The Mysterious Vanishing Turkey
The gymnasium that Jayne's event was being held at was not the school gymnasium as usual. This was a city-wide event, and it was being hosted at a large, downtown gymnasium built for just such the occasion. It was a large building with a huge floor where they had set up all the equipment the contestants would need for all of the events. A long panel of judges, all lined up on a portable table, stretched near a large balancing beam. The stadium seating allowed the audience to sit anywhere in the ring around stadium style seats, except directly behind the judges.
When they arrived, there were other contestants already on the floor, getting warmed up and taking practice jumps. Jayne immediately went toward the changing rooms, ignoring her mother's petitions of good luck. The rest of the group traveled up to the seats. They still constituted quite a large party of family and friends, over 20 people, some of which Sadie knew, and some of which she didn't. They took up six seats in three and a half rows so they could all still talk and discuss with each other without shouting all across a single file of chairs.
Unfortunately, since it was Jayne's performance, Sadie, Leah, along with their mother and father, were all in the the front-most row. They were waiting for the beginning of the show when Sadie took her journal out again. She was going to draw a particularly grumpy looking judge who was plump with circular glasses when her mom forced the journal back down into her bag.
"Sadie Murray, I should think you won't be pulling that thing out now of all times," nagged her mother with a surly smile, "This is your sister's big day. She's going to need all the support we can give her."
"But they haven't even started yet. I was going to put it away once they did." Sadie was being entirely honest; Sadie might not like the way Jayne treated her, but Jayne is still is her sister, and deserved her support.
"You shouldn't be rude to your sister!" snaps her mother quietly. "Here, you can say hello to Aunt Glenda. I see them just coming through the doorway." She raises her voice to a holler, "Glenda! Over here!"
It felt like the walls around Sadie were crumbling, bearing down on top of her, and she was destined for certain doom. Not them! Sadie had thought they were going to pass up the event, but they had just arrived late. Aunt Glenda, with a bothered smile, and her rotund body that almost resembled a weather balloon in the particular dress she wore, hobbled through the seats to them and gave Sadie's mom a wide hug. Loudly, she said, "Oh Jane, so good to see you!"
"I agree, we need to spend more time together. And look at the little darlings!" It was always a bad sign when Sadie's mother put emphasis on an entire sentence. Sure enough, Diane and Dana were trotting right behind Aunt Glenda, equally as plump as their mother, and with devilish smiles on their faces.
"Hello Aunt Jane," Diane said, baring all her teeth in a smile very reminiscent to a shark. "Hello Sadie."
"Well go on Sadie, say hello," her mother says, poking her in the back. Sadie greeted them. "And how is school Diane? Dana?" Sadie's mother continued.
Dana cowered behind behind Diane. Dana was very shy in large groups of people. Diane, on the other hand, relished the opportunity to be asked the question, "It's great Aunt Jane! I have A's in almost all my classes!"
"Almost?" Sadie's mom asks, as if confused she had chosen the wrong word for the sentence.
"Had a bit of a poor time in P.E.," said Aunt Glenda in polite defense. Big surprise, thought Sadie to herself as Aunt Glenda continued, "But we've hired a special trainer to help with her bodily attributes, so it shouldn't be a problem any more. Isn't that right Snookiekins."
"Very right, mother," she said, faking a smile, though it could be seen that she took the physical trainer as a direct insult. Diane looked right at Sadie and cracked her knuckles.
Thankfully, Aunt Glenda wanted to talk to Sadie's mother further. She moved between her mother and Leah, talking very quickly about nearly anything that seemed to come to her mind. Sadie could probably have gotten away with drawing in her journal, but she decided she would rather not take the chance and sat patiently, watching people enter the room and the judges sit very self-consciously at their table.
After a short time, all the contestants came out. All of Sadie's party except herself, Leah, and her father yelled at the top of their lungs once they saw Jayne among the contestants parading to the middle of the floor. The events began soon after, with gymnasts flipping and flying through the air with grace and ease. It was horribly boring for Sadie, but any time she wouldn't cheer, her mother would send a nasty elbow to her ribs, so she was forced to stay attentive.
