Seedless

I’ve had a difficult year. Some wicked wizard cast a spell on me and surrounded me with goblins. One of the goblins smells like motor oil, has thick curly hair, and is always trying to get me into his car. I used to fight him, kick him, I even bit him, but he called the police on me. The officer was no fool, he saw right through the goblin and got me out of there. He put me in the back seat of his car to protect me then closed the door, went up to the goblin, and told him off. It was great, the goblin looked so disappointed. What was he thinking trying to eat me?

The day the officer came to my house, mother was working at the cannery. They don’t allow children there, so I got a little worried. Where was the officer going to take me? I hoped he wouldn’t take me to juvenile hall and ask them to babysit me for a couple of hours. He didn’t. He took me to a hospital. It made perfect sense; I was attacked by a ferocious beast. I learned at school that officers respond to calls if they’re nearby. Any other day and I could have gotten a different officer, maybe one that wasn’t so smart, or nice. He was nice. He refused to leave my side and waited for the doctor with me, mother was running late.

It took a long time for the doctor to get to us and there were no toys or picture books insight. The nice officer told me to be patient, but it was boring, and I wasn’t bleeding, so I wanted to go home. I started to doubt that the officer called mother and asked him for twenty-five cents to use a payphone. He told me there were no payphones. I asked him how people call people to come to get them, but the doctor walked in before he could answer.

The doctor was a man. The doctor who gives me shots is a woman and takes my pants off to poke me in the thigh. Mother told me to always stand up for myself and tell people what they can and cannot do to me. I’d never seen the man doctor before, so I felt the best thing to do was to tell him like it is. Besides, I didn’t want mother to be mad because I let something bad happen to me.

“I’ll take my pants off, but you better not touch my private areas.”

He did that thing grown-ups do when they slam their eyes shut then pop them open.

“You can keep your clothes on Ms. Williams, I’m just going to check your blood pressure and ask you a few questions.”

I could tell I’d said what needed to be said.

“Did the officer call my mother?”

“I will check on that in a moment.”

After he squeezed my arm and scribbled on a piece of paper, the doctor sat on a round, metal stool with wheels and asked me what I was doing before I came to the hospital. I told him the truth.

“There’s a goblin that comes to my house, steals my seeds, and rips pages out of my notebook… but he can’t do that, my dad needs it. It’s a catalog. It shows him how to use the seeds so he can get home.”

“Where is your dad?”

"He’s trapped at the horticulture center. He used to be the manager, but a dragon took over. I can free him if I collect the seeds and write the catalog. I get good marks in penmanship.”

The doctor nodded.

“Do you do this every day?”

“Just until Friday, Monday I go back to school.”

“I understand. Make yourself comfortable Ms. Williams, I’ll be back in a bit.”

That doctor thought he was cute calling me Ms. Williams. That’s how grown-ups try to put you down, tell you that you’re acting older than you are. He was terrible and I decided I was going to tell mother how he planned to hurt me then made fun of me when I told him it wasn’t going to happen.

I got to my feet so that I could find the nice officer, but the curtain began to swing back and forth, and I could hear hot breath as it slowly slid open. It was the goblin. How did he get past the officer?

“Hey mom, how are you feeling?”

That’s when I learned goblins were like chameleons. I hadn’t seen his mother once. I stood as still as I could, in case she jumped out at me but kept my eyes on the goblin I could see.

“Mom,” he said, his hand slowly stretching toward me.

I yelled and swatted hoping to frighten him and his mother away.

“Thief,” my voice cracked, “Give me back my seeds and get the hell out of here.”

The goblin growled and flashed his teeth. I screamed louder, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to pull me in. He stared into my eyes so that I would turn to stone, but I smacked the apple stuck in his throat hoping he would choke and faint. That was the second time he tried to eat me.

I would have gotten away if he hadn’t called out to a troll for help. I didn’t even know goblins and trolls worked together, but these two did. Within seconds they pinned me to the bed while a dwarf tied my limbs to cold posts with a wide, scratchy rope. I cried for mother and knew for certain the officer I thought was nice hadn’t called her. I was her baby, she told me every day. If the officer had called her, she would be by my side and this goblin would be dead, not staring down at me as the troll stabbed me in the arm with an invisible blade dipped in poison.

