The official blog of Denise M. Baran-Unland, author. Discover her books for all ages at bryonyseries.com.
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Friday, July 30, 2021
Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, July 24 through July 30
Good morning!
I have twenty-three feature stories to share with you today - with another six that haven't posted to The Herald-News website yet, so watch for them over the weekend.
Here's a quick summary of where I'm at, fiction-wise.
Rebekah has approved Cornell Dyer and the Mistical Being, and I'm waiting for Sue Midlock, the artist for The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, to feel well enough to work on art.
Sue had surgery a few weeks back, and she is still struggling with a lot of pain. Please send her good thoughts.
Timothy has Cornell Dyer and the Calcium-Deficient Bones mentally worked out. We had scheduled a very early morning breakfast meeting (he loves to discuss these over breakfast and coffee at local restaurants), but he may now have a work committment.
And then, for down the road, Sarah had a crazy dream that sounded perfect for An Adventure of Cornell Dyer mystery. Bur she wants time to draw some sketches, a map, and write the "rules." It's called Cornell Dyer and the House of Broken Portals.
Bertrand the Mouse is still missing, but Bertrand's Uncle Bartie is in town to help find his mischievous little nephew.
I'm currently working on tons of character outlines for all the new characters (and returning minor characters who now have secnodary or major role) in the second book of the Limbo trilogy: Call of the Siren. I also spent some time last weekend re-reading and doing some editing on the portions already written.
I have in my possession the first piece of completed cover art for the "Girls of the BryonySeries" series for tween girls. It's beautiful and it shows that artist Jennifer Wainright can draw anything from werewolves to portraits! She's working on art for the next two books (I have eight planned in all).
In fact, most of the books are outlined. One is nearly ready to go and a second is about a third of the way. Cool, huh?
Now back to the twenty-three feature stories. Simply click on the link of the story that looks interesting to you. Happy scrolling!
But before the stories, I have a list of additional resources and information. Please check them out, too -
Finally, if you'd like to find more kindness in your life, consider this book.
And have a great Friday!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Sue's Diner is a fictional restaurant in the fictional Munsonville that only exists in the BryonySeries.
Each Sunday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks or will be featured in an upcoming cookbook.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year, well, except this year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries.
And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.
BRYONYSERIES BOOKS
For books and more information about the series, visit bryonyseries.com.
BRYONYSERIES EVENTS
A full month of virtual events can be found at bryonyseries.com/calendar-of-events-1.
QUESTIONS
Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.
FEATURES
Joliet West class of 1981 to host 40th class reunion: RSVPS are appreciated but not required
Pets of the Week: July 26: Will County rescues have dogs and cats for adoption
Would you like to work at Morris Hospital?: Attending this job fair on Aug. 12 is a good 1st step
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"
Thursday, July 29, 2021
A Tiny Snowbell
I loved this book as a child and read and re-read it many times.
The only part I didn't like was the ending, when the cat turned out to be just an ordinary cat. So I fixed that in the BryonySeries.
Some excerpts:
“Me-ow,” wailed the white cat at the back door. She pressed her little, pink nose against the glass, pleading to the house’s occupants for entrance.
Brian dropped his spoon into the cereal bowl, sloshing milk over the
sides. He turned wheedling eyes on his mother, who refused to budge.
“For the hundredth time, no! We are not keeping that cat.”
“But Mom, it’s freezing outside. Now that Scooter’s gone….” Brian’s voice broke. “I mean, what if Scooter was cold and hungry and no one let him in?”
--------------------------------
Nothing was there, except for Snowbell contentedly purring at her feet. Melissa touched her chin and her neck. They were whole, untouched, sound.
-------------------------------------
John still sat there, intently watching her, the same way Snowbell watched mice. Then she remembered what Snowbell did to mice.
--------------------------
Snowbell’s possessions were packed and waiting at the front door. Julie pushed Snowbell at Brian with such force he almost dropped her. Then she shoved Snowbell’s supply box onto the front porch. “Don’t ever ask me to watch your creepy cat again!”
