Molly M.

Chapter One

The day that the smell of mint and fresh bread hung in the air was a day that no one would forget. As the dawn moved across 37 West street, Henry opened the door and ran across the hot sidewalk to catch the mail man, as he did every day. Sometimes the neighbors would be gossiping away while watering their ficuses and talking to each other from different sides of the fence that separated their yards, when they would be abruptly startled when they saw Henry running after the mail carrier. They always decided to be nice and cheer him on. The mail carrier was now used to this, and knowing Henry was a forgetful man, would without looking, instantly know that Henry would more or less run down the street in his pajamas carrying a pink envelope. The mailman would only take a couple of steps, then turn around back to 37 West Street instead of turning left onto North Street to retrieve the light blue envelope containing the hours Henry worked that week. Henry was a “work from home” technical support for the local high school. As you can see Henry was very much a man of routine. This is why what happened that day was so out of the ordinary. It all started when someone left the window open.

On the third floor of Henry’s house was a childrens nursery. Henry didn’t have any children nor did he want any children. The nursery was just simply there. Even if he did have children he might forget their names or birthday being so forgetful.

One drizzly Saturday morning Henry got a phone call. It was his sister. His least favorite sister to be more precise. It was a rather long call. Mostly her yelling at him that he never calls and that she would be coming over to spend the Fourth of July with him. Henry knew this day would come. Then, just to see how long before Godzilla arrived Henry looked at the calendar mopily and started to cry a little when he noticed that tomorrow was the Fourth of July. As he looked around his house while wiping away tears, Henry couldn’t find the remote to the T.V. He looked vigorously around the house then he found it under a small furry thing that at one point might have been a cold cut sandwich. He properly disposed of the furry cold cut sandwich, by burning it, then putting it in its own trash bag, then locking it in a rubbish can, then throwing away the rubbish can.

He suddenly remembered that his sister said something about her baby son coming with her and to prep the nursery for him. He jolted up the stairs twice, being that he fell down the stairs the first time to begin cleaning the nursery.

The nursery had a small wooden crib and next to it a small wooden rocking chair. The ceiling was a pale white and had little glow-in-the-dark stickers on it. The walls had a green background and small white doves all over it. Henry got the broom, the dust pan, the mop and the floor wax. He dumped the floor wax into a bucket and got the mop and started to mop the floor. He opened the window to try to make it less stuffy. As he opened the window a cloud of dust floated across the room and made it harder to see. He swatted the dust and coughed for about two minutes. He took the feather duster and dusted, He took the mop and he mopped. Lastly, he took the broom and he swept the rest of the tiny pieces of cobwebs that were laying on the floor.

It was now midnight and Henry was exhausted. He made himself some toast, it being the only meal he had that day, and went to bed for the night. Henry went up the stairs with his toast and went back down. The had forgot to unplug the toaster. He walked back to the kitchen and unplugged the toaster and then went up the stairs and to bed. His one mistake was he never closed the nursery window.

Chapter Two

Well, we might as well skip over the period of time while Henry is sleeping because that is quite boring. Let’s go back to the nursery. Something exciting is about to happen there. Exciting and mysterious. THose little white doves had now started to glow. They had been glowing the whole time Henry was cleaning. He was just too depressed that his sister was coming over to realize. It started with must two or three glowing and glittering doves, and by now about two dozen were glowing. They looked like sparklers and fireworks and little doo-dads that were just plain motivationally bright and sunny. If Henry was to walk in that very minute, he could have easily thought he was in a firework testing lab. They were glowing purple and red and yellow and silver. THey were humming to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. That was the strangest part. This went on for about an hour glowing silver and gold and teal and chartreuse. Then at about 3:45 in the morning, they just stopped. Stopped glowing, stopped sparkling, and stopped humming the classical children’s song all together. Then all of the sudden it happened. It was strange and mysterious and probably would never happen again. The paper doves that were attached to the green wall paper, fell off the paper. They laid there for a while and then sat up like humans. Then they flew out the small nursery window that Henry had left open. The doves probably didn’t see the telephone wire because they flew right into it. They fell to the ground like the pieces of a Jenga game. They almost immediately sprung up as if they were a jack-in-the-box.

