"I believe you, Candace...because Sharon and I have had our own weird...encounter. It started with this case Sharon and I found. There was a magazine with Sharon's picture in it except she was huge."
"Like in all her pictures." Brad snorted and Brenda smacked him hard. If Sharon doesn't know maybe they don't. Jim pulled out the photo in his pocket.
"This is going to be hard to believe but Sharon was thin when we entered this house. She looked kind of like this but not as thin." Jim turned the bony Sharon photo for all to see.
Regina tittered a high pitched laugh. "Oh what fun you are Jim. That's not Sharon. It is aunt Brenda."
"What?" Jim flipped the photo around in surprise. A flat-chested Brenda looking very malnurished was in the photo now.
"Where'd you get that photo Jim? I look like a prisoner of war in it." Brenda postured herself to show off her well placed curves. Candace looked somehow more frightened. Am they going crazy?
"No, he's right. Sharon couldn't have weighed more than I do when we got here. We need to turn Rick and Sharon back and get out of here." Candace said hoping for trust.
Back in the Kitchen
Sharon sipped her tea. The ruckus had died down and the food was baking or stewing. She had a moment to relax and take her sizable load off her feet. The warm smell of good food wafting from the ovens reminded her of home in Georgia. The masters of Hill House would be proud.
She awoke with a startled gasp. How long since I dozed off? The grandfather clock swinging softly across the room let her know it was just about time to finish the food. She'd only been out for twenty minutes. Sharon rolled herself out of her chair and back onto her tired feet. Food wouldn't finish preparing itself. Guests would be arriving any minute.
...
Candace's tears hadn't dried up. They had searched the room for anything that might help restore Rick but no one wanted to get too deep into anything given Regina's condition.
"Maybe if we found 'Rick' here something manly to wear he'd change back?" Jim conjectured.
"Yeah." Brad agreed, "I saw a bedroom that wasn't full of this girly garbage on the way up here."
The five returned the hallway with Candace holding little Regina's dainty hand. "Mommy, where are we going?" she kept asking sending Candace into a fresh bout of tears each time.
With Brad leading the way, they were quickly lost in the maze of halls. Jim was losing count of how many times he heard "Seriously, it was over here." Dusty paintings of people long dead watched their every mistaken turn. Finally they had found the stairs once more and the smell of baking bread filled the air. Just around the banister was a room with french wooden doors. They were swung open and a man's bedroom of dark wood could be seen beyond. Brad gave Jim a high-five in success.
Wed Oct 28 20:17:32 2009