Writing Prompt: Who was scary in your neighborhood?
She loved when her mom finished off a carton of soda. That meant she got to take the bottles back to the store, cash them in and head a little further up Main Street to the Five and Dime, for a brown sack of penny candy or press-on fingernails. But it wasn’t the treats that she got to buy with the bottle money that excited her, so much as being able to browse alone in the store and make mental lists of all the things she wanted.
They lived in the big white house on the corner at the time, only a block from Main Street and the grocery store. Halfway up the block on the left was a doctor’s office that sat next to the stone building where the Rainbow Girls gathered. She never knew what they did or who they were, but she knew they were the Rainbow Girls because of the long matching dresses they wore with coordinating hair bows, each a different color of the rainbow. They were beautiful and she always dreamed of being one.
The parking lots of these two buildings connected in the back and merged with the grocery store lot. This day, as she did on most, she took the shortcut and entered the store from the rear entrance by the little loading dock. A wooden ramp led up to the door and you had to walk through a small storage area to get into the store. She didn’t think people were actually supposed to use this as an entrance, but she always did and no one ever told her different.
Once inside, she walked along the back of the store, past the meat department on her right and then up the last isle to the register at the front. She wasn’t allowed to go to the Five and Dime on this trip, because she had to buy more Pepsi, but her mother had given her money for that, which meant she still got to keep the bottle money for herself. So, she cashed in the bottles then browsed the isles for a few minutes, looking for something she might buy instead of penny candy, before she made her way to the soda isle for her ‘must get’ purchase. She hated trips when she had to bring home Pepsi, because the carton of full bottles was so heavy and it seemed like it took her forever to make the trek home, as she had to stop and switch hands when the cardboard handle threatened to cut off her fingers. But it was a small price to pay for the privilege of her own spending money.
As she wandered the isles she suddenly had the eerie sensation that someone was watching her, but whenever she turned and looked back there was no one there. As she reached the soda isle, still feeling like she was being followed, she looked up at the big round mirror that hung high in the corner and saw a man peek around the corner, look in her direction then quickly jump back. Her little heart lurched in her chest then started beating double-time, as she grabbed a carton of Pepsi off the shelf and raced to the front of the store. By the time she got back up front to the register, he was already there. It was Norman Bates; standing, staring, unmoving, in all his creepiness. In hindsight she should have said something to the cashier, but of course she didn’t. After all, that was back in the day when it was safe to spend the day outside, running carefree exploring the neighborhood and the term Stranger Danger hadn't yet been invented!
She left the store the same way she entered, because her GG used to say that you always leave the same way you enter or its bad luck, and thankfully he was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t doodle around on her way home, but kept looking behind her to make sure he wasn’t there. She raced up the driveway between the doctor’s office and the Rainbow Girls headquarters and safely reached the sidewalk and felt relief wash over here. Until she stopped to transfer the carton to her other hand and looked up ahead and saw Norman standing by a tree; a tree that she had to pass in order to reach home base! She knew she wasn’t supposed to, but this was an emergency situation, so she grabbed the soda’s up in her arms, looked both ways then quickly crossed the street. He stood motionless, but she felt his eyes on her nonetheless. She passed him on the opposite side of the street, quickened her pace and looked back to see him crossing to her side of the street. She started to run then, crossed the street one more time and he followed. It was a struggle to run with the carton of soda and she thought surely the bottles would break the way they were banging against each other, but she never once thought about putting them down.
By the time she got to her corner she was screaming for her mom. Wherever she was in that big old house, her mother heard the screaming and came running out onto the front porch. When she saw her there, her mother was the most beautiful and comforting sight she’d ever seen and she knew she was safe. They quickly went inside, closing and locking the door behind them, as Norman crossed the street then stood on the sidewalk outside their house and looked in. They watched through the sheer curtains, as he just stood there staring at the house, then suddenly he started to walk away. They thought he was gone and made their way through the house to the kitchen, her mother asking a million questions on the way. When they got there her mother looked out the window to see how far up the street he was, but instead she saw Norman in the backyard, standing by the swing set looking toward the house. That’s when her mother called the police.
They came right away and she was disappointed that they didn’t have their lights flashing or sirens on, nor did they handcuff Norman and take him away…locking him up in a far away place where she never had to see or fear him again. They just talked to him, right there in the back yard and then a few minutes later, waited and watched while he walked away and disappeared down the street.
Norman was mentally challenged. He lived in the country on the outskirts of town, in an old farmhouse atop a hill with his mother. He liked to walk; that’s what he did…every day. He got up, got dressed, had breakfast and then set out walking. Sometimes he’d wander the country roads alone and other times he came into town. This day he was in town and saw a little girl that sparked his interest. He followed her through the store to see what she was doing then followed her home to see where she lived. He thought he might ask her to play once she got there. That little girl was me and Norman was the scariest person in my neighborhood.
Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration examines the significance or relevance of the idea that the U.S. Constitution was, as many believe, divinely inspired. How much did that belief matter to founders of the nation and how much does it matter no
Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration examines the significance or relevance of the idea that the U.S. Constitution was, as many believe, divinely inspired. How much did that belief matter to founders of the nation and how much does it matter no