----------------------------
Some trinket boxes were oval, but all had either fairy or animal-shaped knobs. One cat resembled Snowbell, for its fur was white; its staring eyes were blue; and its head cocked to one side.
Julie hugged Melissa, but she still looked grave. “I didn’t overreact.
Snowbell is definitely weird.”
---------------------------
“Brian,” she said, “does Snowbell ever stare at you, for no reason, I
mean?”
“Of course, she does. She’s a cat.”
-------------------------
“Snowbell’s torticollis stumps me,” the veterinarian said. “Her tests are normal, no infections or tumors. The only other possible cause is a past head trauma. Bring her back if you notice other symptoms, but otherwise, don’t worry. She seems to have adjusted to it.”
-------------------------------
Angry scratches crisscrossed her left arm, from her shoulder to back of
her hand. Snowbell jumped off her bed. Darned
cat!
When I was very young, younger than five, I had a white plush/stuffed toy mother cat and three kittens that sat near the pillows on my unmade bed.
And then one day, they were gone.
My mother had thrown them away. She said the doctor told her to do it.
I didn't understand them it was because of my asthma, although that would not be officially diagnosed for at least another decade.
Now the other day, this arrived for me in the mail, a "just because" gift from Rebekah.
She is handmade and a perfect Snowbell, don't you think?
You may also enjoy this short story.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
The Perfect Birthday Gift: A Shower Curtain
Yes, a shower curtain is a perfect birthday gift.
Especially when the recipient is sixty, loves waterscapes, and will be moving into a townhome where she will have a bathroom of her own.
One's own bathroom probably doesn't sound like a great luxury. But I raised six kids (so a total of eight people) in a house with only one bathroom.
And then when we moved to Channahon, that single bathroom was also shared with up to three stepchildren.
In fact, we never had a "two bathroom" option (and the Channahon bathroom was small - not even large enough for a bathtub. It had a tiny freestanding shower thgat blocked the tiny window) until we began The Higher Ark, a youth group for our church, and the village allowed us to put a porta potty in the backyard on a semi-permanent basis (i.e. seven years).
That porta potty was a real blessing in the last weeks when the well failed, and we had eight people in the home for two weeks without running water or septic while we rehomed everyone.
So this shower curtain...and hooks, and liner...
...and soap dish...
...for the soap Rebekah bought for me a few weeks ago as a "just because" gift...is just perfect for me.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Sue's Diner: Jelly Cake
This week's recipe is authentically Victorian and is adapted from Miss Beecher’s domestic receiptbook: designed as a supplement to her Treatise on domestic economy.
You can try our modified recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.
But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place.
By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?
Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).
For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.
Monday, July 26, 2021
On Fire
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Saturday, July 24, 2021
"Respect and a New Hire" by Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara
Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, sent this piece earlier in the week.
I'm guessing it's an excerpt from a sequel to Ruthless that he's currently writing, for the piece features Sheriff Matt from the first book.
It's got a nice O. Henry twist at the end. Enjoy!
The sheriff was polite enough but didn’t seem to think that a five-year veteran of the CPD had the right stuff to patrol the roads of Munsonville. What was his problem? Black, female, being by the book …or did he hold suspect her roommate; which of those was the real reason? He deployed her as temporary but insisted on riding with her every shift. It had been nearly a week and not one peep out of the overnight dispatcher. At the end of her last shift, Marsha heard Sheriff Matt telling someone that tonight likely would be her last.
“Home invasion in progress,” came over the radio.
She drove hot; Matt knew the place and person. Dome lights, police cam,
action – but Sheriff Matt wasn’t about body cams. Anyway, they were at the
disturbance inspecting the entrances.
“No evidence of break in,” she told him.
That pompous sheriff seemed awfully relaxed.
“Break down the door?” But smartass lifted the doormat and pulled a key.
“Go first. Show me what you got.”
Two minutes later, they were back in the cruiser and Marsha was fuming.
