Dropsy
It was a bleak, rainy day. Friends and family stood around the grave of Darcie Maddie Randall, getting their shoes wet from the grass. My husband stood beside me holding my hand, showing his support. I clung to him, trying to pull enough energy to keep from falling into the wet grass and possibly the grave. The heels of my shoes were slowly sinking into the ground. I hope I didn’t pull chunks of the cemetery away when the service was over. I feel lost now that my mother has passed away, and I can’t understand why. We weren’t close when she was alive. That privilege belonged to my brother.
Finally, the priest finished the service indicating there would be a repast at the home of my brother. My sibling and I stood to shake the hands of the remaining mourners as they passed by. The only plans I had for attending the buffet at Maynard’s house would be to drink as much liquor as possible.
The next week I received a phone call from mom’s attorney. “Good morning, Mrs. Tabourn. Attorney Fries will be reading your mother’s will on Tuesday, July 15, at 10 a.m. Would you be able to attend?”
“Yes, of course. Thank you.”
“Goodbye, Mrs. Tabourn.”
The day arrived, and I sat across the polished table facing my brother. I so wanted to lean over and blow my warm breath on the cold, waxed table to watch the homemade fog slowly disappear. The lawyer kept droning on in legalese and finally reached the part where who got what. Mostly everything went to my brother, which I had expected, except mom’s Imperial Glass collection. It surprised me she bequeathed the glassware to me. I also collected these items and purposely made sure I didn’t purchase anything she had in her home just in case she decided to gift me with these items.
After the meeting, we all shook hands. While waiting for the elevator, I turned to my brother and said, “Do you mind if we go to the house so I can pick up the glassware? I also have some old toys in the attic I’d like to take along if it’s okay with you.”
“Sure. Eileen is there getting mom’s clothes ready for Goodwill. We wanted to get the house ready for sale, and you know mom and her racks of clothing as well as her collection of books. Every time I go to her house, I think of the ‘Hoarders’ program. But you wouldn’t know since you never visited her.”
“Ouch, go straight for the jugular my dear brother.” “It will be good to see your wife again. I’ll meet you there.”
My brother waited for me outside on the porch until I arrived at the house. I got out of the car, smiled at my brother, and we both went inside. “Hi, Eileen. It’s good to see you again. Did you want help packing mom’s clothes?”
“No, everything is under control,” Eileen said to me and went on folding and packing. Just as well. I didn’t see us happily packing the clothes together.
“I’d like to take a look through the books if it’s okay. I could put the ones I don’t want in one of the packing boxes.” Eileen looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Sure, sure, she said. The empty boxes are in the living room.”
I retrieved some boxes and placed the books I wanted in one and packed the others away in a different carton. I finished and said, “I’m going up to the attic to pick up my toys. See you in a while.”
I trudged up the steps and looked in my old bedroom. When I was a teenager, I wallpapered three walls in an orange and lime green pattern and painted the fourth wall orange. Looking in my old room and seeing my handiwork, I shook my head, “What was I thinking?” and gave a chuckle at the color choices. Clothing was hanging from all kinds of ropes. It looked like one of those horror movies when you push aside some wash line items, where the killer is waiting on the other side with a huge knife. I turned and went to the attic door. I wondered which of my toys mom saved.
The attic was bare except for piles of labeled boxes. I saw one that read, Maddie, and pulled it from the other boxes and placed it on the floor. When I opened it, on the very top was Dropsy, the clown I hated. “Oh, why couldn’t she have saved my Barbie dolls?” Dropsy entered my life when I was eight. The family had an outing at the circus, which I totally hated, especially when the clowns came into the circus ring. Other kids were laughing at their antics; I sat next to my mom staring at the most horrifying images I had ever seen. Heck, I even hated Ronald McDonald. They were choosing children from the crowd to help with their next trick and my mom put my hand in the air. It was a tug-of-war as I tried to pull my arm down while she was pulling it up.
One of the clowns picked me up, and I went kicking into the arena. All they did was make animal balloons, and mine turned out to be a monkey, although I couldn’t see the resemblance. The clown took me back to my seat and kissed me on the cheek. Ugh, his lips were slimy from the red lipstick, and he smelled of cigarette smoke and booze. As soon as he turned around, I vigorously rubbed my cheek with my hand.
We left the big, white circus tent and started walking to where we parked our car. One booth we passed had an assortment of stuffed clowns. “Maddie, there’s a doll for sale resembling the clown who picked you. Would you like one?” I shook my head no, and she bought it for me anyway. I carried it home hating my new toy. He was bald on the forehead and had flaming red hair on the sides and back of his head. His jumpsuit was red, white, and blue with a blue collar. His eyes moved from side to side and I knew when we returned home I would tape them so they couldn't move. The part I hated the most was his smirky smile, permanently fixed on his face. I squeezed the red ball of a nose hoping to rip it off. Somehow, it was there to stay.
