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- Story Listed as: True Life For Kids
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Childhood / Youth
- Published: 09/12/2012
Bloody Mary
Born 1980, F, from St Petersburg Florida, United States"Save your popsicle sticks." I look over at my friend Alania who is coercing others around her to do the same.
I am about ten years old sitting in the elementary school lunchroom, taking no interest in the over-boiled hot dog platter (there was a story going around that the hot dogs would stick to the ceiling if they were thrown hard enough), and going straight for the mock fudgesicle dessert.
"Why?" I ask her.
She looked around conspicuiously and lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's for Bloody Mary, we have to scare her off."
"What's a Bloody Mary?" I asked fairly cluelessly.
Alania rolled her eyes. "Bloody Mary is a ghost who appears to you in the mirror when you say her name three times. You make these," She held up the sticks, "into a cross to scare her away when she comes, that way, no evil will come to you or your family."
My ten year old mind ran through the problem several times trying to find some sort of logical explanation of why you would need to summon this spirit in the first place, only to scare it away with the sad remains of a popsicle made into a religious icon. My mind didn't fully function this way at ten years of age, so I accepted the story as a fact. "What happens if you don't scare her away?"
Alania's eyes widened as if I had said something horribly wrong. "She knows, and she won't leave you alone afterward. I heard about these kids who were playing around, calling her up through the mirror all the time, three or four times a day, and saying really mean things to her. A few days later one of the kids mom went to get him up for school, and he was dead. On the walls of his room were the words Bloody Mary." She paused, gazed around the table and found that she had everyone's undivided attention. "In the kid's blood."
The lunch table was silent, every child's mind visualizing the horrific scene in their heads, their ability to rationalize between truth and myth was not yet fully formed.
I broke the silence. "Let's get rid of her once and for all. Now." I grabbed two of the drool-covered sticks and started to stand up with the notion that I would march into the bathroom, summon Bloody Mary, give her a good piece of my mind and stop her from killing again.
Alania grabbed my arm and pulled me back on to the seat. "Not yet!" She hissed at me. "We have to get the crosses ready first and go in together. Otherwise..."
I stared at the sticks still clutched in my hand. Preparations were in order.
Later that day in class, with specific instructions from Alania, we both asked to be excused to go to the bathroom at the same time. Alania going first, and me following, claiming that it was a dire emergency. The teacher, Ms. Shatlock, excused me with a slight glare on her thin bony face. "Don't take too long, Emmy."
"No, ma'am," I made my way towards the classroom door feeling the looks of aprehension directed at me from my fellow classmatees. Word had spread fast.
I entered the bathroom where Alania was waiting with the two crosses. "Are you ready?"
I nodded solemnly.
Alania went to the light switch on the wall and turned off the lights. "Bloody Mary," We chanted in unison, "Bloody Mary," I felt the sweat building up on my hands as I gripped the popsicle-cross for dear life. One more Bloody Mary to go and she would show herself. I took a deep breath and stared at the mirror. "Bloody Mary."
The mirror had not changed. I started to feel let down as if this was just another stupid story I had fallen for. Suddenly Alania started to scream. "There she is! Ahhhhhhhh! There she is!" I still saw nothing in the mirror. Alania made a beeline for the door and I was left standing alone in the darkened elementary school bathroom with sticky popsicle sticks in my grip, and felt stupider than ever.
I took a step closer to the mirror. "Come on Bloody Mary, show yourself!" In my mind's eye I saw the mirror start to flicker and a vague profile begin to appear. I took a step back, "You better not kill anymore kids.."
I stammered in a shaky voice. The profile began to get clearer. It was a woman. Well, the back of her head to be more descriptive. The mirror began to flash more violently as the figure began to turn its head slowly. I took a step back, transfixed at what I was seeing.