The perpetrator was still in the house, and Matt looked like he found the flaw
he’d been looking for all along.
“What!” she snapped.
“Could have done worse, but you could have done better.”
“Did you know that a brownie was washing dishes?” she fumed.
“Yeah,” the sheriff allowed. “Ramon cleans old man Daven’s place every
Saturday. Do you think we shouldn’t have responded?”
“Of course not,” Marsha conceded. “It’s just…”
“That a brownie was doing the cleaning? The first thing you did right,
by the way, is seeing a brownie and not a dangerous burglar. You didn’t shoot
him when he didn’t freeze or mix it up with him when he told you to find your
own old man to clean for. Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of mythical creatures
that are dangerous. That’s why we came out this way. Could have been a ghost,
werewolf, or vampire that just so happen to terrorize the old man the same
night Ramon cleans…dementia, get it?”
“You should have told me. What if I did shoot?”
“Ramon would have fixed the bullet holes. He doesn’t believe in
revolvers. You believe in brownies.”
Marsha
sighed and spilled.
“My wife is an old world farmer,” she said. “That’s why I quit Chicago
for a place we could raise food and our two baby boys.”
“Still want the job?”
“That depends on what I did wrong,” Marsha responded suspiciously.
“Not too much. You could have showed more respect to Ramon. He takes
care of the old man because we humans don’t. It might have helped if you’d
picked up a dry cloth and started drying the dishes while you talked to him.
Brownies are good friends to cops looking for bad elves and fairies.”
She got it.
“So what do we write in our report?” Marsha asked.
“Nobody hears about this but our own DMC.”
“Detroit Medical Center?”
“Department of Mythical Creators…I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”
Friday, July 23, 2021
Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, July 17 through July 23
Good morning!
I have twenty-one feature stories to share with you today - with another eight that haven't posted to The Herald-News website yet, so watch for them over the weekend.
Here's a quick summary of where I'm at, fiction-wise.
I'm waiting for Rebekah to read and approve Cornell Dyer and the Mistical Being (she's worked a lot of extra hours this month and is chilling this weekend as she had her second COVID shot yesterday), and I'm waiting for Sue Midlock, the artist for The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, to feel well enough to work on art.
Sue had surgery a few weeks back, and she is still struggling with a lot of pain. Please send her good thoughts.
Timothy has Cornell Dyer and the Calcium-Deficient Bones mentally worked out. We just need our schedules to sync up.
And then, for down the road, Sarah had a crazy dream that sounded perfect for An Adventure of Cornell Dyer mystery. Bur she wants time to draw some sketches, a map, and write the "rules." It's called Cornell Dyer and the House of Broken Portals.
Bertrand the Mouse is still missing, but Bertrand's Uncle Bartie is in town to help find his mischievous little nephew.
I'm currently working on tons of character outlines for all the new characters (and returning minor characters who now have secnodary or major role) in the second book of the Limbo trilogy: Call of the Siren.
I have in my possession the first piece of completed cover art for the "Girls of the BryonySeries" series for tween girls. It's beautiful and it shows that artist Jennifer Wainright can draw anything from werewolves to portraits! She's working on art for the next two books (I have eight planned in all).
Now back to the twenty-one feature stories. Simply click on the link of the story that looks interesting to you. Happy scrolling!
But before the stories, I have a list of additional resources and information. Please check them out, too -
Finally, if you'd like to find more kindness in your life, consider this book.
And have a great Friday!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Sue's Diner is a fictional restaurant in the fictional Munsonville that only exists in the BryonySeries.
Each Sunday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks or will be featured in an upcoming cookbook.
Check out the recipe here.
WRITERS
If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year, well, except this year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.
Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.
BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries.
And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.
BRYONYSERIES BOOKS
For books and more information about the series, visit bryonyseries.com.
BRYONYSERIES EVENTS
A full month of virtual events can be found at bryonyseries.com/calendar-of-events-1.
QUESTIONS
Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.
