Sanctity (6 page)

“Thousands,” I said, “and I never saw it
once.”

“Its name comes from a Greek word; it means
the sons of Perseus, or something like that.  Perseus was the
son of a god and a great hero.  He defeated a terrible monster
called the Kraken to save the woman he loved from being
sacrificed.”

I rolled my eyes in the dark, “That sounds
very mushy.”

“It is,” he laughed, “but it’s a good story,
too.  There are flying horses and one-eyed monsters, gods and
goddesses, magic and mystery.  You might like it someday.”

“I already do.”

“Oh?” There was a questioning tone in his
voice.

“I like it because you do.”

I could not see his face in the dark but I
hoped that he was smiling.  We sat on the roof for quite some
time and counted all the meteors (shooting stars I insisted) that
we saw.  After a while he sighed and told me that it was
getting late and that we needed to get back inside.  I was sad
to have the night end but I was feeling very sleepy and readily
agreed that it would be best if he brought me back.

He walked me toward the edge of the roof and
scooped me up, “it’s easier to get down than it is to get
up.”  He held me tightly to his chest and leapt all the way to
the ground.  I never had a chance to protest or tell him not
to jump; it was over before I even realized what we had done. 
He just laughed and had me hop onto his back again for the quick
climb to my balcony. 

“I hope you had a good time tonight,”
Michael tucked me back into bed and pulled the covers up to my
chin. 

“Oh, Michael, I had the best time! 
Thank you so much for coming to see me again.”

He kissed me on the top of my head and spun
to leave. 

“Wait,” I called to him, “when will you be
back?”

“Soon, Elayna, I will come see you again as
soon as I can.”

“I’ll miss you,” I hurriedly blurted
out.

He stopped midstride as though frozen in
thought.  “Here,” he said with a touch of pity.  He came
back and put his hands one on each side of my face and poured his
gaze into mine.  I felt an odd fuzziness creeping over my mind
and wished over and over again that he would stop but I was unable
to break free from whatever it was that he was doing to me.  I
saw the images from that night as though they were being rewound
and painted over; covered up so that I wouldn’t be able to remember
them.

I reached for his hands to pull them away,
“Please,” I whispered.

He shook his head, “It’s better this way but
I promise the next time I come back they will be there for you,
just not until then.  I’m so sorry,” he said.

We began getting snow off and on that year
around Thanksgiving and there was plenty to make it worthwhile to
play outside after school.  I had a friend named Erica who
lived in the building next door.  My mother picked me up after
school one day.  We had had a recent storm and as I got into
the car I asked her if we could try and play with Erica when we got
home. 

“I don’t have much to do, so I guess that
would be alright.”

When we pulled into the parking area I saw
Erica exiting her building and waved to her as we drove by. 
She waved back and ran the length of the sidewalk to where we
parked.  Before I could unbuckle and get my door opened she
was beside my window anxious to see if I could join her in the
snow.  My mom got out of the driver’s seat and said a quick
“Hello,” to Erica before opening my door.  I made a hasty
escape from the backseat and told Erica that I just needed to get
changed and I would be right out.

I motioned my mom to hurry as she gathered a
couple of grocery bags from the trunk of the car.  After she
let us in I quickly changed from my school clothes into play
clothes.  I wriggled into my snow pants and found my hat and
gloves.  My boots were on a mat by the door and I began the
struggle to get them on.  As my mom finished putting the
groceries away she glanced over and saw that my efforts were not
being rewarded.  She came and helped me, twisting first one
foot into a boot and then the other.

Once I was all bundled up I asked if I could
head down.  “Sure, sweetie, I’ll be right out,” my mom opened
the door for me and I scrambled down the hall and down the stairs
rather than waiting for the elevator. 

Erica was standing idly by the front door
waiting for me, “Do you want to go sledding?” she asked as
soon as I got outside. 

“Sure but I have to wait for my mom, she
said she would be right out.”

