5 Wilted Tulips

Rayne and Clementine walk quickly down the wooden stairs. The atmosphere feels hectic and hopeless, the sudden death giving the villagers a sense of impending doom. Rayne looks around at her fellow townsfolk as they scramble down the streets to various shops and cabins. Tripping into each other, they snatch armfuls of food and buckets of water while fright shines brightly on their faces. Clementine grips tightly onto Rayne's forearm. Her otherwise tough demeanor has faded, leaving behind a scared puppy. Rayne turns to her, grabbing her petite hands.

"Okay Clem, I'll grab some wood and board up the windows of Grandmama's. You can stay there with me." Clementine's distracted. Her eyes dart back and forth at her passing neighbors. "Hey, look." says Rayne, grabbing her friend's attention, "You can stay with me. Go to the bakery and help ration the flour while I work on the house." Clementine nods, collecting herself. Giving each other a tight hug, the two girls separate and head in different directions.

Rayne runs down the street to one of the small shacks filled with planks of wood deemed not of quality for furniture or cabin construction. Nicer, sturdier wood can be purchased from the village lumber mill, but leftovers are discarded here for the townsfolk to do with what they please. Looking around, Rayne spots an old wheelbarrow filled with wilted tulips on the side of a building. Frantically, she jogs over to grab it and dumps the pile of dirt and dead flowers to the ground. Wheeling it around to the shack, she begins placing the wooden beams inside, battling with the awkward weight distribution. Her house is not being very large, and she only needs a few to secure the windows. Rayne finishes stocking up and heads back to her late grandmother's cabin, fighting to push the full, hefty barrow. Across the village, Clementine arrives at the bakery.

"What can I do?" she nervously asks Mrs. Charity, who stands in the kitchen weighing piles of flour on a scale. The middle-aged woman peers up at her under sparse eyebrows with a look of disdain. A loose strand of long, strawberry blonde hair has fallen from her low hanging ponytail and is now dancing in front of her round, dark green eyes. She holds a thin frown on her fatigued, slender face before finally answering Clementine.

"I've run out of empty flower sacks. Can you go to the cellar and grab more?" Clementine is surprised her voice sounds cool and not harsh.

"How many?" she asks sweetly.

"All of them. There shouldn't be more than six." Clementine nods and Mrs. Charity flashes a fleeting look of approval. Clementine heads around to the back of the bakery. Some distance from the cabin, she walks up to the large, wooden, double-wide doors built into the ground. Grunting, Clementine draws the heavy doors upward. The small muscles in her arms ripple as she fights to open the cellar. She cautiously steps down the ladder into the small, dusty room. It's dark, but the light from the open doors allows her to see the wooden shelves that line the walls. The room is filled with various kitchen and household items and a stock of dry and canned goods, all of which are old and grimy due to sitting untouched for some time. She locates the large cotton bags resting high on a shelf in the far corner. Clementine uses a small bucket, flipped upside down, to perch herself up high enough to reach the brown sacks. The cotton fabric is thick and slightly moist from being kept under the dewy earth, making them heavy. Stacking them, she slings the bags over her narrow shoulder and slowly steps off the bucket. Holding the stack steady with one hand, she drags herself back up the ladder and tosses the bags up onto the ground before climbing out.

Inside the bakery, Adelia Giddings stares out a back window, watching Clementine trying to haul herself from the earth. Her wide face squinches and her painted pink lips purse out in disgust at the sight of the skinny ginger girl. Narrowing her deep blue almond eyes, she sucks her teeth and stomps out of the cabin to where Clementine is emerging from the cellar.

Two clean, white boots appear in Clementine's vision as she crawls over the ladder. She looks up to see Adelia standing over her, her arms crossed over her large breasts. Her perfectly plucked eyebrow is arched menacingly and her long, wavy black hair flowing wildly in the cool breeze. She looks down at Clementine like she's found a cockroach in her room.

"None of this would have happened if it weren't for you, you know." Adelia's tone is crude, as usual. She, her brother Simeon, and their family are of mid-wealth in comparison to the rest of the state. In this village, they might as well be royalty. "The council doesn't approve of harboring witches. Mr. Hytop's death is your fault, you selfish bitch." Her lips curl proudly at her own insult. Clementine is more than used to Adelia's condescending personality. The black haired, rich girl has enjoyed picking at her for as long as she can remember. Clementine rises to her feet and faces Adelia, wiping her dirt ridden hands on her dress.

"Look lady, I don't have time for you right now." Clementine rolls her eyes.

"Don't you see what a burden you are to the people you claim to love?" Adelia flashes a fake frown, looking innocent, "Just leave and don't come back. Let us live peacefully."

"Adelia, if I were a witch, surely by now I would have turned you into the rat that you are." Clementine shoots her a snarky smirk causing Adelia's plump cheeks to flush red with anger. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Mrs. Charity is waiting for these." Dismissing her, she squats down to pick up the large, cotton sacks. Adelia wickedly glances around, checking that there is no one who can see them. She lifts her small, booted foot and shoves it forward, kicking the kneeling girl in the shoulder and causing her to tumble into the cellar. Swiftly, she grabs the large wooden doors, lugging them upward.

"You had your chance Bitch!" she shouts coldly, "Enjoy your night with the vampires. You deserve each other." She laughs as she slams the doors shut. Adelia snatches a nearby rake and shoves it through the cellar door handles. Grabbing the bags left behind by Clementine, she casually strolls back into the bakery as if nothing happened.

"Hey Mrs. Charity," she says sweetly as she walks up to the older woman, "I was just taking out some trash and I noticed your cellar was open. I shut it for you, but these sacks were laying on the ground. Did you need them?" her tone is falsely innocent.

"Oh…yes…" Mrs. Charity answers, confused. "I was wondering what was taking her so long. Did you see Clementine?"

"No…sorry ma'am. Was she here?" Adelia plays dumb.

"Yes, and I asked her to bring these to me. Strange she would just leave them there." Her brow creases as she tries to comprehend.

"Maybe she misunderstood?" Adelia tilts her head as if trying to be helpful.

"I don't see how. I didn't say all but ten words to her. She would have to be downright vazey to misunderstand." she states. Adelia smiles coyly at her.

"Well it is rather fitting for her isn't it?" She insults. The two snicker in unison as they continue to ration out loose flour and a variety of baked good. They cackle and gossip like schoolgirls while Clementine lies unconscious on the dirty cellar floor.