FEATURES
Long-tenured employee of Manhattan bank retires: Bee Robbins was the ‘face of the bank’
Pets of the Week: July 19: Will County rescues have dogs and cats for adoption
Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage."
Thursday, July 22, 2021
She Took the Time to Paint a Lake
In three blog posts from 2010 here and here and here, I talk about my love for "Woods, Water, and Michigan," of which all three made their way into the BryonySeries.
I mentioned that here because Jasmine has read all three books of the BryonySeries "drop of blood" trilogy, and she understands the importance of lakes.
And ever since we moved to this townhome two years ago (we're moving again in a couple of weeks), I've wanted to fill a long wall in my room with a painting of a lake.
Since them, Timothy has bought three paintings of lakes for me.
This one for Old Calendar Christmas January 7, 2020, that fits very nicely above my closet door.
So this is where the painting has stayed since then (with the Larry the Llama photo bomb).
Now for this past Christmas, Timothy bought another lake painting, one that's larger and lighter:
But let's just say 2021 has been extremely busy. I do admire the painting every day when I carefully moved the painting to take clothes out of my closet and then carefully set it back into place.
The goal is to actually hang it on a real wall in the new townhome.
But when I moved the paper aside, I saw this:
Yes, Jasmine painted them herself.
You know, for my new bathroom, she said. And she will even help to hang them, to help ensure they actually go on an actual wallk.
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Flowers from Timothy
As I was preparing to jump onto a WriteOn Joliet meeting last Thursdau, Timothy walked through the back door of my townhome with an enormous vase of flowers for my sixtieth birthday.
And a card...
And then he had to take the flowers outside for a better photo, placing them onto the patio furniture Jasmine bought me for Mother's Day (that I've only sat on once...so far).
And here are a few closeups because the flowers are really lovely.
We love flowers in our family. I used to own many vases (before we lost the house in Channahon), and I filled the house with cut flowers every week.
I remember the cashier in the checkout once exclaming, "What lovely flowers! Who are they for?"
My answer was swift: "Me!"
Timothy buys cut flowers for himself, too, and places them around his townhome. The tall vase has the flowers is he gave me for Mother's Day this year. They are next to a vase of flowers Rebkeah bought for herself the previous week.
Timothy bought me some beautiful purple roses for Mother's Day 2020, too.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
The Completed Cake
Rebekah, a pastry chef, started my birthday cake on the day before my birthday.
She baked a chocolate cake with ganache and strawberries dipped in dark chocolate with white chocolate drizzles, which I posted on social media.
All of this was homemade, put together on her work break and after she had clocked out for the day.
I had finally signed off the computer and wandered downstairs and into the kitchen to look for food and found the strawberries, just chilling in the refrigerator.
Now, I only had two candles on the cake, a six and a zero, because Rebekah was afraid that lighting sixty individual candles on the cake would melt the ganache.
Hey, two candles were easier on an old person's asthmatic lungs, too.
Yes, I did blow them out. Both of them.
And then just four of us ate the entire cake in under three days.
Rebekah did all of this in stages: first the strawberries and then the cake and ganache.
It set up in the refrigerator overnight. On my birthday (July 15, in case anyone wants to send me a gift next year), she placed the strawberries on top; we sang "Happy Birthday" and we ate it all in two days.
Monday, July 19, 2021
Sue's Diner: Kale Fritters
Although kale fritters (with bacon) sound as if they're from a decade ago when kale was super trendy, they're not.
This week's recipe is authentically nineteenth century and originall featured in the Bohemian-American Cookbook by Marie Rosicky, published by the Automatic Printing Company (www.autoprintomaha.com).
When Melissa
develops a crush on Henry, she boldly approaches him for a date. Henry seizes
his chance to enlarge Melissa’s world and gives her a kaleidoscope evening of
theatre, historical landmarks, and peasant food.
These kale fritters are super savory and would make a great appetizer. We just snacked on them, and they disappeared in a few hours.
You can try our modified recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.
But try the recipe this week. It will be gone some time next week. A new recipe will take it's place.