They flew through trees and got pick by branches. They flew through the fountain in the middle of the lake making the warm night seem cooler. People gasped and went to capture the moment on their phones. The next day’s headlines in the newspaper told the story of the majestic doves flying through the night. Henry read about it but never knew that the little doves were his. When they returned at dawn they flew into their place on the wall, onto the exact place they had left from before.

Chapter Three

THUD!

Henry fell off of his bed and onto the cold wood floor. Today was July 4th. The alarm clock read 9:06. The day when the She-Devil and her evil sidekick would arrive. Henry walked out of his bedroom, walked straight into the kitchen, (literally into the kitchen wall) towards the cabinet and got down an old, chipped-in-multiple-places coffee mug. He poured his morning coffee and fiercely drank the coffee to get that horrible morning taste out of his mouth.

“Breakfast”, Henry thought to himself, wandering aimlessly around the kitchen. He trotted towards the pantry where he found himself looking for something appealing to consume. Sighing, over the frustration he bent down and got the cereal. The stale Chex Mix was unpleasant in Henry’s mouth. He set the bowl aside and sighed. In less than five hours his home would have an evil creature and a mini evil creature walking about.

“Why couldn’t she go see Harold?” said Henry. Harold was Henry’s younger brother who is always complaining that his sisters and brothers never come and see him.

“Or Janey, or Nelson, or maybe even visit Valerie in the hospital?” Henry continued flinging his hands through the air and spinning around as he said each name of his siblings. He now realized that he was talking to himself and stopped.

Henry didn’t know why he despised his sister so much, He just did. Maybe because once when he was younger, his sister took the stapler and stapled Henry’s clothes to the wall while he was still wearing them. Everyone found it funny except Henry. Henry didn’t really have anyone in his family that he could trust. One minute they would be giving Henry gifts and telling him how much they loved him, then the next they would be stapling you to the wall.

But that is the past, Henry thought to himself. We have to focus on the present, and currently in the present a monster will soon be coming. Scratching his head, Henry trotted to the trash can. The cereal had now gone soggy and looked like mush.

Chapter Four

At 12:37 Henry went to his room and got dressed. His room had cream-colored walls and a wooden floor. It was a typical room with a bed, a closet and a night stand. There was also a dresser which only had a couple of pajamas, underwear and socks. Henry got out of his flannels and into his casual day pants. He wore a blue dress shirt untucked, with dark-brown khakis. He ran his fingers through his brown, oily hair, scratching his head and looking for some clean socks in the laundry basket next to his full-sized bed. House work was the last thing on his mind.

12:45, time for Judge Linda, Henry’s favorite T.V. show. He left his room and mosied his way down the stairs just as the introduction about who the people are and what their stories were started. He sat back on the old brown couch and relaxed. Just as he got comfortable Henry heard a clatter. It was coming from the nursery.

He walked up stairs to the nursery. He regretted opening the door. Henry was mobbed by a swarm of paper doves. Henry guarded his face as the doves flew around and about him. They scattered around the house and flew throughout the room’s. Their must have been 100 of them. Henry tried to catch them waving his hands and body like a kite in the sky flying.

But just to make things worse for poor Henry the doorbell rang. Henry know how it was and currently they were unwelcome in his house. Henry tried to get to the front door, but there was just too much… paper. Henry managed to get down the stairs. Three doves had flown into his hair and started to nest.

“Bad paper creatures! Get out of my hair!” Henry said swatting his head.

“Henry? Is that you? Open the door it is getting hot.” Henry’s sister demanded.

“It’s not a… time. Come back never!” Henry said, dodging a bird coming towards his face.

“You either open this door Henry, or I will staple you to the wall again!”

Henry knew she was serious. He debated whether he should warn her about the doves. If he did she might be intrigued and want to stay, but if he didn’t she might run away in fear. He decided to do the right thing and just open the door.

“I’m coming. Just give me a second.”

Henry made his way to the door. He reached his hand to the door knob. It seemed like the opening of the door took an hour. On the opposite side of the door was a tall, dark haired woman with silver eye shadow, pink lips and a lot of glitter. Her neon, sparkle shirt looked like a disco ball under the July sun. Her dark hair was loose and wavy. In her arms was a small baby. He had big blue eyes like his mother. He wore a yellow short-sleeve shirt with white stripes. For pants he had jean shorts. There was a safari styled hat on his head that tied under his chin. There was drool on his lower lip. He stared at Henry with a blank baby look.

“Ramona…” Henry said hesitantly.

