From zerachiel@aol.com Sat May 8 17:28:48 1999 Date: 13 Mar 1995 18:21:55 -0500 From: Zerachiel Newsgroups: alt.gothic Subject: Re: Gothic Family Units??????? Little Joey comes over to little Trepidation's house to spend the night, because he's six now, and his parents thought Trip's parents sounded allright on the phone. When joey arrives he asks Trip why they haven't taken down the halloween decorations, cause that was the other day (several months ago, but Joey doesn't perceive the passing of time as adults do) and little Trepidation says: "Out house looks like this every day." And then the pretty creature in pink and black comes into the room and smiles; she asks if Trip would like to take Joey upstairs to put away his things and wash for dinner. li'l Trip's room is lit with christmas lights, and a few candles with wide bases (because you can't be too careful with kids and fire) and he's got bats hanging from the ceiling and posters of scary faced people. And he tells his friend that he can sleep on the bed with him, because it's big enough, but it's all draped with black stuff. And li'l Joey takes his stuffed Pooh bear from his bag and hugs it. Then Trepidation touches a hang to his heart in languid melodrama and says, "Why, I've got a Tigger," dreamily. and Joey feels so much better. But then they go into the bathroom to wash their hands and there's a tall creature in shiny black weird stuff primping. Trip hip checks the thing (he only reached its leg tho) and it huffs and leaves. "Was that your Dad?" Joey whisperes. "No, that's just Dad's friend," say sTrip, and then, "You want to borrow one of my jacket to wear to dinner?" When they go to dinner Joey sees there are actually four big people, and one icky (actually quite adorable, but hey, Joeys a six year old boy) little baby girl in frilly dress and hair ribbons. Thing in pink is Trips, mom, who might be married to the boyish green-eyed thing that feeds the baby, but who sits quite close to the thin woman who sips dark red wine and says nothing, who sits across from the shiny thing that is lighting the tall black candles. "Oh, worms, my favourite!" Trip exclaims. Thing in pink giggles and says, "Ouch, not while I'm trying to eat!" And Trepidation's dad says just as dreamily as Trip often does, "Oh I could just eat her up." And Little Joey drops his fork twirled in spaghettic and tomato sauce because he thinks that thing might actually mean to eat the baby. "She wouldn't taste good," says shiny thing, "human flesh is actually quite bitter." And pink thing shakes as if startled and says quietly, "Did you know rose petals taste rather bitter?" After dinner thing one and thing two go to do the dishes, and Trip's mom taes the boys (all three) and the baby into the living room and then takes a book from the shelf. "Is she going to pray or something?" Joey whispers thinking the family might belongto some strange religion. "She's going to read poetry," Trip says. And then pink and black thing says, "Ah! you want to know why I hate you to-day*. . ." And Trepidation's father start's singing quietly, until the one who might be his wife gives him the evil eye. Then Trepidation takes Joey to a small room at the back of the house where there is a television, and he says he'll put on a movie. Trepidation says, "This one always makes me cry." And at once Joey is scared that it will frighten him, and shocked that his friend would cry openly, because boys aren't supposed to cry (or so his father says.) anyway, the guy with the funny hair is pretty kewl, cause he's got scissors for hands and can do stuff with them. But Joey doesn't really get why Trepidation cries. When they dress for bed joey puts on his two part pajamas adorned with latest violent cartoon peusdo martial artists. Trip is wearing a nightgown with ruffles! Trepidation takes a battered cassette from the floor and sets it to play before puttign out the christmas lights and all but one candle then climbing thorugh the curtains into bed. A minute later: "You mean you parents didn't ever give you their old Bauhaus tapes?!?" "I don't know if they had any," says li'l Joey, but he and Pooh get into bed with Trepidation and Tigger all the same. "I'll make a copy for ya," says little Trepidation. "All right," says Joey meekly. Trepidation rises from the bed slowly, and then he blows the candle out, "Put out the light and then put out the light**. . ." And something touches Little Joey's neck. * Yes, it's from Baudelaire, one of his prose poems called the Eyes of the Poor, and of course Trip's father would then have been singing Just like Heaven. ** It's a quote from Interview With The Vampire, but in that it was a quote from Shakespeare's Othello. *********************************************************************** "Look, little chocolate Hades!" "They're Santas, Psyche, SANTAS. . .simple girl." Seraph Zerachiel@aol.com ***********************************************************************