Jayne's best performance was on the bar that the gymnasts had to swing on. Jayne was exceedingly confident for her performance on the bar prior to this competition. She didn't practice it at all because of her confidence. She had to wait her turn after several other participants went, who were all average in their performances. On Jayne's attempt, she did some extraordinary flips and had a spotless landing, which was very classic of her. The judges awarded with a tremendously good score. Next was the vault, where she did a death defying flip that earned her a near perfect score from all of the judges.
Throughout the entire show, when Jayne wasn't performing, Sadie could see Diane and Dana glowering at her out of the corner of her eye. Sadie felt really uncomfortable there, and wanted to get away, but figured that she would get into trouble, and resigned to remaining in place.
Jayne went on once more and scored a fair score with her performance of floor gymnastics, but next was Jayne's real worry. For the last three weeks straight, she had been compulsively worried about her act for the balance beam. She always had an issue with keeping her equilibrium whenever she transfered from a frontwards flip into a backwards flip, and though she had never fallen from the beam, she had many close calls.
Each contestant was taking their turns on the beam, Jayne looking particularly nervous as she sat impatiently in deep thought with the remaining contestants. Sadie decided to chance a direct look toward Diane and Dana. Dana was making a nasty face, while Diane was using her finger like a knife on her throat. Sadie couldn't take this further, she needed a break.
Though her mother disapproved, she made room for Sadie to squeeze through the aisle of seats, and Sadie made her way toward the restrooms. Sadie didn't actually have any need to go, she simply needed to put some distance between her, Diane, and Dana. To humor her mother though, she went into the restroom. There were two nervous gymnasts discussing their scores with each other while washing their hands. Sadie decided to wash her own hands just to make a point that she had been in the restroom, and returned to the stadium.
There was still another two contestants before Jayne was to perform. Jayne looked almost terrified with nervousness, though only Sadie could see it. Jayne remained outwardly confident, but whenever she was nervous, she would twirl her hair in her fingers. She was twirling her hair quite quickly at the moment.
“What’s wrong Shady Sadie? Didn’t want to stay around and play with us?”
Sadie froze. It was Diane and Dana. Diane continued to taunt Sadie, toddling toward her. “You shouldn’t run away from us like that, it’s not nice,” she said smirking. Dana hid behind her, but smirked as well.
“I wasn’t trying to run away. I had to use the restroom,” Sadie lied.
“Oh, I’m sure,” she says, cracking her knuckles. With a quick walk, Sadie turned on her heels and returned to the restroom. The gymnasts were gone now, and Diane and Dana followed her in. She was trapped. She made for one of the stalls so she could try to lock herself in, but Diane grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her away.
Sadie turned to run for the door, but Dana was waiting there. She may have been younger and shorter, but was not pushover. When Sadie tried to push her aside she held her ground until Diane grabbed Sadie by the shirt and pulled her backwards so hard that Sadie fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet, but was pushed in the chest. Sadie stumbled backwards until she banged into a metal fixture, which slashed through her slacks and cut her leg.
Her thigh stung terribly and she let out a whimper of pain as she backed into the wall between two sinks. The girls were laughing menacingly at her. "Oh, poor Sadie's hurt. I think she's going to cry," Diane cackles.
"And she tore her pretty little pants," Dana says, now much bolder after Sadie was stuck in a corner.
"Just back off you two! That's enough!" Sadie pleaded, but they weren't listening. They closed in on her so she wouldn't be able to get away.
Diane cracks her knuckles once again, "You know, those pants look nasty with that huge hole. Maybe we should take them and throw them in the trash." She lets out a huge laugh, which Dana didn't understand, staring at her looking quite oblivious. Diane slapped Dana on the head, "We steal her pants and leave her here in her underwear so people can laugh at her, idiot!"
