Twixt Heaven and Hell

Posted on Wed 31st Jul, 2019 @ 2:04pm by
Edited on on Wed 31st Jul, 2019 @ 11:02pm

422 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Addams House, Tivoli Gardens
Timeline: MD 5, 00:03

The bells of the old Grandfather clock in the hall had marked the Witching Hour, and Experiment Number Six Addams peered around the frame of the guest room where Great-Grandmother Addams was in residence. Six could see the crone sitting in a rocking chair, reading from a paper book. She was old beyond imagining, to a six-year-old girl; she had probably seen the first sunrise on planet Earth. And yet, while the little girl could see the twisted spine, the hawks-bill nose, the warts, the crispy white hair, she could also see the beautiful young woman her great-grandmother had once been -- and occasionally, still was.

"Come in, child," the hag creaked, looking up from her reading. "Can't sleep?"

Six shook her head and came into the room, crossing to the side of the chair. "I had a bad dream," she revealed.

"Was it the one where you're at a church ice cream social?" Granny Addams asked kindly, setting aside her book and patting her lap in invitation.

"No," Six answered, climbing up into the old woman's lap. "I was at school, and I was talking about boys with some of the other girls."

"Oh, boys," said the old woman, and she gave a dramatic shudder. "I have some nice recipes, if you like?"

"Aunt Chlamydia says we shouldn't eat Humanoids. She says the pathogens can travel from meat to eater."

Granny nodded sagely. "She is a wise woman, your Aunt. All three of your Aunts." She rocked slowly in her chair, and Six was content to rock with her.

"Chlamydia isn't really my Aunt, though, is she? I mean, Ischemia and Purulence and Chlamydia are my first cousins, once removed, but..." She paused, looking for the right words to say.

"Oh, child, there are more things suspended betwixt Heaven and Hell than we have yet begun to categorize." The old woman sighed. "Let it be enough that you have family, that they love you, that they would stop the sun in the heavens for you."

Six twisted in her lap, looking up at the old woman with a glance that clearly said, "I'm six years old, not stupid."

"And what's that after being, then?" Granny said with a smile.

"You can't stop the sun in the sky; it's not moving. The planet is moving."

Granny laughed. "Your family, child, would fix the sun in the sky and let others figure out how it was done."

"Because I'm an Addams?"

"Just so," the old woman said. "Just so."

 

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