“Hello, Henry.” She struggled to find something nice to say about Henry ‘s appearance. “You haven’t changed a bit?” She said it like a question. Henry tried to distract her from what he thought was still happening behind him. Henry turned around and he didn’t know what to make of the scene. All of the doves that were just flying around the room were gone.

“I must be going crazy.” Henry said out loud by accident.

“What?” Ramona replied confuzzled. Henry look back at his sister. He quickly thought of something to get himself out of this current awkward position.

“Ramona, I don’t think I have met my new nephew yet?” It was the first thing he thought of. The last thing he wanted to do was go anywhere near that slobbery infant.

“No, of course not Henry. He is eight months old and I haven’t seen you in three years. I’m coming outside to sit on your couch.”

“Just like old times.” Henry quietly muttered to himself.

Henry tried to get through the night but one question wandered through the back of his head. What happened to all of the doves that were flying all around the house.?

Chapter Five

July 6th

Henry woke up at 3:30, again. The night before, Jasper, Henry now knew what his nephew’s name was, started to cry because he was hungry, and tonight is sounded, and smelled, like he needed a clean diaper.

Henry had permanent bags under his dark brown eyes. But tonight instead of putting a pillow over his ear, Henry just lay there awake. He stared at the ceiling. The white paint sparkled under the street lamps for the street that Henry lived in. He thought about the doves. He wondered what they meant. If it was a sign. If it was a warning. 3:39 Henry was now dozing off again.

Chapter Six

Henry had opened all the closets and turned over every dust bunny for a trace of the doves. Ramona and Jasper had gone on a walk so it was the perfect time to do so. His blue and black flannel pants were flying as Henry slid across the old oak floor.

Henry searched in the bathroom, the kitchen, under the couch, in the downstairs closet, the living room, and in the dirty laundry basket. Henry had purposely left the nursery for last. Any normal person would have looked in the nursery first, it being where the doves had first appeared, but if you haven't already noticed, Henry was not normal. He had magical doves living in the nursery. Henry walked up the stairs and then walked down the hallway toward the supernatural nursery. The walls were bare with nothing but an outline of the doves. The crib had Jasper’s pacifier and blanket in it. There was a dark blue blow-up mattress next to it where Ramona slept. Their luggage was in the corner next to the closet. It smelled of baby powder and dirty diapers. Henry searched and found nothing. As he was about to give up he heard a noise. The hair on the back of his neck stood up straight. It had come from the closet. Henry walked to the closet. He reached his arm out to open the white door. He took a deep breath and quickly opened the door. All of the doves went flying out of the closet knocking Henry onto the floor. They flew out of the nursery and into the house. Henry heard Jasper giggling out on the front steps. Henry struggled to stand up and raced a little white dove with a bent wing to the front door. Henry sprinted down the stairs and jumped over the toy train laying in the middle of the living room. He grasped the door handle and twisted the knob. The door quickly flew open. Ramona was suddenly knocked on her back by the impact of the doves. Jasper sat in his stroller and pointed and giggled at the flying doves.

Chapter Seven

Henry stared at the sky and watched the doves fly off in the distance.

“Henry, help me up!” Henry then realized that his sister was lying on the brick stairs. He took Ramona by the hand to help her up. She stood up and brushed herself off, even though she had nothing on her besides the sun. She grunted, then pushed Jasper inside. Henry didn’t know what to make out of what just happened. The only logical explanation was that it was…magic. But Henry didn’t believe in magic.

“Henry, HENRY!” He realized that Ramona was talking to him. “What the heck was that?” Henry tried to think of an excuse for the doves. Then he quickly thought of something.

“Did you not just see what happened? Something came flying out of the house and hit me hard enough that I fell on the ground.”

“No…. You sneezed so hard that you uh, fell,”

“Henry there is no possible way a sneeze could knock me on my back.” Said Ramona.

“Just trust me, Ramona you hit your head. You should lie down.” Henry said trying to change the subject.

“Whatever Henry,” Ramona muttered under her breath walking away.

“Do you want me to prepare lunch?” Henry asked.

“Yes, can I have a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with mayo, lettuce, tomato and mustard?”

“Sure” Henry said, remembering that she always ate that when they were little.

Henry couldn’t stop thinking about the doves for the rest of Ramona’s and Jasper’s visit. Would they ever come back? Are the doves really magic? Where did they fly to?