By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?
Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner. You can't really order, of course (wouldn't it be great if you could?).
For more BryonySeries recipes, check out our three cookbooks at our BryonySeries bryonyseries.com/general-store.
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Saturday, July 17, 2021
"She Was The Lake"
Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, sent me this lovely piece of "fan fiction" earlier this week, and I finally had time to read it on my birthday because I had the day off.
Ed has set this piece as after BeforeThe Blood. But as with all BryonySeries fiction, it's isn't necessary to read the other books to to follow and enjoy a particular story.
His idea is based on Bryony's bonding with Lake Munson in the fictional northern Michigan fishing vilage of Munsonville. Bryony bonds with the lake because the lake is central to the village, because her father is cold and distant, because her mother is dead.
She was the lake, and the lake was she.
From deep beyond deep, it called to her from depths, and her chest rose and fell its answer. Sometimes its waves were gentle and easy; sometimes they were short and choppy; sometimes they were rapid, harsh, and heaving with spume.
So - enjoy!
Dear MOMI,
Once
again, I find myself stealing from you. Would it be OK to continue along is
line with not only Susan, but Bryony as I can't seem to leave any of your characters
in the graves you dig for them.
There were too many empty graves in Munsonville. Susan
Betts had clawed her way through the dirt and grass, but she was not buried in
the cemetery. The good Reverend would not allow the bodies of known damned
planted in the same plot of earth as those just might have been saved.
“For all the good it did,” Susan thought bitterly.
If anyone wasn’t damned, it would be someone that
didn’t live, someone that hadn’t died, or someone that never heard of
Munsonville. You see, in that village, just like Hell itself, everyone was
welcome. All the fires of Munsonville Hell lived below the streets, shops,
shacks, boats, barns, and stables that proclaimed the village folk as too plain
to be dangerous, too unremarkable to be monsters, too unimportant to be the
hosts of Hell.
It was almost morning, and the full sun should melt
her like candlewax. She didn’t care, but the heat was like the fire she had
earned.
Susan.
Something called. It wasn’t him, but she ran down Blue
Gill Road anyway. Anyway or anywhere, it made no difference, but she was scared
and so she ran and kept running till anywhere became any road and anywhere was
the mansion. She ran too fast for a lady. But now, she stood and stared at the
hell that had come to her.
The Simons Mansion was not what it was. Instead it was
everything it ever was. A plot of uncut trees; the scaffolds of its construction
like a hundred little gallows; the palace where she labored as a servant of her
friend, the old hulk of disrepair, decay, and death; The infernal scream of
monstrous ruin on fire, the smoldering remains; and the empty plot of nothing;
all transposed on the same spot. The greatest part of it was the empty plot,
the least was its time as a palace.
This is where the bride got lost and found a locked
door that she had no key for. This is where her friend left her in shame. This
is where that terrible man…
Susan.
That call again! It was farther than it was at first.
“What!”
She heard her voice snap back impatiently as if she
had a right to ever raise her voice.
Susan, run away. Away is lake.
Was it the trees that whispered now?
“I want to go back. I want to go to Fisher Farm. I
want to be a summer sister again.”
No one lives there. Dead horses. No blood.
Susan, come lake.
“Cowboy?”
Mr. Munson doesn’t ride. No one does. Come
lake, Susan. Come me.
“But the Simons Mansion, why is it…”
No good, anymore. Vampires have parties
there. Pain, lies, and death. Lake, Susan. Now.
“It was a palace. You were its queen.”
Someone else now. No good. Not her or him.
What I am is where I am. Always is everywhere. Come now. Lake.
Knowledge pierced her undead mind.
“Bryony,” And she was there on her sandy shores. Now
she could hear the voice of her former friend in full sentences as she spoke
when she lived.
“Why did you leave me, Susan? Why, did you go and why
did you kill yourself?”
“I never left.”