"Oh!" Dana spouts with newfound knowledge. "Perfect sis! That's hilarious."
Sadie was shaking, starting to cry. They are bluffing, she thought. They couldn't possibly want to do that, could they?
Dana reached for Sadie's waist, but Sadie pushed Dana back. Diane quickly shoved Sadie straight into the wall with a bang and grabbed her belt, starting to undo it. Sadie tried to wrestle free, but Dana grabbed both her arms, holding them behind her back. She tried to writhe free of Dana's grip, but couldn't escape. They're actually going to do it. How can this be happening?! She was crying openly now, and was angry and terrified at the same time as she struggled against the two girls, but she was no match.
She felt the last of her belt slipping free from her beltloops. Both girls howled with laughter. This was it. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, ready for the worst.
And then, just as Diane gave a tug at Sadie's pants, something happened. Diane stopped, frozen on the spot. Dana still held Sadie tightly, but there was no movement coming from Diane at all. Diane let out a nasty cough of shock, and Sadie heard her now removed belt clack against the tiled floor. She heard Diane gasp in shock and almost horror, and Dana let go of Sadie's arms. Instinctively, eyes still closed, Sadie ran straight back to the nearest wall, pressing her back to it. There was some sort of ominous silence in the room except for the frightful hiccuping gasps Diane was making.
Sadie slowly opened her eyes, peering through tears.
Diane had her back against a stall directly opposite of where Sadie was, Dana looking at Diane in horror. And ghastly it was indeed. Very slowly, to Sadie's complete disbelief, Diane's hair was growing. It was almost hard to notice as the tips of her hair, which originally almost ran to her shoulders, slowly began to extend. But in seconds, her hair had grown past her shoulder, and seconds more to her chest. It was lengthening in back and front, and in moments her face was covered entirely.
Diane began flailing around in complete shock, accidentally slapping Dana in the the face and knocking her to the floor. Diane walked around like a zombie, completely blind, and in her confusion, slipped on Sadie's belt and fell on her back to the floor.
"What's going on?" Diane demanded, attempting to get up with her ever-growing hair. Sadie didn't need to see anymore, she grabbed her belt from the floor, struggling to put it back on as she pushed her way straight out of the restroom.
She was still crying as she reentered the main room, attracting attention from bystanders, but she didn't care. She ran straight back to her seats to tell her dad, he would listen and believe her. As she came to her aisle of seats, the people sitting in her way saw her distress and made it easier for her to pass. Sadie's father stood up and looked worried, while her mom stood as well looking annoyed.
"What's wrong honey?" her father asked concerned.
"Diane and Dana were messing with me in the restroom!" she yelled, choking back tears.
"Sadie Murray, how dare you rip your pants like that!" her mother yells angrily, "And do you have any idea that your sister is about to go on?"
Sadie didn't listen, speaking to her father again, "They were pushing me around and trying to hurt me."
"Preposterous!" Aunt Glenda shouted, "My daughters would never do such a thing!"
"Glenda, please, be quiet," Sadie's father defended.
"Are you suggesting that your daughter is telling the truth?"
"Maybe she is," he continued. "I just don't think you should make such brash accusations."
Sadie's mother had been fuming silently until now, "I don't want to hear anything of this!" she yelled at Sadie's father.
Sadie's father attempted to say something, "Honey, I..."
"Don't 'honey, I,' to me James. You can't defend Sadie when she lies."
"I'm not lying! They were trying to hurt me!"
"Be quiet!"
Suddenly, the room tensed. Sadie spun around to see Jayne poised for her stunt on the balance beam, still looking nervous. Sadie still had tears pouring down her face, and was still furious at what her aunt and mother had just said. She wanted to pray that Jayne was able to perform perfectly, but her thoughts were colliding with one another. She was distressed, furious, and terrified all at once. She couldn't think.
Jayne moved, instantly launching into a incredible, death defying series of flips down the balance beam. The whole room looked in awe. Jayne came out of a flip on her feet, and went into an unbelievable backflip, soaring high into the air above the beam.
