Nurturing Wonder

Second Thoughts

The next to speak was a well-dressed man who seemed to have grown more and more disturbed as the night went on and other people shared their stories of the fantastic. “I have a similar story to the first one told tonight, I’m sorry to say,” he said, nodding at the young lady who had gone first.
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Sins of the Fathers

There was a smattering of clapping for the teddy bear story. I found it interesting for the wistful edge, but once it was over I was eager to hear what was next. I looked to Emily to see if she would choose again, and she met my eyes and held up a finger. I gulped, thinking I had been too eager and she would pick me, but she turned to the overweight accountant to her right instead, and said, “William? I think we would all be interested to hear your story next. You mentioned a family curse when I met you earlier. What is the story behind that?”
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This one’s based on a story a friend once told me about his little sister’s playmate, who taught her an old, old song, but was never seen by anyone else.

The Teddy Bear

Jacob cleared his throat before Emily could pick anyone out to go next, and said “I have a story.” She nodded graciously to him and he went on.

“My Mom loves this story, she trots it out any time she has an audience. I don’t like to tell it, but as Katrine said, it seems appropriate tonight.
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Do You See Me?

One of the ladies present, a sleek brunette named Katrine dressed in an expensive looking pantsuit, waved her hand over her head to get our attention, then in an exaggerated stage whisper, she rasped “I see dead people…”

After the laughter died down, she shook her head and continued in a light, carefree tone of voice.
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Edward stared down at his hands. The room was silent. What do you say to a story like that? Finally, Emily came to the rescue again. “Thank you,” she said softly. Edward just nodded. “Lucian, I think we could use a break. Would you care to bring out the dessert tray and refill our guests’ drinks?”

Her assistant gave a curt bow and left the room, and conversation turned for a short time to the condition of the slopes and the merits of various local restaurants. Edward’s story, and his conclusions about the supernatural, were carefully not mentioned, although they have haunted me to this day.

After we had a chance to distract ourselves a bit with small talk and sweets, Emily looked around the room. Without her usual finesse, she said, “Who’s next?”

To be continued…

I think this may still be one of my best, at least in terms of the seed idea.

Without a Silver Bullet

“A long time ago, there was a young boy who lived in a small town in Minnesota where nothing ever happened. He was an ordinary teenager, until one day he had a vision. A huge creature, full of teeth and growls and eyes, attacked him while he was cutting through a field. All he knew for sure was that it had attacked him and mauled his shoulder, but when he regained consciousness lying in the field, there was no physical mark. His original journal entry said that he couldn’t tell what it was, that it was cloaked in darkness and confusion, and he wondered if he was going mad. That didn’t last long, unfortunately. He went and told his old, superstitious grandmother about it and asked her advice. She told him a story about evil spirits who possess people and an ancient family curse, and proceeded to convince him that he had been marked by an angry spirit and turned into a werewolf.”
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Emily waited while everyone took a turn looking at the piece of paper and nodding appreciation to the storyteller. Her eyes never left Edward, who was soon squirming under her regard. Sure enough, once Philippa had tucked the paper safely back in her purse it was Edward’s turn.
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Lost or Taken?

The woman leaned back in her seat and fidgeted with her purse, then started.
“I don’t have anything as interesting or unusual as the last story, but there is one strange occurrence that you might enjoy. You see, I’ve always been awful with directions and finding my way anyplace. It’s a family joke, really, so I always let someone else drive, or leave an hour ahead of time if I have to find my own way. This one time, though, I swear it wasn’t my fault.” She glanced at her husband and he snickered. It was obvious he knew the story well.

“We were supposed to go to a friend’s wedding, and I was the one who grabbed the directions on the way out of the house. I had the envelope, with the invitation and the sheet of directions. They weren’t actually in the envelope, just caught in the flap, but I think it might have been the same even if they had been sealed inside.

I sat down in the car and closed the door, checked that I definitely had the directions along with the invitation, and put them in the side pocket on the car door. I even felt around the inside of the pocket to make sure there weren’t any cracks for anything to slip out through, and made sure the flap of the envelope was to the bottom when I put everything down, so it would hold the invitation and directions together.

Well, as we were heading out of town to the highway, I thought I’d take a look at the directions, since I had no idea where we were going. I didn’t need to, since my husband was driving, but I thought it might be nice to know. I reached into the door pocket and took out the envelope, which still had the invitation caught in the flap, but no directions. I felt around the inside of the pocket, but there was nothing else there, no directions. I looked around the floor by my seat, but still no directions!

I felt silly saying so, but we were going to need the directions soon, so I told Greg I couldn’t find them and we pulled over. We searched the entire car, and the sheet of directions was nowhere to be found.

Finally, he said I must have left them at home after all. We turned around and headed home, but we couldn’t find the sheet of directions there either. Fortunately, the address was also on the invitation, so we printed out directions from Mapquest and still made it to the wedding in time. Needless to say, he didn’t let me touch the directions at all this time!”

Several people laughed, and I think all of us thought the story was done. The accountant fellow, Edward, seemed happy to hear such a mundane story. “Easily explained,” he said. “Even being careful, it’s easy for a piece of paper to get lost.”

Philippa nodded, and opened up her purse. “I’d be inclined to agree with you, I think, except for one thing. Several years later, in a completely different car, I reached into the door pocket for something else, and found this.” She took out a piece of paper and handed it to him. He scowled and passed it on, and each of us realized in turn that we were looking at the directions to that long ago wedding.

This one actually happened! Well, all but the last paragraph. To be continued…

Emily started it, but all of us clapped when the girl finished her story. She blushed and stared at her feet, and I noticed a relieved smile on her face when Emily drew our attention to the next storyteller.

“An excellent story,” she said, “and just the sort of thing I was hoping for. I wonder if all our tales will be so interesting.” She glanced around the room, appearing to consider who should go next, and called on a middle-aged woman in a turtleneck and jeans who was there with her husband. “Philippa!” The woman started nervously at the sound of her name, and Emily went on. “You look like you have something in mind. Why don’t you go next.”

Why yes, I am being mean and making you wait. To be continued…

Prize and Price

“I met the devil once.”

The young ski instructor had our attention, but it was a long moment before she went on. A quick glance around the room showed me expressions of consternation, interest, aversion… and a strangely avid grin on our hostess’s face as she leaned forward to listen. Then the girl started speaking again and I lost track of everyone else.
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