“You left before you went somewhere else. You never
talked with me, not really. If you had, the whole thing would have been
different. I lost you to shame and you were dead before you died. We should
have stayed summer sisters. Failing that, I should have had you comb my hair
instead of Trudi. Then, I would have also combed yours.”
“I am a dirty tramp, ma’am. Somebody tells me to do something,
and I do it. That’s the way it is with a girl who lives and dies in bloody
filth. Even you. You married a king, became a queen and I had to do what you
say.”
“Don’t ma’am me!” Lake Munsonville darkens,
threatening to storm.
But Susan was so far beyond caring.
“Ma’am because I worked for you. Ma’am because if you
were my friend, you would have taken my baby instead of letting her go to the
lowest bidder who was so desperate for a baby that she even could coup with the
daughter of a filthy rag. If you’d have taken her, you wouldn’t have insisted
on one of your own. You’d still be alive, Ma’am.”
“Fancy talk for Susan Betts,” the lake quipped. Then
the waves calmed but the water darkened again. “He taught you.”
“He COMPELS me! I tried to stop him. I killed myself
so he wouldn’t turn me, but somehow he did anyway. He said he couldn’t tolerate
his blood whore sounding like an urban slut for the work he wants of me.”
“You don’t mean the twins, do you?”
“No. I was depressed. I was ashamed. But I would have
lived despite the back and forth with the twins just to have my baby grow. But
when he came to me, he made me evil. Do you know evil, Bryony? It’s not the twins’
they’re just hungry. Evil is when the only time it feels is when it hurts
someone. Nothing else matters. That’s him. That’s what he’s going to make me
when he finds where I’ve gone but I’ve nowhere to go. Kellen Wechsler is a
powerful vampire and maybe the Devil himself, but now he’s my master. I can’t
be friends with you Ma’am because I am to torment the son of his playthings. He
wants your baby to punish John Simons for his disobedience and I have to obey.”
“To be fair, it was the King that refused your baby.”
“Because his husband master made him,” Susan mocked
trying to hate the only friend she ever had.
“Perhaps, if you mean, John Simons but Henry Mathews
is the father who is also his husband master. None of that worries me. The
child was saved by all my many friends who fear nothing and are indifferent to
the plans of vampires, ghosts, or devils. It was the trees that saved him, and
you shall not harm him even if you must. You could forget all of that. You can
forgive me for what I did as Bryony, and I shall forgive all you’ve done as
Susan. But will you forgive what I do as Lake Munsonville?”
“What will you do as a lake that’s so terrible?”
“Drown all of the men.”
“You were Bryony then. You were as sad as I was.”
“Susan Betts, put your back to me and tell me what
Munsonville looks like.”
Susan tried to comply but once her back was to the
water, all she could see was the changing; the same thing she saw when she
looked to the mansion.
“It’s always changing. It’s the same, but it’s always
different. I don’t know.”
“And now look at me. Am I not always changing too.”
Of course she was, but always there was a limit and
regularity to the change. The lake swelled and retreated, froze over and
melted, grow choppy and calmed.
“I was once not Bryony, then I was but I was still the
lake. One day, I shall wash the sins of the village and drowned everything that
is not forest. I do not feel sad when I drown people. I bring them to where
they live in my belly. Come inside me, Susan. Your master will never find you
and I will never give you up.”
“What about the men that live in your belly, do they
have to do what you say?”
“They don’t do anything at all, nor do the fish or the
weeds. They just are, Susan. In my belly you will not call me Ma’am and of the
men that still fish on top of me, you can whisper to me who I should take and
who I should spare. We can be friends again. We shall be indifferent to the
place that didn’t love you enough.”
“But you’re cold and I’ll drown.”
“You don’t have to breath anymore. You’ll like the
cold once you get used to it. Vampires hide in deep water all the time. Come,
Susan. I can’t comb your hair, but I can wash you clean. You’ll never feel
ashamed in my belly. Just swim to my center and I’ll pull you in. Stay with me,
Susan.”
And for the first hundred years as a vampire, that’s what Susan Betts did.
