Rose

The screaming face trapped in the dishcloth wailed, howls of pain and misery reverberating through the small kitchen. Andrea Fantucci sighed, set down the liquid soap and turned on the faucet.

“Okay, okay,” she said, holding the face beneath the stream of warm water. “Calm down!”

The face, bone-white against a diamond-patterned grid of pale blue, continued to shriek. Andrea frowned, moving the mixer tap to direct the flow right into the gaping mouth. The screams stopped, replaced by outraged gurgling.

“That’s better,” said Andrea. “And the next time you manifest a haunting, don’t do it while I’m washing up.”

( Read the rest of the Andrea/Marisea series here )

It's Friday, Eerie fans, and it's a great time to look back on all the sweet fanworks you've created over the years. Why not revisit some sweet artwork, admire someone's crafting efforts or leave an appreciative comment on an uploaded video?

A bulging paper sack sat on the kitchen table, cheap toys and colourful sweets spilling out across the surface. Marshall picked up a bright blue bottle of bubble water and gave it an experimental shake.

“Planning a kids’ party?” he asked his mother.

Marilyn Teller looked up from the folded red and white cloth in her lap and smiled.

“No,” she said, shaking out the length of fabric and holding it out. Twenty five neat white pockets on a rich velvet backdrop, each of them embroidered with a number and tiny, intricate decorations. Marshall raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a reusable Advent calendar,” Marilyn explained. “You put candy or little trinkets in the numbered pouches and open one a day. I thought it might be a fun thing to try this Christmas.”

She spread it out on the table, pushing some of the toys aside, and turned to her son.

“What do you think?”

“Could be cool,” said Marshall. “Though Syndi and I might be a bit old for bubble water and bouncy balls with glitter inside them.”

“Well, those are more for Simon and Harley,” said Marilyn, tucking a tiny magnifying glass into the first pocket. A pocket-sized sewing kit went in next, followed by a wind-up miniature torch and a small bag of peppermints. “I was thinking you and Syndi could each be responsible for stocking the other’s treats, rather than your father and I doing it.”

Marshall looked at the five un-filled advent calendars lying neatly folded beside the sink. He thought about the glass-fronted cabinets at the World o’ Stuff, filled with itching powder and fire crackers and joy buzzers, and grinned.

“That’s a great idea, Mom,” he said. “Really great. In fact, I’ll just take it up to my room and get started now.”

Marilyn sighed.

“I changed my mind,” she said. “This is a terrible plan. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Marshall laughed, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“Trust me,” he said. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever. Which one is hers?”

Marilyn twisted a blood-splattered Corn Critters figurine this way and that, trying to make it fit.

“I thought she’d like the one with the green and gold stitching around the border,” she said. “Of course, that was before you filled it with glue or whatever else you plan on doing.”

“It won’t be glue,” Marshall promised, giggling.

( Read the rest of the Teller Family History here )

( Read the rest of the Holmes Brothers series here )