DISCLAIMER: This work has not been edited beyond what was done in the video. The goal is to capture a story in a short amount of time and keep it as raw as possible.
The Story
A beat-up trailer with nothing to pull it sits stranded on a lake bed, all signs indicating that those who dwell within have given up. Clothes hang to dry on a driftwood clothesline. A tarp stretches over the trailer’s door to form an entryway of sorts, a permanence of sorts. A fire pops and sparks before two chairs where people must sit to enjoy its heat. None are there.
Though, what indicates that proposition most is what rises in the distance. A tower. Growing out of a plateau of rock and soil sprinkled with grass. A zigzagging trail leads to its front door, which would be at home in a dungeon. Railing circles each story. Darkened embrasures, too. The sky behind the tower is full of clouds that look like explosions in all but color. A nuclear blast to create a backdrop to show the ruined upper story. The third story.
It’s not the tower itself, though. It’s what’s spoken about the tower. Within a trailer that sits a day’s walk from the tower. By a big voice and a small voice. This is what they say.
“I better put the fire out,” he says.
“But I’m cold,” she says.
“You have your blankets, and even though these trailer walls are thin, there is no way you feel the fire.”
“I do.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be foolish.”
“Mommy says that’s a mean thing to say.”
“Well, Mommy isn’t around anymore.”
A log falls flat onto the fire, and it sounds like a gunshot.
She jumps into his arms and squeezes. He loves it when she’s afraid, and he feels bad for thinking that.
“I didn’t mean that,” he says. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” she says.
“You can have my blanket. It’s warm like it’s been in an oven.”
“‘Cause you farted.”
They both laugh. They both need it.
“So what if I did?”
“Then I don’t want your blanket.”
“Your loss. Now hang tight–”
“Don’t let the lake leeches bite.”
“I’ll be back. It’s not time for that yet. We still have a story yet.”
“I know. I just felt like saying it.”
“Okay.”
He opens the door. The wind rushes over him. It’s cold, but he doesn’t shiver. He puts out the fire with sand. There is so much sand. He can see the tower if he wants but chooses not to look.
“You want your teddy bear?” he asks.
“His name is Yarnie.”
“I’m not saying that word.”
“Meanie.”
“So be it.” He picks up the bear and takes one last look at the state they’re in. It doesn’t look good, he thinks.
Inside, she’s drifting. On her side, palms pressed together with her head resting on top, her mouth slightly open, as are her eyes. He could stand there forever.
She snaps awake and throws her arms open. He wishes they were for him, but he knows they are for the bear. He tosses it to her.
“Hey!” she says. “Careful.”
He just smiles and shakes his head. “So whose turn is it tonight?”
“Yarnie’s,” she says.
“Then I guess we’re turning in early, because he has no mouth to talk.”
“I’m not tired, so I’ll go.”
He hoped she’d say that. He curls up beside her and Yarnie–a name he only ever says in his head–in a bed meant for one.
“Cozy,” she says.
“Mhm.” It takes him some time to get comfortable because he wants to give her room. She doesn’t need much, the tiny thing. Seeing she looks fine, he settles down.
“Ready?” she asks.
“Ready.”
“Once there was an ocean with a magical castle in the middle. Everyone wanted to go there. People traveled from all over. They quit their jobs and sold their houses.”
“Must be some place.”
“It was. It was said to have powers to make you live forever. All you had to do was stay inside. The only problem was, once you went inside, you couldn’t come out again. And if you did, you’d turn to dust.”
“I didn’t know we were doing scary stories.”
“Oh, Daddy.” She punched his arm.
He mouths “ow” and rubs where she hit.
“Everyone made it, except for one family. Their boat broke down and no one would help them. After a few days, people started coming out of the tower. They couldn’t stand it. And, sure enough, they turned to sand. It fell and fell and fell, until there was a beach reaching all the way to the stranded family.”
“That’s a lot of dead people.”
“Uh-huh. So the family made the journey with what they could carry and no one was inside anymore, so they had the whole place to themselves. They were happy. The End.”
The wind blows sand into the trailer through a broken window. Through that window, he sees the tower. It looks more than ever like a castle.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can we try again? Tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, baby. It’s a long way. We have all we need right here.”
Her stomach grumbles. “Okay.” She frowns and plays with Yarnie’s nose. “But what if it’s true? What if it does what they say?”
“I haven’t seen any dust come from it.”
“That’s my story.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I miss Mommy.”
“I know. Me, too.”
She looks so much like her. More every day. how long would it be before she became her? Would he be able to stand the sight? Would he even be around to see it? Would she make it?
Crying isn’t something she needs to see, so he looks at the wall.
“Daddy?”
He whispers to test his voice before speaking. “Yes?”
“It’s okay. We have everything we need.”
He shakes his head and looks at her despite the tears in his eyes. “We don’t. You’re right. She was right.”
He needs to see her grow up. He needs to take that chance. No matter what.
“All right,” he says.
“All right, what?”
“We’ll try again.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
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