CHAPTER 4: A Doll's Hair

FABULOUS FREEWRITE IN THE ART OF STEPHEN KING: CHAPTER 4

...Adele’s favorite place to spend her time was in the formal dining room. They often found her in there conversing under the table or in the corner by the curio cabinet an elderly couple had left behind.

She often spent her time there brushing her doll’s hair, playing with puzzles, or simply sitting cross-legged, facing the wall, conversing sweetly. Other times she might be lying on her tummy, with her heels kicked up and rocking back and forth while she pet the carpet.

“Quiet strange, this one,” said the mother to no one in particular.

Her parents would peep in occasionally to check on what she was up to. Thus far, most of her experiences had been mostly kid-friendly. Adele was the one with the gift. Not them. She knew more about it than they did. If there ever was a problematic spirit, which was extremely rare, Adele had learned how to turn them off and shoo them away.

But this was different. Sarah was not a problematic spirit. She was a sweet woman, not even aware she was dark or dangerous in any way. In fact, Sarah did not ever try to converse with the child. She simply watched her with an attentiveness that rested somewhere in between neighborly adoration and distant boredom.

Nevertheless, the information Sarah would share was beyond what Adele’s parents were prepared to handle. But Adele seemed to have no problems with what she needed to do. To her it was not a matter of “should I figure this out and solve the problem?” It was more a matter of “Hmmm. This is curious. The label on this bottle says I must drink this potion if I am to shrink small enough to fit through that door. Very well, I must drink it then.”

Thus far, Adele had no point of reference to give her any indication that there was a such thing as real trouble. She had no reason to question the promptings she was getting. She just followed them. That was all. And it always ended well.

There was no pattern to it, really. Or any kind of obligation or expectation she must see to her “dead-people” business. It was not any kind of job or calling to Adele. It was simply a part of her life, not given a second thought. She just took things as they came--the way you order a hamburger from the menu, or pick out new shoes. Just part of life. You kind of knew what you wanted, what you needed to do, and you did it. That was it. Ho hum.

This time was no different...except that it came with an unusual and overwhelming feeling of sadness. Adele believed they did not belong to her, and that she must resolve what was behind them so they could be alleviated.

And this is how the conversations began. While she combed her doll’s hair, she would talk to it as if it were her own child.

“There, there,” she would say. “You’ve gotten quite pretty now, haven’t you, Sasha? It should be such a shame to see you go away. I don’t know what I should do with myself if something like that happened. I think I should disappear into this floor and let it swallow me whole. I would search the guts of the earth for your remains and never come back until I found you.”

Her mother thought Adele was just talking to the doll. Sarah, on the other hand, knew she was not.

Link to Chapter 3
Link to Chapter 2
Link to Chapter 1