To Hell & Back

I was seven when I met the one whom I have always called “The Very Strange Man” for the first time. For some reason I’ll likely never know, I have never forgotten this man, even though I can only recall a handful of childhood memories.

I was nearly asleep when he arrived at our home in Arizona. I didn’t hear any doors open or close, I heard no sounds at all, but his arrival was loud to my senses. It was an oddly familiar feeling, but I was sure I hadn’t felt it before.

Curious about what I was sensing, I hopped out of bed and tiptoed over to my door. Whatever it was, it was outside of my room. I huddled by the crack of the door in my pajamas and listened carefully.

“—listens, but we are going against the grain, I fear,” I heard my father say.

A man whose voice I didn’t recognize laughed and said, “Come now, you know what she is… You cannot tell me you thought this would be easy.”

“That is not it and you know it. She does not respect life. It should come naturally, but it does not. I even try to teach her, I try to guide her, but she does not understand the true lesson. She takes joy in destruction,” my father said, getting agitated.

“She is yet a child, prone to… many strange things. We both know what she is. Give her time, my friend, and her true nature will prevail… or are you trying to tell me you do not have faith?” the man asked. “You must remember that she is in her formative years and this has never—”

“You aren’t listening! There is a taint, I know this. She has been made sick!” my father shouted, interrupting the other man. I had never heard my father so angry.

“The other children have both psychological and physical issues—” the man began before my father cut him off again.

“She is sick!” my father yelled.

“If what you say is true, what would you have of me?” the man said with a heavy sigh.

“I want you to take a look at her; tell me what is wrong,” my father replied, calming down. “We must save her, we must!”

“All right, all right, you may have something of a point… I will look… I will look, but you must abide by my ruling, and proceed only as I instruct. Too much has already gone wrong; this isn’t a time to go off schedule,” the man said. “Now then…”

Moments later, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly and quietly rushed to my bed, hopped back onto it, and sprawled out on my stomach, feigning sleep. The door opened moments later, and I felt the man enter the room. His presence was just weird, but it was also familiar.

“Wait outside,” the man said softly. The door closed as I felt a strange sensation, like the air pressure changed. Later in life I would find out it was a sound barrier, but my seven-year-old self knew nothing of magic. The man sat down next to me and asked, “Staysa, can you turn over?”

Without a word, I did as he asked. Looking up at him, his features were distinctly blurry, telling me someone had tampered with the memory, which isn’t uncommon for me, but more on that later.

He smiled down at me and said, “I am a friend of your father. He worries about you, but we both know you’re perfectly healthy, don’t we?”

“Father worries too much,” I said, agreeing with him. “I’m strong!”

“Oh yes, he certainly does and you certainly are. Now then, let us see…” he trailed off as he put a hand on my stomach, staring intently down at it. I followed his gaze, trying to figure out what he was doing. After a moment of poking and prodding, he said, “Yes, I thought so. You are nearly ready. Quite interesting.”

“Ready for what?” I asked, staring down at my stomach.

“For everything, my dear,” he whispered.

I frowned at him as I told him, “You’re confusing.”

“Hmm, yes, perhaps so,” he murmured. “Any stomach or chest pain?”

“No,” I replied, thoroughly confused. “Why? Will there be?”

“Time will tell. Any bleeding?” he asked. “Has your cycle started?”

“Bleeding? Cycle? What are you talking about?” I asked, even more confused.

“Hmm… She would have educated you on that, were it the case, I think. What age does that start, come to think of it?” he murmured, nodding to himself. “Hmm, time will tell on that as well, I suppose. For now, I deem that you are quite OK. All right then, give me a hug, and then back to bed with you.”

So strange… but I like him, I decided, giving him a hug like he asked. The air changed back to normal as he walked out, leaving me confused, but somehow assured.