I pulled Dropsy out of the box and shook my head at him. I even was so childish as to stick my tongue out at him before placing him on the floor. Next in the box, I found my Ouija board. I had forgotten I had one of those. The remaining toys were games I had played as a child. I packed everything back, and when I lifted Dropsy, I thought about putting him in one of my brother’s boxes. I ended up sticking him back in my box figuring I could toss him out in the trash.
When I walked downstairs, I said to my brother, “I have my box of old toys, and I have a box of books. I just need to pack the glassware.”
“That’s been taken care of for you,” Eileen said. “There are two containers in the living room.”
“Thanks,” I said wondering if she gypped me out of some of the pieces.
When I arrived home, I saw Ray sitting on the porch swing. I climbed from the vehicle and said, “I have four boxes in the car. One is old toys. Mom saved some stupid clown doll named Dropsy. You know how I hate clowns. There are some games and an Ouija board. The only thing I’m going to save is the board. Everything else is trash. Mom gave me the Imperial Glass collection I so coveted. I’m surprised she left me anything since our fight. One box holds books she collected. I took the ones I haven’t read and boxed the others.”
We unloaded my boxes. I placed the books from the box onto the ‘To read shelf’, removed the Ouija Board from the toy box and placed it in my closet on the shelf. The remaining items landed in the trash container. The glassware went in the spare bedroom for another day. We decided to go out for dinner, and when we returned, Ray went upstairs to change. When he came down, he said, “I thought you were going to throw the clown in the trash.”
“I did. Why do you ask?”
“Dropsy is laying on the bed.” I narrowed my eyes at him as my heart started to beat a little faster. I ran up the stairs in my stocking feet and lo and behold; Dropsy was lounging on my bed, with his ghastly head on MY pillow. “How did you get here? I put you in the trash.” Right, then I had thoughts of getting a knife or scissors and cutting or chopping the doll into pieces. I shivered as the room seemed to turn colder. I rubbed my arms and continued to glare at Dropsy. “I know I placed the whole box in the trash, and I swear it’s smile changed to a grin.” I picked him up by his nose and tossed him into the walk-in closet, firmly shutting the door. I resisted the urge to pull the dresser in front of the entrance.
I changed into my pajamas and went downstairs. “I swear I put all my toys from the box into the trash except for the Ouija Board,” I said to Ray. “If I did put the clown on the bed, I’d remember it. Hey, did you do it just to scare me?”
“No, hon. I didn’t.” I stared at him for a few seconds and shrugged. We settled into the family room to watch a movie and drink a few glasses of wine. When the movie ended, we went up to bed. Remembering Dropsy on the bed earlier in the day, I cautiously walked into the bedroom. “Thank God. Ray probably played a trick on me and didn’t want to own up to it.” I brushed my teeth and climbed into bed.
I woke in the middle of the night to something tugging on my right leg. We don’t have any pets so it couldn’t have been an animal. I turned the lamp on by my bedside and lifted the covers. On my right ankle, Dropsy was clinging to my leg. I screamed and kicked my legs trying to remove the parasite clown. My husband turned his light on and asked, “What’s going on?”
I gasped, “Dropsy is hanging on my leg, and I can’t kick it off.” Ray lifted up the covers and said, “There’s nothing on your leg, you’re just having a nightmare.”
“But he was there, I saw him, I felt him.”
“You’re okay, hon. Do you want to sleep with the lights on?” I tossed my pillow at him and turned on my side to go back to sleep.
The next morning Ray packed for a two-day business trip. As usual, I sulked over my coffee. Before he left, he gave me a hug and said it would only be for a short time, and I had Dropsy to keep me company. I punched him in the arm. “Very funny. Do you really have to go? Maybe postpone the trip for a week or two.”
“I’d like to be able to stay home, but the people at this office are expecting me. They’ve been waiting to have their PC’s set up for weeks now. Besides, I’ll only be gone two days and one night. I’ll call you when I get there.” He hugged me tight, kissed the top of my head, then left by the front door.
I watched as the car drove away and continued to stare for a short time. “I’d better get busy; I have an article due in a few days.” I poured another cup of coffee, walked into the study, and turned on my laptop. I read my notes on the subject and started outlining the article. Halfway through the article, a thump, and a crash sounded from upstairs.
I grabbed a poker from the fireplace and cautiously walked to the second floor. I checked each room and found nothing out of order until I went into my bedroom. The lamp had fallen onto the floor. I looked at the closet door and decided to open it. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pajama legs and slowly opened the door expecting the clown to jump out at me. I turned the light switch on didn’t see Dropsy. I looked through the clothing on hangers, my heart beating fast. “Where in the world is it? It has to be in here.” I searched every nook and cranny in the closet and could not find the clown. Perhaps Ray had thrown him in the trash. I shrugged, turned off the light, and closed the door.
