just wiggle your nose.”
I did. I felt a slight tingle in my face, but nothing happened.
“Now you must focus on what it is you desire to achieve. And for your power to be at its most effective, you must rhyme your words.”
Steadily I pieced the tattered fragments of my mind together, concentrating on what I truely wanted at this moment in time.
“Mother on this beautiful day, please just get the hell away”.
My mystic nose swooped across my face. Bells rang out, an endless chime that struck at my core. When I was able to pull my eyelids apart, she was gone.
I positively glowed. It was as if a light had been turned on in the darkness of my soul. I had a reason for being, no longer just the slave of man and child. I swept across the garden, creating new blooms wherever I pointed my nose.
And then a wicked thought crossed my mind. Well, it had been since Tabitha for me and Darin, he was just too stressed to even consider it. Don’t even mention the Chief of Police, that never lasted long enough for me to ever contemplate whether I enjoyed doing that or not.
I went up to my room, and with a swift twitch, two Nubian warriors had me pinned to the bed. Since that day, it has been my magical powers that have kept me going. Nothing else makes the day go quicker, gets rid of the hundrum of making dinner for Darin’s boss, or of surviving a tupperware party.