Sadie had only barely blinked her eyes, and the world seemed to stop dead still. For an inconceivably short second, nobody moved, nobody breathed, and Jayne hung mid-backflip in the air. And somewhere in that mere second, with a nearly inaudible popping noise that one may have thought was bubblegum, the balance beam was no longer there.
Jayne missed her landing, over-spinning in her flip, and hit the floor squarely on her rear with a loud thud. And in the time it took Sadie to blink and register what she had just seen in her mind, the balance beam was back where it originally had been.
Sadie thought she must have been losing her mind. She could almost swear that the balance beam had just vanished out of thin air. She was worried she was going crazy.
But in the next few seconds, the whole audience registered. The crowd gave a startling gasp. But this gasp was for the realization that Jayne had just missed her jump; half a second later, the crowd gasped again flabbergasted. The room held its breath, fearing that if they exhaled, something equally strange would happen. Many people rubbed their eyes in disbelief, not entirely sure they had seen exactly what had happened
Jayne sat on the floor, holding her bottom in pain, completely confused. The judges at the table were staring with their mouths hanging wide open. Sadie's family was dumbfounded, exchanging looks between each other and Jayne. Sadie's mother was staring and crying. And the fat head of hair that had recently walked up from the restrooms was asking everyone what had just happened.
"Honorable mention! Foolish judges, Jane," Glenda spouted, a large piece of lettuce in her mouth, "To say that Jayne missed her jump! Absurd! It was clear this was some sort of conspiracy, Jane. Oh!" with a sudden epiphany, "Someone played a trick with the lights! It was clear that something happened then. Everyone saw what happened!"
Tensions had calmed somewhat after the unbelievable events at the gymnastics performance. The car ride to the fancy restaurant that Aunt Glenda had picked out was unbearable. Nobody spoke a single word. But after Aunt Glenda suggested Jayne's failure was an accident, or a conspiracy theory, the mood lightened. Aunt Glenda was preaching to the entire table about her theories, while Sadie's mother agreed with it all, and listed people who might be to blame.
Sadie's father had been attempting to comfort Jayne, but he had since given up. Jayne hadn't ceased crying since she had fallen, even when she went up to the stage to receive her badge for honorable mention. She was now dressed in a pretty black dinner dress, but was bawling into napkins, which were ending up in the plate of cordon bleu that she refused to eat. Dana and Leah were both making braids out of Diane's hair which stretched down her chair and to the floor. To keep the hair out of her eyes, they tied off all her new bangs into a pony tail, which they directed to the back of her head. Diane looked stunned, almost petrified by the experience, and refused to look at Sadie.
The fact that Jayne had fallen and lost had completely pushed Diane's hair growth problem, and Sadie's accusations of being bullied, completely aside. Both her mother and Aunt Glenda had almost seemed to have forgotten with all the commotion. When the other guests at the table asked about Diane's hair, Aunt Glenda answered for Diane, "Hormones! I tell you, they put them in all of our food these days! Dreadful, I knew something tasted funny in that sheep the other day. You know they'll be having a lawsuit from me in short order!"
Sadie had mixed feelings. She felt horrible for Jayne, and tried to console her in the car, but Jayne kept crying and ignored her. But besides Jayne's loss, Sadie had never been happier. She had no idea what happened to Diane, but did know it was the most hilarious thing she had seen in her life. Diane would never threaten her like that again, and Dana was almost thankful for what Sadie had done now that she was having so much fun.
Sadie's father looked across the table at her, obviously stressed, but forced a smile. Sadie motioned with her eyes at Diane, who had attempted to shift in her chair, only to learn that her hair was under one of the chair legs, and pulled it with a yelp. Her father couldn't help but laugh, and Sadie beamed before laughing with him.
"How's your cut?" he asked.
"Much better, it barely hurts. But I think some blood might have gotten on my pants."
