Lindsey's Jewels

Lindsey's Jewels
 
By: ~Kenword~
 

    Lindsey dumped the contents of her Halloween celebration into the middle of her bed. She had to pull out all of the chocolate and hide it before the mandatory rationing of her loot began. She was now a six year veteran of hoarding treats and at eight years old she was well developed in her tastes for candy, cookies and other sugary delicacies.
    
    Her pink bedspread was covered with the contents of her orange plastic pumpkin. Lindsey gasped for a moment and held her breath as a delicate bejeweled bracelet, a gold necklace with a gaudy silver locket and four gold rings with red and green stones glittered in the middle of the chocolates, Skittles and Candy Corn packets. For a moment it was as if the jewelry belonged with the treats. But then it dawned on Lindsey that no, this was no ordinary gift. This was something special just for her.
    
    She wasn’t exactly sure why she should tuck the jewelry away, but Lindsey carefully picked up each of the elegant pieces and tucked them between her socks, in her dresser’s top drawer.
    
    Her care for the jewelry had put the rest of her loot at risk for rationing and she could hear her mother and father coming down the hall. Lindsey almost moaned as it became clear she could not stash a single bit of her chocolate.
    
    “Oh my goodness,” Lindsey’s mom said, “Look at how generous all of our neighbors have been this year.”
    
    “Lindsey, you are so lucky,” her dad said, leaning over to finger some of the pieces of candy.
    
    Lindsey flinched as the words “lucky” and “generous” found their mark in her defeated soul. “Why didn’t I just give up the jewelry?” she thought, “There is a lot more chocolate this year.”
    
    “May I have a piece?” her dad asked, “I especially love the chocolate bars in these yellow packages. Is it ok?”
    
    “Yes daddy,” Lindsey replied meekly.
    
    “Darling, you are so wonderful,” said Lindsey’s mom, “You know how fond I am of these candies with almonds and chocolate, May I have a piece as well?”
    
    Lindsey felt taunted. She knew everything was going to be taken away. Every year they took nearly everything after the trick or treating was done, but they usually weren’t so cruel about it.
    
    “Yes mommy,” Lindsey said hoping she could keep herself from crying.
    
    “Well dear, all of the candy appears to be wrapped,” Lindsey’s mom said pushing the brightly colored paper covered goodies all about the bed before picking up her favorite, “I think it is safe to let Lindsey have it all this year. What do you think?”
    
    “I agree dear,” Lindsey’s dad said. “Of course you will be just as careful with what you have this year as you have in the past?” her dad said with a wink and a smile. It was the kind of statement that she would think about for days. Of course they knew her little tricks, just like they seemed to know everything. She thought about the jewelry in the top drawer of her dresser and wondered if they knew about her precious treasure as well.
    
    Lindsey divided up her candy into many piles to be hidden in her room and in her doll house in the back yard. Her chubby hands worked efficiently and her mind stayed occupied on her task. She willed herself to not think about the jewelry in her drawer. She knew she could not examine it closer until she was certain her parents were asleep.
    
    As Lindsey waited for her parents to fall asleep, she took several of her chocolates and snuggled into the warm pillows under her pink comforter. She soon drifted away pretending that she was a princess and deserved the beautiful jewels hidden in her sock drawer. She was devising plans to enjoy them as her very own regal treasure when her thoughts became a dream and she fell into a light sleep
    .
    Her dream was chocolate filled and delicious until a voice floated into her mind from her dresser drawer. “Lindsey, Lindsey, why have you taken us away from the body of our master?” The tone of the voice was muffled as though coming from beneath a pile of cotton socks. It repeated the question twice more and then became louder as more voices joined the chant, “Lindsey, why have you taken us away from the body of our master?” Lindsey strained in her dream to hear more clearly the haunting call. “Oooooo, we so miss our master’s neck, our master’s hands, our master’s fingers, give our master’s body back Lindsey!” Whether induced by guilt, chocolate or a vivid imagination a headless, handless body sat up at the foot of her bed.
    
    Lindsey’s whole being shrieked in terror, as her torso shot straight up in her bed. Her chocolate filled hands thrust at the air where the image of the mutilated body had appeared.
    
    Her parents burst through her door flipping on the light to Lindsey’s room. For a moment there was silence between them as Lindsey saw the panic on her parent’s face and they saw her body, littered with candy wrappers and dripping in sweat. Her hand pointed directly to the top drawer of her dresser.
In that moment of silence they all heard the sound of girls laughing. Lindsey’s dad ran to the window in time to see a car speed away from the curve. Lindsey’s mom opened the drawer and pulled out the necklace with its gaudy locket still vibrating with the sounds of laughter.
    
    Lindsey’s head dropped to her knees as she tried to shake off the sounds, tastes and images that were so real and so viciously woven together that she couldn’t separate one from the other.
    
    Both her mom and dad engulfed her with their sympathy, hugs and love trying their best to exorcise the terror now woven in Lindsey's tortured heart.