While we waited for her we gathered up some
of the fresh snow.  We tried building a snowman but it was not
sticky enough and we ended up with little more than a snow
mound.  We found some twigs for arms and scavenged the banks
that the plows had piled up looking for something to use for eyes,
a nose and a mouth.  As we placed our pebbles my mom joined
us. 

“Not very good snow, huh?” she asked.

“No but can we try sledding?”

“Sure, if it’s OK with Erica’s mom. 
Would you mind running in and letting her know where we’ll
be?  I don’t want her to worry when she can’t see you
here.”

Erica and I went together and hurried back
as soon as our permission to go sledding had been granted.  My
mom was waiting at the corner; she had my sled anticipating that
Erica’s mom would be fine with the proposed activity.

“C’mon, let’s go,” I grabbed my sled and
egged Erica on into a run for the hill. 

There was not enough room for both of us to
slide down at the same time so we took turns.  I went first
and while I pulled my sled behind me and started my trek back up
Erica would come racing down.  We formed a kind of circuit,
down, back up, down again, repeat.  My mom even took a trip or
two.  Eventually we wore ourselves out with process and we
plopped down to take a little break.  It was starting to get
dark and I was feeling like I might have had enough.  Besides,
I was wet from all the snow and starting to feel cold and
uncomfortable as well.

Erica and I decided that it was time to head
back, my mom couldn’t have agreed more and she helped both of us
with our sleds.  I chattered with Erica the short walk back to
her building.  She rang her buzzer and we waited until she was
safely inside before my mother and I made our way back to our own
building.  I breathed a sigh of relief as we stepped out of
the cold and couldn’t wait to get out of my snowy, damp
clothes.

Once we were inside the apartment and all my
layers were peeled off my mom suggested that I take my shower to
help me warm up before dinner.  She promised a hot cocoa, as
an after dinner treat and sent me on my way.  She gathered up
all my wet clothes and stuffed them into the washer so all the
debris that they had collected wouldn’t make any more of a
mess.

My dad came home just as I
finished getting dressed.  “Early bath?” he asked me.

“We went sledding.”

“I see,” he nodded, “did you have fun?”

“Lots,” I twisted my hair into a towel so it
wouldn’t drip all over the dining room while we ate.

“Good, dinner’s ready, hurry on out,
OK?”

My parents were just bringing the things
from the kitchen when I got to the table so I took my seat and
waited while they arranged our dinner.  My dad was looking
especially happy that night and smiled at me as he sat down, “I
have a surprise," he said.  He placed an envelope on the table
and told me to open it.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Open it and find out, silly!”

I eagerly tore open the envelope and pulled
out three tickets.  I turned them over to find out what they
were for.

“The Nutcracker!!” I exclaimed.

“Yep,” my father was looking at me with a
proud grin.

“Where did you get those?” My mom asked
suspiciously.

We were not a poor family but three theater
tickets were definitely not something we would splurge on.  I
had always wanted to go to the Nutcracker.  I was not
necessarily interested in the ballet but the Nutcracker was
supposed to be so much more than that, or so I had heard. 
Some of my friends had been and talked about how wonderful it would
be to have a magical night like Clara’s; to be treated like a
princess and to have a real live prince rescue you from the
clutches of the Rat King.

He began to explain to my mother that a new
client his firm hoped to pick-up had come by as he was getting
ready to leave the office for the day.  My father worked as a
financial analyst.  He made reports that were used to help
predict whether or not a certain stock or fund would do well. 
Based on his information people were supposed to get a better idea
of how they should invest their money.

“Anyway, his name is Michael Donovan,” my
dad continued his explanation, “and I really don’t know much about
him other than that he is shopping around for someone new to manage
his accounts.  I’ve heard that he likes to invest somewhat
aggressively and doesn’t mind a little risk now and then. 
When we met he mentioned that he would like to be a little more
hands-on when directing where his money would go as well.  He
didn’t say much about himself other than that but he did talk about
his frustration with his current firm since they were not being as
receptive to his input as he would have liked.  He apologized
for coming so late then asked if I could stay a minute; joked that
he would like to have a personal affirmation of the people he hoped
to be working with.”