When I woke up, I was in my pajama dress and my own bed. The troll was asleep in mother’s rocking chair. That’s when I realized exactly how much danger I was in. Dad was trapped by a dragon and now mother was gone too, but where? What in the world was happening and why were they coming after my family?

I wanted to cry. I wanted mother. I laid back down on my pillow and wrapped myself with my blanket from head to toe. The troll must have heard me, her mouth fell open so could control the wind. She sucked it deep into her belly where it formed into darts that she spit out like bottle rockets. She kept missing, but I was afraid the shards of fiery wind would land on my flesh and burn me to the bone.

“Mother,” I whispered, “Please help me.”

As soon as the words slipped from my lips, a golden light appeared and danced back and forth along the edge of my blanket. With the tips of my fingers, I slowly peeled back the covers and peeked around the room. On the dresser, behind the troll, was a small, black notebook that kept secrets secure with elastic. My catalog.

The troll’s chest heaved up and down. She was still controlling the wind and had pumped it full of potions that made me sleepy and afraid. Eyelids heavy, I started to slip back under the covers, but the golden light moved to the center of the room and intensified. I formed my hands into shields, pressed them against my forehead, and swayed to find a space where the light wasn’t so blinding. Out the corner of my eye, I saw long brown locks brush against my closet door. It was mother, she was sending me a signal. She found dad, they were trapped, and they needed my help.

I climbed out of bed and tip-toed toward the troll. When I got closer, I realized the wind had broken free and reversed the potion, forcing the troll to bow her head and obey. I reached for my notebook, at the height of the troll’s shoulder, but it was too far back. I held my breath, grabbed the bookmark ribbon between two fingers, and dragged my notebook off the edge of the dresser and into my pajama dress-turned acrobat’s net.

Catalog secure, I floated backward into the closet, crouched down, and sunk into the thick daggers of carpet. My gaze remained on the troll as I let my mouth fall open so the air inside me could escape. I left the catalog at the door and began to crawl through the closet as daggers sliced and poked the palms of my hands, knees, and legs. I ran my hands up and down the walls and grasped at the darkness ahead of me, but I didn’t know what to look for.

"Mother,” I whispered, “Mother, are you there?”

The sound of the troll battling back the wind sent me into hiding. I scurried to get as far from the doors as I could fast as I could. I pulled my legs to my chest and laid on my side. As I lowered my head, I anticipated having to endure a thousand slashes, but it didn’t happen. I crashed into a rock. The troll was on her feet. I swooped up the rock and rolled to fold my body into a nook deep inside the closet. The troll was gone.

What I thought was a rock was not. It was the wooden box I kept my seeds in. Mother must have known the curly-haired goblin thought she would never find this place and I would not be strong enough to help her or dad. I checked for the troll then climbed out of the nook and laid on my belly. I pulled out the lid and tossed it on the carpet. There they were, safe and sound and full of magic. They were long, flat, green, showed the faces of helpful wizards and wizards to run from, and had fat numbers drawn in the corners to tell mother how many steps to take, turns to make, and stairs to climb to get back to me. They were easy to fold and smelled like a mix of dirt, onions, and sweat.

It was then that I realized I had to lay the seeds out, create a path, and leave the catalog in the closet so that mother knew what each number meant and what each wizard did. I collected the seeds to return them to the box. The last few seeds were in my hand when the closet door opened, and the troll poked her head through. I tightened my grip and glared. Her eyes went straight to the long seeds poking out both sides of my fist.

“No,” I screamed as I got to my feet and swung over and over at the troll’s face. She tried to back away but could not stop me. I was out of the closet and running from my room when the curly-haired goblin wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into the air. I plunged my head forward to bite his ear, but the troll grabbed my face and held it.

“Mom, stop.”

I began to weep. The goblin was always with his mother.

“I want my mother,” I cried, “I want my mother.”

The troll did not poison me, but she warned me not to leave my bed. I stayed quiet. I had to, otherwise, her eyes would always be on me and I wouldn’t be able to come up with a new plan. I heard the goblin talking, he took all my seeds.

“She had twenty-thousand dollars.”

I’m clever and I get good marks in penmanship, I’ll get my seeds back. I rolled to my side and closed my eyes.

“Mother,” I cried, “Please help me.”