GoT Writings

House of Black and White GoT Challenge Prompt 79: w.c. 1064

79. During a game of hide and seek you decide to hide in the toy chest in the basement. When no one comes looking for you for a while, you get out of it, to find the basement altered and everything covered in dust.
[w.c. 1064]

“You know that’s a kid’s game?”
Tony nodded. “And it’s fun if you play it right. Know what I mean?”
Yeah, I knew what he meant. While the conversation carried on around us, I ran my finger up Tony’s arm. He had an intense stare. I was not at all skilled at this thing called flirting, but I had to at least give it some kind of effort -- didn’t I? I mean it was 1980 and and everything was about big, exaggerated and over the top. I had no idea if I was doing it right or not. I just knew I had to try something – anything. Just had to.
Someone’s idea of a dumb joke was to make Tony “it.” They all witnessed my dabble at flirting and they could not play fair? With their devious choice made, I had to find some way to telegraph, “So are there all areas of the house open for hiding, like even the basement?” Most of the others groaned their yes, and Tony? Well, Tony refused to hide his grin.
I could hear the cat calls as I ran down the basement stairs, “How long do you need down there?”, “Need a chaperone down there?”, “Need help down there?” I found a perfect spot. As I slid into the toy chest, I shouted back, “I’m ready, you morons!”
The strange part of the hiding place was that I could not hear anything. I expected it to smell like some kind of wood, but nothing, not even a damp dusty smell. While I waited, I ran my fingers over the sides and the lid of the box. I did not notice the indentation patterns when I got in. “Ouch!” They were weird, I swear the wood bit me! I stuck my finger and my mouth expecting the sweet salty taste of blood, not this turpentine wood sap taste.
I had to get out of here. My legs were starting to cramp and I did not hear the "All ye, all ye, outs in free" either. There was a rule about changing spots, too. I would invoke the rule.
“Ouch!” The lid was heavier than I remembered and I banged my head trying to open the thing. “Ahhh! Gross!” Robbing the bump on my head, was like putting my hand in a bucket full of cobwebs. How could there be cobwebs inside the chest in such a short time. There was nothing like this when I got in and now there were spiders in here! It gave me motivation to get that lid open. I flipped over on to my hands and knees and pushed the lid open by arching my back – believe me I moved fast!
Stepping out, I see the basement altered and everything covered in dust. My body was starting to stiffen and I was shrinking. I could tell something was seriously wrong and that if I did not get out of this basement, I would not have the height or the agility to make the stairs and I would have to live the remainder of my days, assuming I had a remainder, down here.
It took a while, but I did make it out of the basement. While I still could move, I covered as many rooms as possible to find out if there was anyone familiar here or anything familiar that would tell me where or when this was.
Praise all things holy, there is a full length mirror in the wash room. Blame all things holy for the nightmare staring back at me. I did not have cobwebs in my hair, it was just my hair turning to hard wood. I looked again and my fingers were hardening where my fingers had formed into what could loosely look like I could hold something. My toes had already hardened, I made a stilted scissor step into what looked like a parlor.
I found a quiet place to sit down facing a doll that looked like Tony, while waiting for the transformation to complete.
It was an interesting process. That was the thought I had when the transition completed. Not fear, not anger, just “this should be interesting.” I just wanted to be looking at Tony when it happened. I smiled, and kept my eyes open.
It took several more hours, but eventually my mouth hardened into the smile, my nose sealed shut and my limbs and torso were pulled into a permanent position.
This is how I existed for many years -- staring at Tony. The good thing was that I could not feel or smell. I could be lifted and flung across a room and not feel anything. They could pull me out of the dog’s mouth and I did not feel anything. They could walk by me and make all sorts of body noises and I did not smell a thing. That was a blessing, or as close to one as a wooden doll can get. The only senses I retained were sight and hearing. Why? I could not tell you. There were many things that I wish I did not see and even more I wish I did not have to hear, but this is the way of the curse.
Over the years, others joined the collection. A small child, a police officer, a mother, a father, a grandpa, a vagrant, a dog, a cat, the list grew steadily. Each because they had to examine the toy chest or because they put a doll in their mouth.
Each new addition released a secret. The New Ones are how I know I am made of witch wood. I know that my parent tree was on Native land and the white settlers cut it and made a toy chest out of it. The spirits in the wood said that Tony did find my hiding place, but incurred the same fate as I. The spirits would not tell me why I must suffer the curse, only that Tony did not want me to think he forgot me and did not want to be alone. That is so sweet in a warped kind of manner, don’t you think?
If there was a way to break the curse, the spirits were not sharing it with me. It is the way of the witch wood to only release the curse when justice has been served.