The Indigo Child

There's a place in the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA, along the lush greens and irregular mosaics of the meadows and cornfields where many say the embodiment of evil lives. This is Christian territory where drought, pests, and pain have infiltrated the residents of the once prosperous and fertile sleepy town. Some say it is a punishment from God and that the sorrows of the land do not reach the justice and mercy from Heaven. Others say, that hidden in the circular woods and groves, geometrical formations of hazy blue from a parallel universe decide the destiny of each one of the inhabitants. The pestilence is spreading. The country is in a state of panic.

***

Pelkofer Farm June 2029

Mimi Pelkofer begins to watch for the dawn, calculating its approach by listening for the increase of traffic down and below her bedroom window. Her dog Oscar, of unknown breed, is lying on a shag rug beneath her feet. Her husband Mark lays on his side, trying to close his eyes, but his wife's restlessness keeps him awake.

"Do you hear that, Mark?"

"Hear what, Mimi?"

"Exactly. There ain't a bird chirping or a tree rustling. It's coming for us. I can feel it," she says, unwrapping a pack of cigarettes.

"Please don't smoke those, Mimi, you'll only be sorry if you do."

"Sorry? Ha!" she says sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands shaking.

"Mimi you promised..."

"Leave me alone for Christ's sake!"

"Fine," he replies, as he rolls over on his other side so he doesn't have to watch her light the cigarettes.

Mimi thinks about their worst-case scenario. Would Mark and her experience the same fate as the others? The broken clock on the windowsill catches the light. Oscar begins to twitch in his sleep. The twitching slowly escalates and takes on a lurching kind of rhythm. Mimi's mouth falls open. She looks over at Mark who is struck with the same bodily movements. Mimi starts convulsing, her eyes roll back into her head. The flesh off their bodies begin to melt. It hangs off of Mimi's face, off of Mark's body, off of Oscar's head and eyes. A sweet acidy, slightly musky smell engulfs the air before the bodies burst into flames. The remaining ashes gently lift and scatter out the open bedroom window. On the distant hill, the immovable wings of a dying small bird are seen, before it suffers the same fate.

***

Carley Bosworth is an eight-year-old girl. She sits on the floor in the furthest corner of the observation-isolation room of County Hospital in Pittsburgh, a place where emotionally disturbed children are placed when treatment fails to break their silence. Carley looks up at the ceiling. Her eyes follow two bees that have made their way inside the room. She holds them in her glance before closing her eyes. She dreams and the veil between two worlds seems to open around her head. An indigo color surrounds her. Objects found in the room hang in the air, floating like dust in the sunlight. Time seems to twist and turn backwards as is evidenced by the still clocks in the room. Carley's doctor, Ruth Anderson enters.

"How are you today sweetie?"

Loud shouts can be heard in the distance, getting closer. The bees begin circling Carley.

"I'm sorry Carley, I don't know how they got in. But they won't hurt you. I promise."

Through the beveled glass a woman held back by security is screaming, fighting, trying to make her way into the room where Carley and Doctor Anderson are having a session.

"She's responsible! That little bitch is responsible for all those deaths. She must die!"

Carley slumps to the floor.

"It's ok Carley," Doctor Anderson says putting a protective arm around the child.

"I know you killed them Carley Bosworth! I know what you are!"

Security finally hauls the woman away.

Doctor Anderson calls one of the nurses to take care of Carley as she proceeds towards her office.

The nurse grabs Carley by one arm. She squirms and tries to pull away. Then her eyes focus on the two bees once again before they suddenly fall to the earth and disintegrate on site.

***

Doctor Ian Zeppenfield, a colleague of Doctor Anderson meets her in the hall by her office.

"The world has gone crazy, Ian."

"What is the story with this girl?"

"She is from the afflicted town. Her family has disappeared along with the others. The town's people blame her; think she is responsible in some way. Everyone she has had a run in with; who has ever hurt her has...gone away. Some say they saw her in the woods speaking to entities, conjuring up demons. They say she is the manifestation of a portal to another world. "

"I see."

"She's actually a very brilliant child. And she reads people very well. She's creative, curious, and amazingly sympathetic and compassionate, even given the circumstances around her."

"Ah, an indigo child, eh? The new step in human evolution."

"Yes, an indigo child," Doctor Anderson says.

***

Carley's Hospital Room April 13, 2029

Asteroid 99942 Apophis is drifting past Earth. Carley looks out her window into the starlight that soaks her shoes with radiant energy. She closes her eyes as beautiful geometrical formations of hazy blue take up residence in her space, moving in and round her material body.

Doctor Anderson is making rounds and sees Carley in a suspended state of reality. She also sees the sentient beings that now begin to shape shift into earthly beings of flesh and bone. Carley turns to face her.

"They are from a parallel universe and we are their evil counterparts. They mean to destroy the evil."

***

NASA April 13, 2029

"The asteroid is being pulled into a gravitational hole. If we don't act now it will shift its orbit and strike Earth."

"Fire up the missiles. When in doubt, shoot!"

Theresa likes to write about matters of self-inflection and personal experiences. She likes to write about matters of an out-of body, out-of-mind state, as well as subjects of an idyllic, pagan nature and the occult. Theresa writes horror, as well as concrete gritty and realistic dramas. Theresa is said to be witch and a poet. (within the horror writing community).

Find more by Theresa C. Gaynord in the Author Index.

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