Brythe

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Brythe

She went home that day and asked her mother what Karen meant about being a mistake. She didn't know how someone could be a mistake. To her surprise, her mother actually pulled her close, hugged her tightly, and started crying! That was the most confusing moment in Nancy's young life.

When she regained control, Nancy's mother explained to her what had happened eight years earlier. She had been out of work, out of money, and near the end of her rope. Not knowing what else to do, she had jumped at the chance when a man she knew offered to let her live with him. He had seemed nice enough at first, but his short temper and thirst for alcohol had soon become apparent. After two months of abuse, Nancy's mother had left him, finding refuge in a home for battered women. Nancy was born eight months later.

Her mother explained to her that even though she hadn't planned on having a baby just then, Nancy's arrival was a wonderful surprise, not a mistake.

But Nancy could see through her mother's lies. Oh, she knew her mother loved her. But she could also tell that her mother really hadn't wanted her; at least, not back then.

That was okay, Nancy decided. As long as her mother loved her now, that was the important thing. Karen Blatherwick was another thing. She shouldn't be allowed to go around saying such hateful things (even if they were partly true). As usual after Karen picked on her, Nancy sat in her room, thinking of ways to get back at her, knowing all the while that she'd never really be able to do anything about it. Still, in her imagination, she thought of all sorts of ways to get her revenge. Most of all, she wished Karen would just disappear.

"Do it."

What was that?! Nancy looked around her, at the sparse furnishings, the few tattered dolls, and the homemade pictures that were all she had to decorate her room. She was sure she had heard something, but there was nothing there, and precious few places someone could hide.

"You can do it!"

There it was again! A voice - but there was no one else there.

"Wh-who's there?" she stammered.

"A friend."

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Brythe, Nancy."

"Where are you? How do you know my name?" Nancy looked around her, her eyes wide in fear. Yet something inside her was trying to tell her that it was all right, that she had nothing to be afraid of.

"I'm here, Nancy, by the window. You can see me if you look hard enough."

Nancy looked, but could only see the sun's rays coming in through the window, visible as they shone on the tiny specks of dust floating in the air.

"I've been watching you, Nancy," said Brythe. "I've seen what you've been going through. I know what Karen's been up to." Nancy thought she could see a distinct pattern in the dust motes drifting near the window.

"Who are you?" Nancy breathed.

"I'm a friend," Brythe repeated. "You can trust me." Nancy was beginning to make out a face in the swirling dust. Yes, there were the eyes, and the mouth moved when she spoke. Somehow Nancy knew Brythe was female. She could see long hair, shining golden in the sunlight, waving gently back and forth as though under water.

"What do you want?" Nancy asked.

"To help you. I'm here to help you. We're going to teach Karen a lesson."

"Really? What can we do?"

"Plenty, Nancy. But first we need a Yule Log. Do you know what that is?"

"I think so."

"Good. We need a small one. And three candles, two white and one gold. Do you know how to light candles?"

"I'm not supposed to play with matches."

"You're very smart, Nancy. But don't worry, I'll be here to make sure nothing bad happens. We also need some holly and some salt. Can you get those things?"

"I think so, but maybe not today."

"That's fine Nancy. You'll need them in three days, on December 20. That's called the solstice. It's the longest night of the year, and magical things can happen, if you know what to do. I have to go now, but I'll be back then. Good-bye, Nancy."

"Good-bye, Brythe."

The dust motes resumed a natural random motion as Brythe's face lost focus. Then they disappeared altogether as a cloud blocked the sunlight entering the window. Nancy sat there for several minutes, wondering what this could all mean, but never questioning that Brythe was real and could help her.

Three days later Nancy was ready. The things she needed were carefully hidden under her bed. She had been sitting there all afternoon, and hoped that Brythe would come soon. The sun would be going down before long, and then it would be too late. Nancy worried that her mother would notice the Yule Log missing, and then find it hidden under her bed. She didn't know how she was going to explain that one. As she sat there, she began to wonder if she had actually imagined the whole thing. Maybe Brythe didn't exist after all.

"Hello Nancy."

There she was, at last! "Hi Brythe."

"Do you have everything I asked you to get?"

"Yes, it's right here." Nancy bent down and reached under her bed, pulling the items out and laying them neatly on her bed.

"That Yule Log seems a bit unusual, Nancy. What is it made of?"

"Chocolate Cake," Nancy announced proudly. "I helped Mom make it. I told her I wanted a Yule Log, and she knew just how to make one. It's really almost like a jellyroll, but frosted like a cake and decorated like a log. I hope that's okay."