My coffee had cooled in the cup, and I placed it in the microwave to heat it up. When the buzzer sounded, I carried my beverage into the study and settled down to work. The remainder of the day went by quickly and quietly. I finished the article and sent it to my editor. I spent the rest of the day watching television.
Ray called at dinner time, “Hey you, how are you doing? Any more clown incidents?”
“No, I wrote my article for the magazine which is due in a few days. It’s been quiet around here. I’ve been watching television until you called.” There was no way I would tell him about the lamp or the missing clown. We talked about his work, and he would be home the next evening. We said our ‘I love yous’ and hung up.
I started yawning and decided to call it a night. I climbed the stairs and got into bed. I reached over and pulled Ray’s pillows on mine, so I could smell his soap on the pillow. I sighed and turned on my side to go to sleep.
“Maddie. Maaadeeee. Time to wake up.” I mumbled in my sleep “Go ‘way.”
“Maddie, turn over and give your best boy a kiss.” The voice whispered.
I opened my eyes wide remembering my husband was away. I rolled over, and my eyes stared straight into Dropsy’s eyes. My nose touched his red ball of a nose. I shrieked, sat up in bed, and watched the doll crawl down the bed and go under it.
“Son of a bitch.” I yelled and proceeded to chase after him. When I lifted the bed skirt, his face came at me and said, “Boo!” I screamed and fell back on my butt. Then he skittered toward the back of the bed. I ran out of the room closing the door securely behind me. Hopefully, the little demon would stay inside. I went to the garage, retrieved a flashlight and a golf club and hurried back to the bedroom. I slowly open the door and flicked the light switch to on.
“This cannot be real. Things like this don’t happen in real life. I must be sleeping, and yet I am positive I’m awake.” I noticed the air in the bedroom was colder than normal. “Could the clown be haunted? Did laying on top of the Ouija Board all those years turn him to something ghostly and sinister? I need a drink.” I got to my knees and shined the flashlight under the bed. No clown. “Now where did it go?”
I went to my closet and flung the door open. Nothing moved. Again, I searched the inside. The only place remaining was Ray’s closet. I slowly walked over and opened the door. From the top shelf, Dropsy launched himself, landed with his arms around my neck and said, “Who loves you baby!” then proceeded to kiss my cheek before dropping to the floor and running from the room. My knees weakened, and I sat down on the bed. I thought my heart would burst from my chest, pounding so hard. I had a sheen of sweat over my body.
I called my husband letting the phone ring and ring until it went into voice mail. “Great, just when I need him to answer the most.” I turned the flashlight off and walked into every room of the house, turning on as many lights as I could. The kitchen was the last placed I needed to check. “I so don’t want to go in there. There are all kinds of cutting instruments. What if Dropsy jumps out at me with a knife.” I took a deep breath, squinched down to make myself shorter, and opened the door. When it the door was halfway open, I flung it the rest of the way. No Dropsy. I opened every cabinet and didn’t find a runaway clown.
“I must be losing my mind.” The phone started ringing, and I made a mad dash to pick it up. “Ray, Oh Ray. Please come home.”
“Sorry, sweet cheeks, it’s not Ray. Give us a kiss baby,” responded a gravelly voice. I shrieked and slammed the phone down. By now, my knees were shaking, and I staggered into the family room. I didn’t wait for the amenities of a glass and drank straight from the bourbon bottle. I coughed down the first glug and proceeded for a second shot. Carrying the bottle, I plodded over to the sofa flush against the wall. No one could sneak up on me while I sat here. Still holding the golf club, I took another swig from the bottle.
Feeling the strength of the alcohol, I decide to try searching upstairs again. I walked into my bedroom and started with the walk in closet. Opening the door cautiously, I turned on the light. So far so good. I walked further into the closet and stepped on the Ouija board. “If I break this, I wonder if I would free demons all over the world.” The closet door slammed shut, and the light dimmed. I turned around and in front of me stood Dropsy.
“Hiya baby. We are finally alone together.” He started moving towards me. I had no place to go. Again, I stepped on the Ouija board, and mist swirled from it.
“Now we’re cooking, toots. You and me together forever. I forgive you for letting me waste away in the box in the attic.”
“What are you talking about,” I said as the mist twisted and twirled now up to my waist. Parts of the mist that touched me froze my body. I started getting dizzy and issued a feeble ‘help’ then collapsed on the floor.
“Hon, I’m home from the business trip.” Ray walked around the rooms and turned off the lights. “Why are all the lights on, Maddie? Maddie, are you home?” Ray proceeded to untie his tie and walked upstairs. When he reached the bedroom, he saw two dolls lying on the
bed. One had a Dropsy’s clown face and wore a white tuxedo;
the other was a female one looking like Maddie, except she was
doll sized and dressed in a wedding dress.