The face was clearer now, a disembodied head pivoting slowly through the constant flashes. I began to see an eye, a bloodshot eye, void of any color, staring milkily back at me. A twisted bridge of the nose, the mouth turned in a sadistic grimace of hate. The hair, black and matted, with large chunks missing throughout. And the skin. The skin was a greyish-green rotting color that made me think of decaying vegetables, patched together over the skull in such a modge-podge that there seemed to be pieces missing where you could see the bone.
I took another step back and gasped, the face was now staring directly at me. I remembered the cross I was clutching. A wave of courageousness washed over me as I stepped toward the mirror, the cross steady in my outstretched arm.
"Get Back!" I yelled. The face began to recede slightly, its expression never changing. "You get out of here Bloody Mary! I don't want to see you again!" It was working! It was fading away! "Get..."
My one girl vigilantie was halted when the lights were flicked on, I saw my teacher Ms. Shatlock standing at the entryway to the bathroom scowling at me. "What are you doing Emmy?! Alania ran into the class screaming in the middle of silent reading! My God I thought you were hurt!"
I blinked and looked to the mirror, realizing I was still standing with the popsicle cross outstretched, my reflection stared back at me with a wide eyed maniacal expression. It had happened... Didn't it? "Bloody Mary..." I croaked.
Ms Shatlock broke from her position and came quickly towards me, grabbing my arm and ushering me out of the bathroom. "Bloody Mary my foot," she spat "I'm going to have to call your poor parents about this one Emmy.
There is no room for goofing off like this in my class." We had reached the schoolroom. She flung open the door and I felt the gaze of fifty-two eager pre-pubescent eyes on me again wanting answers about what had happened in that five minute time span.
I hastily went to my desk and slunk down in the seat, not wanting to talk. They would get their answers eventually.
That night my mother had a long talk with me about paying attention in class, and scaring the teachers. "Your teacher said that she nearly had a heart attack when your friend ran screaming in to the class." She lit a Virginia Slim. "For God's sake Emmy, why do you do these things?"
I had no answer for her, all I could think about was Bloody Mary's milky gaze and stare at my dirty shoes. I was sent to bed early that night and got an after school detention later in the week for the incident.
But it didn't matter to me. I had defeated Bloody Mary.
Bloody Mary(Emerald Gowers)
"Save your popsicle sticks." I look over at my friend Alania who is coercing others around her to do the same.
I am about ten years old sitting in the elementary school lunchroom, taking no interest in the over-boiled hot dog platter (there was a story going around that the hot dogs would stick to the ceiling if they were thrown hard enough), and going straight for the mock fudgesicle dessert.
"Why?" I ask her.
She looked around conspicuiously and lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's for Bloody Mary, we have to scare her off."
"What's a Bloody Mary?" I asked fairly cluelessly.
Alania rolled her eyes. "Bloody Mary is a ghost who appears to you in the mirror when you say her name three times. You make these," She held up the sticks, "into a cross to scare her away when she comes, that way, no evil will come to you or your family."
My ten year old mind ran through the problem several times trying to find some sort of logical explanation of why you would need to summon this spirit in the first place, only to scare it away with the sad remains of a popsicle made into a religious icon. My mind didn't fully function this way at ten years of age, so I accepted the story as a fact. "What happens if you don't scare her away?"
Alania's eyes widened as if I had said something horribly wrong. "She knows, and she won't leave you alone afterward. I heard about these kids who were playing around, calling her up through the mirror all the time, three or four times a day, and saying really mean things to her. A few days later one of the kids mom went to get him up for school, and he was dead. On the walls of his room were the words Bloody Mary." She paused, gazed around the table and found that she had everyone's undivided attention. "In the kid's blood."
The lunch table was silent, every child's mind visualizing the horrific scene in their heads, their ability to rationalize between truth and myth was not yet fully formed.
I broke the silence. "Let's get rid of her once and for all. Now." I grabbed two of the drool-covered sticks and started to stand up with the notion that I would march into the bathroom, summon Bloody Mary, give her a good piece of my mind and stop her from killing again.
Alania grabbed my arm and pulled me back on to the seat. "Not yet!" She hissed at me. "We have to get the crosses ready first and go in together. Otherwise..."