"Lucky you picked black, eh? Won't have to worry about a nasty red stain," he kidded. "I tell you what, run off to the restroom and wash the cut again to keep it clean. I'll let your mother know if she asks."
Sadie was glad to get away from the boring table. She had finished dinner nearly half an hour ago, and she thought she could do with a stretch. She went across the restaurant into the restrooms. They were very luxurious, as far as restrooms were concerned. She did her business, washed her hands, face, and dabbed the cut with a wet paper cloth before leaving.
Along the way back to the table, she stopped to watch a jazz band that was playing an upbeat tune for the people who were eating. They were really into their music, having lots of fun, especially the saxophonist, who had just entered a solo and was moving his whole body to the beat and the notes that he played. She really wanted to draw them, and decided that she would later before she went to bed.
Sadie returned to the table while Aunt Glenda was being particularly boisterous, insisting the waiter pour a significantly larger amount of wine into her glass, "Don't be afraid, darling! More, more; I'll need more after tonight," she says, motioning to Diane, which issues several absent minded laughs.
She continued on her previous train of thought once the waiter poured a ample supply of wine, "Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Jane, I mean, you can't always hope for everything to be perfect. It's just not natural for someone to have the best of everything. And you have two wonderful daughters, who are so talented and so beautiful. It's only natural to have a runt in the family."
Sadie's mood dropped from her and hit the ground like glass, shattering in all directions. A runt?! Sadie's dad coughed uncomfortably, but nothing could stop Aunt Glenda now.
"But honestly, Jane," continued Aunt Glenda unabated, "You couldn't be more proud of what you've been given. Jayne is a beautiful young lady, and the most talented young gymnast I've seen in years - there, there darling," she says as Jayne stops crying momentarily, "And Leah is absolutely beautiful, and a darling little girl, and oh so talented for her age. Things like Sadie just happen."
Some people who hadn't really been listening Aunt Glenda's rant laughed again absent minded, but the remainder of the table shifted their gaze to Sadie. She had pushed her chair back very noisily on the hardwood floor, standing up aghast at what she just heard.
"Things like me just happen?" she demanded angrily.
"Glenda, please..." Sadie's father said defensively, "Let's just change the topic."
"You know, James, you can't always go around ignoring the issues like this. Lying, trouble making, poor performance in school, no notable talents..." Sadie's father attempted to argue what Aunt Glenda was saying, but she continued before he could find the words. "You have to face the fact that Sadie here is a bit, well... sub-par."
"Shut up! You shut up!" Sadie yelled, tears swelling in her eyes once again.
"Aggression? Dear lord, this girl really is a case, Jane, my dear. You shouldn't blame yourself. Everyone makes mistakes."
"Makes mistakes?! I'm just a mistake?!" Sadie was so angry and so devastated that she could no longer think straight.
"Of course, my dear. I mean it's some... somewhat..." Aunt Glenda stuttered, shifting her gaze, "Somewhat obvious..."
Sadie was furious. This was disgusting. How could anyone, even someone as despicable as Aunt Glenda, say such vile, cruel, ruthless things?
But she soon realized people were no longer staring at her. They were staring at the middle of the table. Slowly, Sadie shifted her gaze, following the eyes of everyone else at the table. And there it was.
Originally, in the middle of the table, was a large cooked turkey that Aunt Glenda ordered but never got around to eating, sitting pristinely on a beautiful silver platter. But it was no longer on the platter, for the turkey was hovering in the air just above the table. As if on strings, the turkey flew there, completely suspended. The table shifted their view between Sadie and the turkey several times.
Sadie stared at the turkey. This wasn't like when Diane's hair started miraculously growing. It wasn't like when Jayne's balancing beam disappeared for a moment. The turkey was hanging in the air, and everybody watched. And just like that, with a small pop, it disappeared into nothingness.
Sadie Murray and the Enigma Scroll by star_sailor
Chapter Notes: Sadie reluctantly attends Jayne's gymnastics performance. But when Diane and Dana, her evil cousins arrive, who knows what strange things could happen?