“Sounds stuffy,” my mom interjected.

“Not at all,” my dad
quickly came to his defense.  “He was very gentlemanly,
though, and certainly said 
please
, 
thank you
 and 
sir
 more often than was
necessary,” my dad grinned.  “As we were talking, trying to
get to know one another, he asked if I were married, any
children.  So of course I told him all about the two of
you.  He listened so politely and seemed so genuinely
interested that I must have rambled for nearly an hour.  He
never interrupted except to have me clarify a point here or
there.  Eventually I came to my senses and apologized
prolifically.  He just smiled and shook his head, “No need to
apologize,” he said.  “This is exactly what I was hoping
for.  You’ve told me more about yourself through your family
than you would have if I had asked you more pointed
questions.”

“I wasn’t sure what to say
to that and while I hesitated wondering how to reply he reached
inside his coat and pulled out the tickets.  “I have a box,”
he said, “at the Arts Center.  I would really like it if you
and your family would join me for the Nutcracker this
weekend.”  He was so earnest and sincere that I felt compelled
to accept them.  For some reason I just couldn’t
say 
no
.”

My father looked from me to my mother for
some sort of confirmation that he had done the right thing by
accepting the tickets.  I had no hesitation about them and
quickly joined my father’s appeal to make sure my mom agreed.

She broke down after a minute or two, “Of
course you did the right thing.  When will Elayna ever have
another opportunity like this?  A box even; it will be quite
an experience for all of us.”

“Yes,” I did a little fist pump like I’d
seen my dad do when he was trying to be funny about some silly
little success or other.

We finished our dinner and talked about what
we would need to do in order to be ready for the show. 
“There’s not much time to put together something to wear,” my mom
regretfully said.

“I’m sure you’ll find something.  And
you, too,” my dad swiped my nose with the tip of his finger. 
“You can shop for yourself while Elayna’s in school tomorrow and
when she gets out you can take her.  Make it a two-step
process so you’re not trying to do everything at once.”

My mom tilted her head reflectively, “That’s
a good idea.  Do you need me to pick anything up for you?” She
asked.

“Nope, I’m good,” he assured her.

After dinner we all sat together in the
living room and watched TV.  There wasn’t much on of any
interest to me at that time of night so I sipped my hot chocolate
and cuddled with my dad while he flipped through the
channels.  After a while my mom called out the time and I knew
I needed to get ready for bed.  I peeled myself off my dad’s
lap and headed to my bathroom to brush my teeth. 

When I was finished with my nighttime
routine I called to my parents to let them know that I was ready to
be tucked in.  My mom came and took a storybook from my
shelf.  “Daddy dozed off, just us girls tonight.”  She
read the book to me then tucked me in and kissed me
goodnight.  After all the outdoor activity I was exhausted and
fell right to sleep. 

The next day dragged by.  I had never
really cared much for shopping but the idea of going to see the
ballet and getting dressed up had been all I could think about that
day.  By the time my mom picked me up from school I had worked
myself up into a bit of a panic that there wouldn’t be enough time
to find a dress or I just wouldn’t find one that I liked. 
Part of me felt like everyone else went to the mall that day and
bought all the good dresses before I could have a chance. 

Once we were finally there,
though, I began to relax while my mom led me to one of the
department stores.  Against my suspicions there were not that
many people shopping and the racks were full of holiday
dresses.  The saleslady for my department was extra attentive
since there was no one else to wait on and found dozens of dresses
for me to try.  I was not yet familiar with the concept
of 
the one
 but I had heard my mother use the expression
before.  After about ten dresses my mother pulled one over my
head and I suddenly realized exactly what it
meant.