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Frederica Athena Madoc sat at the dinning
room table. A cup of coffee in one hand; a pencil in the other. Her first
day of coming back to school and she already had homework! Last year it was
so easy. You add one plus one you get two. That was all. Now she had to memorize
equations, theories, formulas, and even element tables.
That wasn't her problem though. Her photographic memory took care of that.
She had to leave her family and friends to take these new and improved advanced
classes! She missed them all so much it hurt. She was just glad her sister
had come to visit. The advanced classes started in July instead of September.
Her sister was visiting her the last few days of her summer, and helped their
grandmother (who Athena was currently living with) while she was away at school.
This worked fine for the rest of the family but not Athena who ached to see
a familiar face in this strange land.
She tugged a whisp of her burnt sienna hair behind her ear. "If the advanced classes don't fry my brain the loneliness will," she sighed. The way things always worked out was that she would come home to an empty house while her sister went with her grandmother to some stores and what not. She still hasn't spoken to her except for hello and goodnight.
Athena took a sip of her mocha-chino, and tried to concentrate on her work. Her efforts however were in vain. Athena began to get hot. Her gut felt like it was balling up inside. Whether it was PMS or whether it was because this was her seventh cup of mocha-chino what happened next was hard to imagine. The book in front of her, which she had been staring so intently at, burst into flames.
Athena, to her surprise, didn't jump up and scream. Despite her enormous fear of fire. Instead she sat there watching the glorious dancing of the blaze as if it were meant to console her. That was until a large splash of water interrupted the show. She looked up. Her grandmother stood over her holding a dewy bucket. Her sister snickering not far behind.
"What on God's great earth are you doing?" She exclaimed slamming the bucket onto the table. As if she wasn't hot enough she could already feel her face turning red. "Do you know how much these things cost?" She asked again grabbing up the book and waving it's charred remains in the air. Athena's eyes began to water. She hated it when people got mad at her.
"Yes mam…" she mumbled looking to the floor.
"Don't you 'Yes mam' me! You tell me how I'm supposed to pay for this!" Athena looked at the book then at her grandmother. Just then the old woman's face softened and Mystery stopped laughing. In the silence Athena could hear small short sizzles.
"What?" she asked when her grandmother rushed from the room. Mystery stood her mouth open and pulled out her pocket mirror. Athena gawked at her velvet face, her tears evaporating before they could hit her cheeks.
***
Mystery snickered at her sister as she fumbled over her words.
"What a dope" she thought
to herself." she really shouldn't be THAT embarrassed"
grandma came in with the old mercury thermometer the two sisters had seen
countless times before.
"Now Athena," grandma scolded " You should really take better care of yourself. You look flushed…probably too many moca-whata-ma-call-it …oh that coffee shit."
"Mocha-chino, Granny"
"I don't care what you call it!
in my day we didn't drink mocha-whatever. Coffee was coffee…those were
the good old days…children shouldn't drink that nonsense. It'll stunt
your growth!"
Athena rolled her eyes and opened her mouth so that her grandmother could
take her temperature. She placed the cool glass cylinder under her tongue
and her mouth instantly filled with the bitter metallic twang of mercury.
"GOD!" Athena shouted as she spit out the foul liquid.
"HEAVENS CHILD!!" granny yelled . automatically she placed her hand on her grand-daughters forehead, and instantly jerked it away in pain.
"OH MY GAWD!!!" Mystery screamed running up to her grandmother.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!?!?!" mystery turned on her sister. Athena began to hyperventilate uncontrollably. she reached for her faithful brown paper bag but incinerated leaving nothing but ashes . a tear sizzled on her cheek and with a high pitched shriek she ran out the screen door, which melted. mystery followed her sister. Athena disappeared around the corner of the house. mystery easily found her sister's trail by following the singed grass and the faint smell of smoke. she kicked into high gear and sped around the corner nearly tripping over her sister who was curled up into a fetal position on the ground.
"I…didn't mean to…" Athena whimpered.
"It's okay, sis. I'm sure granny
will be just fine."
mystery attempted to comfort her.
"YOU DIDN'T SEE IT! YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT I DID TO HER HAND! YOU DON'T GET IT! YOU DON'T…you didn't see it.." Athena burst into tears. her face was no longer red and her tears were able to fall freely from her blood shot eyes. mystery bent over to hold her sister and it was then that she saw the "change". it began at the roots of her hair and finished at the ends, slowly but noticeably Athena's hair turned red.
"Athena…" mystery whispered, putting her arm around her sister's shoulders and trying to not to notice the freakishly changed scalp "let's go back inside…"
***
"No." Athena wailed wrenching from her sister's grasp.
"I…I can't go back…not after…" she broke off.
"Hey whoa hold on! You're not going to go back home ever…Can I have your room."
"You don't live here."
"So. I can use it for storage."
"I'm gonna go home sometime, just not now!"