I stared at the sticks still clutched in my hand. Preparations were in order.
Later that day in class, with specific instructions from Alania, we both asked to be excused to go to the bathroom at the same time. Alania going first, and me following, claiming that it was a dire emergency. The teacher, Ms. Shatlock, excused me with a slight glare on her thin bony face. "Don't take too long, Emmy."
"No, ma'am," I made my way towards the classroom door feeling the looks of aprehension directed at me from my fellow classmatees. Word had spread fast.
I entered the bathroom where Alania was waiting with the two crosses. "Are you ready?"
I nodded solemnly.
Alania went to the light switch on the wall and turned off the lights. "Bloody Mary," We chanted in unison, "Bloody Mary," I felt the sweat building up on my hands as I gripped the popsicle-cross for dear life. One more Bloody Mary to go and she would show herself. I took a deep breath and stared at the mirror. "Bloody Mary."
The mirror had not changed. I started to feel let down as if this was just another stupid story I had fallen for. Suddenly Alania started to scream. "There she is! Ahhhhhhhh! There she is!" I still saw nothing in the mirror. Alania made a beeline for the door and I was left standing alone in the darkened elementary school bathroom with sticky popsicle sticks in my grip, and felt stupider than ever.
I took a step closer to the mirror. "Come on Bloody Mary, show yourself!" In my mind's eye I saw the mirror start to flicker and a vague profile begin to appear. I took a step back, "You better not kill anymore kids.."
I stammered in a shaky voice. The profile began to get clearer. It was a woman. Well, the back of her head to be more descriptive. The mirror began to flash more violently as the figure began to turn its head slowly. I took a step back, transfixed at what I was seeing.
The face was clearer now, a disembodied head pivoting slowly through the constant flashes. I began to see an eye, a bloodshot eye, void of any color, staring milkily back at me. A twisted bridge of the nose, the mouth turned in a sadistic grimace of hate. The hair, black and matted, with large chunks missing throughout. And the skin. The skin was a greyish-green rotting color that made me think of decaying vegetables, patched together over the skull in such a modge-podge that there seemed to be pieces missing where you could see the bone.
I took another step back and gasped, the face was now staring directly at me. I remembered the cross I was clutching. A wave of courageousness washed over me as I stepped toward the mirror, the cross steady in my outstretched arm.
"Get Back!" I yelled. The face began to recede slightly, its expression never changing. "You get out of here Bloody Mary! I don't want to see you again!" It was working! It was fading away! "Get..."
My one girl vigilantie was halted when the lights were flicked on, I saw my teacher Ms. Shatlock standing at the entryway to the bathroom scowling at me. "What are you doing Emmy?! Alania ran into the class screaming in the middle of silent reading! My God I thought you were hurt!"
I blinked and looked to the mirror, realizing I was still standing with the popsicle cross outstretched, my reflection stared back at me with a wide eyed maniacal expression. It had happened... Didn't it? "Bloody Mary..." I croaked.
Ms Shatlock broke from her position and came quickly towards me, grabbing my arm and ushering me out of the bathroom. "Bloody Mary my foot," she spat "I'm going to have to call your poor parents about this one Emmy.
There is no room for goofing off like this in my class." We had reached the schoolroom. She flung open the door and I felt the gaze of fifty-two eager pre-pubescent eyes on me again wanting answers about what had happened in that five minute time span.
I hastily went to my desk and slunk down in the seat, not wanting to talk. They would get their answers eventually.
That night my mother had a long talk with me about paying attention in class, and scaring the teachers. "Your teacher said that she nearly had a heart attack when your friend ran screaming in to the class." She lit a Virginia Slim. "For God's sake Emmy, why do you do these things?"
I had no answer for her, all I could think about was Bloody Mary's milky gaze and stare at my dirty shoes. I was sent to bed early that night and got an after school detention later in the week for the incident.
But it didn't matter to me. I had defeated Bloody Mary.
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