Sun Kissed Innsmouth
Part Two
The revelation that the sun wasn’t some evil, interfering, pestilent force stoked the already growing fire of discontent that burned inside of Felecia. What other obvious facts of her life were nothing more than elderly superstitions? Dinner that night was had in silence not because there was nothing worth mentioning but because Felecia was honestly afraid of what she might say if she let herself get started.
The very next day Felecia found herself back on the second story balcony, completely ignoring the task of setting blocks for Nana’s most recent quilt. The woman must have had a hundred finished quilts already, enough to blanket the whole of Rotary house to be sure.
Between a summer afternoon spent stabbing her fingers with needles while sewing together layers of white, grey, and silver cloth to represent her grandmother’s formative glories, and another chance to lay on the balcony, pretending she was one of the young girls in town stretching out on the warm beach? There was no contest.
The sun felt so warm, so soothing. Felecia got carried away and found herself asleep out there, naked and atop Nana’s white shawl. A little summer sun nap. She felt so safe and suddenly accustomed to this new pastime that she thought nothing of what day it was. Wednesdays were always surrendered to the cleaning of the second story, the servants would go from room to room, sweeping, dusting, mopping, collecting and changing bed linens.
Felecia was lost in a dream about a beautiful girl walking along the edge of the ocean waves, her hair was blonde, hanging in loose rivulets that ran down to the middle of her back. The girl was wearing one of those daring bathing suits, the ones that had no skirt or sleeves attached, just like the ones she saw in pictures and catalogues. She never heard the door to the upstairs sitting room being opened, never heard the plaintive whine of Josephine as she began the labor of dusting and sweeping out the largest of the second floors many rooms. Felecia never heard the sudden gasp and the hurried footfalls as the woman noticed the errant girl exposing herself out on the balcony for all those trees to see.
Felecia was so lost in the exquisite dream and the warmth of the glorious sun that she only woke when Nana was already leaning over her and howling at the maid to bring the water. Felecia was only barely coming around, already feeling a sense of dread and anguish at being pulled away from the pretty blonde girl in the dream and everything that vision promised when a wash of freezing cold water assaulted her. There was precious little time between the girl, spread out so daringly on the shawl, and the drowned rat standing and shaking, the wet shawl wrapped tight around her shoulders with the look of hatred affixed for her most prominent target.
“Get away from there you stupid girl! That bastard thing will burn you to a crisp.”
Once the shock from the cold water stopped her from being able to form words and once her lungs stopped seizing and allowed her to take in air again Felecia let the old woman have it, both barrels. “I’ve been out here for hours! I was out here all afternoon yesterday! The sun is magnificent! Glorious! Being out here makes me feel alive, finally alive!”
Nana didn’t step out onto the deck; she didn’t cross the threshold of the doorway that clearly marked sunlight from shadow. Nana didn’t raise her voice or call for Josephine to yet again confiscate all of Felecia’s books and stationery. Instead, Nana only stepped backwards, farther into the shadows of the parlor and away from the sunlight and smiled cruelly at Felecia as the girl yelled.