"Oh, where you gonna go?"
"I dunno. Somewhere far. Maybe Florida. I always wanted to go to Florida."
Mystery wandered aimlessly along the
shop filled avenue, glancing at the colorful displays with little interest.
Her feet hurt and Athena's wallet was empty. She reached the lamppost that they
had agreed to meet at when she had run into her sister at a coffee shop. Or
was it the OTHER lamp post? Didn't matter one way or another Athena would find
her…she just might have to wait a while.
Mystery noticed a group of gawking, drooling women behind her. She lodged her
way through the crowd to see what the big deal was. After pushing a fat lady
out of her way, mystery looked up at the display and decided that the fat woman
had just fallen on her, and killed her, and she was in heaven. Before Mystery's
now watering eyes was the biggest display of almost complete male nudity she
had ever witnessed.
"thong underwear…" she salivated "what a PACKAGE!!"
A bell rang as someone left the store.
"Athena?!?!"
"MYSTERY?!?!"
"What are you doing here?" they said in unison.
"Never mind what I'M doing here… what are YOU doing here?" mystery
felt her face flush.
"I was…um…doing a report on…um…the fiber content of…men's
underwear! Yeah, that's it!"
"Mam…" a man in a kilt came to the door and handed a black fanny
pack to Athena. "You left this in the dressing room."
"thanks…" Athena snatched the bag and clipped it around her waist
trying to ignore her sister's hysteric laughter.
***
"The beach!" Mystery exclaimed as they stepped onto the sand.
"Finally," Athena mumbled. "I was getting hot."
At that moment two guys laughing hysterically at each other stopped in front
of the two. Taking one glance at Athena they began to swarm.
"Hey baby," smirked one. "You come up to my cabin and see a big
surprise?" Athena's face grew red as she turned away.
"What's the matter sweet thing you shy?" asked the other.
"I can fix that no problem." said the first pervert.
"leave me alone." Athena mumbled.
"Ooh I think the…" the comment was cut off. A large wave sailed
over their heads. The men stared in awe as the tormenting rush of water engulfed
them and took them to there much needed embarrassment.
***
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!?" mystery yelled into Athena's ear.
"I did that!"
"It's okay…" Athena was ready for a sob fest, but to her surprise…
"THAT WAS SOOOO COOL!!!" Mystery shrieked.
"Just imagine it! no more math tests! 'Ms. Madoc will you please come to
the board and work question three?' SPLASH! you're gone! 'Ms. Madoc please come
to the office. We found something suspicious in your locker' SPLASH! Your car
is going on a fishing trip without you! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" She
was ecstatic.
"that's nice mystery…" Athena interrupted. "But…you
HAIR…"
"my WHAT?" mystery ran to the porta-pottie and came out in a state
of shock.
"It's PURPLE!!!"
"Actually it's more a shade of maroon…"
"and my head isn't the only place that has it…" Mystery went
on.
"too much information!"
"it…it has to be the chlorine or something…"
"but…we're at the ocean there isn't any chlorine."
"shut up!"
***
The look on Mystery's face was unbearable.
Athena would have burst out laughing if a red laser hadn't flown over her head.
"Cool!" Mystery exclaimed staring at the hole in the porta-pottie
wall. Athena lunged for her sister. "Why are thy shooting at US?"
She yelled over the noise pulling her herself and her sister out of harms way.
She looked through the gap in the human wall surrounding the gunman and immediately
knew why. A tall thin man dressed in blue with a strange visor over his head
was dodging…himself. Only there was something wrong with that other self.
Something Athena didn't like. The man wasn't alone. A red haired woman stood
only four feet away from the battle. She seemed confused as if she couldn't
tell which one to attack. The woman looked up, she seemed to notice Athena as
well. Out of a reflex reaction Athena looked away. When she glanced back the
human wall had re-patched itself.
"She was looking strait at us," Mystery mumbled. "Athena we've
gotta…" She didn't hear the rest. Athena rushed to the scene.
"HEY!" she yelled hoping to distract the evil other. Just then a scream
arose from the dense crowd. The people thinned. One of the men was being beaten
down. For the first time Athena felt her new powers would come in handy. "HEY!"
she shouted again this time grabbing a stray water-shoe. She could fell the
rubber grow warm in her hands. She threw it to the evil clone. "Take this!"
The flaming shoe pegged the man on the head. The fire quickly spread from the
shoe to his hair. "Oh God what've I done," Athena mumbled the memory
of her grandmothers tortured hand filling her eyes. Suddenly a clump of water
splashed onto the fire. When the gush had passed the mans form began to shift.
In fact it wasn't even a man. The red haired woman took this as a sign. She
attacked without warning knocking the green woman unconscious. Athena looked
behind her. Mystery stood near the shore her maroon hair glistening in Athena's
tearing eyes. Gratefully she smiled.