There was a long pause. "Brythe ... is that okay?"

"Yes Nancy, that will be fine. It's not quite what I had in mind, but it will do."

"Should I put the candles in it?"

"Yes Nancy. Put the gold one in the middle, and a white one near each end."

"Um - is yellow okay? I couldn't find any that were actually gold. And I had to scrape the colour off some pink ones to get white." Nancy held up three birthday candles for Brythe's inspection.

There was another pause, but this time Nancy remained silent, hoping that she hadn't ruined everything.

"Yes Nancy, those should work just fine."

Nancy put them in as she was instructed.

"And the holly, Nancy. Did you get the holly?"

"Yes," she replied, and proudly held up three perfectly formed holly leaves.

"Nancy ... are those plastic?"

"Yes! I took them from the wreath we hang on the door every year. You won't tell my mom will you?"

"No, Nancy, I won't." Brythe sounded a little bit sad, or maybe disappointed.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, Nancy, with the log and candles you've got, it probably doesn't matter whether the leaves are real or not." Brythe sounded a little hesitant when she continued. "Did you remember the salt?"

"Oh yes," said Nancy, "it's right here." She held up several small white paper packets. "I saved them from the burger place."

"At least it's real salt," said Brythe. "Now, here's what you need to do. Can you draw a star? One with five points?"

"Yes, easily."

"Good. Use the salt to make a star shape with the Yule Log in the middle of it. We call that a pentagram."

Nancy did as she was told, opening several packets and spilling the salt on her bed covers as Brythe had instructed. It was a little uneven, and the top point looked like it was bent over because of a wrinkle in the blanket, but she figured it was pretty good. She was a little worried about what her mother would say if she walked in before Nancy had a chance to clean up this mess.

"Okay, done."

"Now place the holly along the front edge of the log. Good. Now light the candles. Do the gold, er, yellow one first, then the two white ones."

Nancy was a bit nervous with the matches. She knew she could get into a lot of trouble if her mother caught her. She did know how to use them though, and managed to get the three candles lit without burning herself.

"Very well done, Nancy. Now, repeat after me. Toren dura lochen Yule, fenter lissam boroch dat."

"Tore a door and lock in you, faint or listen boring dad."

"Beren fergen rolloch ren, sentra Karen turin git."

"Bare and forget roll off ran, centre Karen during get."

"I guess I should have expected that."

"I guess I should have expected that."

"No, we're done Nancy. You don't need to keep repeating what I say."

"Oh." Nancy didn't have a clue what all those strange words were supposed to mean, but she had done her best. "Did it work?"

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Nancy thought she detected a hint of disappointment again. "Should I say the words again?"

"No, I don't think so, and there's not much time anyway. The sun is setting, and I'll be gone soon."

Nancy hadn't noticed, but when she looked outside now she saw that the sun was indeed touching the horizon. She watched as the light dimmed, and Brythe faded from view once again. "Good-bye, Brythe."

There was no response.

Nancy turned back toward the chocolate Yule Log and saw that the candles had burned down almost to the icing. She decided she had better blow them out when she noticed the light breeze. That was odd, her window was closed.

The breeze swiftly grew stronger, until Nancy could see what looked like a small tornado hovering just above the cake. It drew the candle smoke up and whirled it around, forming a hazy grey donut shape.

Suddenly the candles winked out, the window banged open, and the small, swirling cloud of smoke dashed outside, as though in a terrible hurry to reach some unknown destination.

Unsure what to do, Nancy sat there for a moment, staring out her open window. Then, deciding it must have worked (whatever 'it' was), she whispered a soft thank you to Brythe, closed the window and turned to clean up the mess.

She picked out the candles, doing her best to smooth the icing back into place, and brushed the salt into her wastebasket as best she could. Then she tiptoed out of her room to return the cake and the holly leaves before they could be missed.

Her mother never noticed anything unusual, or if she did, decided not to say anything. In fact, for several days there was no indication that anything strange had happened, and Nancy was beginning to wish Brythe would come back. She did not.

Then Christmas vacation was over and it was time to return to school. Nancy was nervous about running into Karen again, but was surprised when she didn't show up for school. In fact, she didn't show up at all that first week.

It wasn't until the second week that Nancy learned about Karen's family having moved away. Her father's company had apparently transferred him to some distant city Nancy had never heard of, and they had been forced to pack up and move right away. From what rumours she could gather, it had been quite sudden - around December 20 or so.