The mother and daughter went
outside to get lemons from the lemon tree but they found it was gone.
The
daughter Brittany asked, “Did daddy cut it down?”
“No. I would have known about that.”
They stood
there stupefied. The mother confronted
the father about it.
“Did you
cut down the lemon tree?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s
gone.”
The father
didn’t believe it. He went outside
himself to see if this was for real. He
was amazed when he saw no lemon tree.
“There
wasn’t a hurricane or anything.”
The parents
stood there blankly.
Their girl
who had curly yellow hair said, “I know who did it. It’s the Earth creature. He must have eaten it.”
The parents
laughed at this imaginative fantasy of their child.
The father
chuckled, “Earth creature.”
“Yes. He’s only eaten a lemon at a time
though. I don’t know why he decided to
eat the whole thing suddenly.”
“Where does
the Earth creature live?”
“He lives
in the ground. Since he’s blind he eats
by sense of taste and smell. He gobbles things
up from the ground from time to time.”
“You’ve met
this creature? How does he look?” he
smiled.
“Like mud
only with a big giant tongue in the middle.”
The mother
stopped, “That’s enough for now. You
don’t need to be filling your mind with crazy stories.”
“But it’s
true I’ve seen him.”
The mother
thought this was more outlandish than usual.
The mother
was making dinner, spaghetti when she looked at her daughter’s drawings at the
moment. Her daughter usually made
scribbles. When Brittany had a coloring
book most of the time she went in the lines.
However she
was doing something different today. She
colored a picture of mud with teeth and a tongue.
“That’s the
earth creature.”
The mother
frowned, “More like mud monster.”
“You wonder
why your garden has shrunk. It’s because
of the Earth creature. He’s eaten some
of your zucchini. You have to
understand. He has to survive.”
“You mean
you’ve eaten my zucchini.”
“Why would
I eat it raw?”
The mother
was about to say you could have cooked it yourself but she didn’t bother. She didn’t let her daughter in the kitchen
anyway. Even though Brittany was seven,
the mother still imagined her getting burned by the oven and stove.
“We’re
friends. Me and the earth creature.”
“You mean
you and the earth creature are friends.”
“Whatever. It eats the ants and the bugs in the ground
too. He eats weeds and trash. He sucks up the things he needs.”
“That’s
nice to know an animal is in our backyard.”
“It’s not
an animal.”
The mother
laughed, “I think you need better imaginary friends.”
Brittany
didn’t respond to this. She just left.
The mother
tried to find Brittany the next day.
Dinner was ready. She found her
in the backyard. The sun was starting to
go down.
She found
her feeding leftover chicken salad into the ground.
Strangely
the mother saw the food disappear.
When the
mother came to Brittany’s spot she just saw mud.
“You know I
was planning to save that for my lunch tomorrow.”
“I just
thought it was leftovers.”
“I thought
your friend just ate food from the ground.”
“No he eats
things you give it too.”
“Does he
talk?”
“Yes he
talks. He has a large voice though so he
only speaks in whispers to me. He
doesn’t want to alarm the neighborhood.”
“What does
he talk about?”
“Daily stuff
I do. We talk about what he eats too.”
“Don’t feed
anything else without my permission.”
“He’d say
you say that.”
When the
mother came into the kitchen, the father who had been waiting for the meal
asked, “What’s the delay?”
“She’s
talking to the ground again.”
Later on
that night a friend of the mother’s stopped by to visit. It was unexpected. She had made them pineapple upside down
cake.
The mother
was embarrassed. All of Brittany’s toys
were scattered around in the living room.
When the visit was over, the mother
marched over to Brittany.
She ranted
on, “All your toys were all over and my friend saw it. From now on I’m going to be stricter on you.”
Brittany
seemed annoyed, “But she came by unannounced.”
“It should
have been cleaned anyway.”
When
Brittany was away at school, the mother made a cleaning chart. She listed which days Brittany had to take
out the trash, clean her bedroom, and such.
The mother realized she needed to be more aggressive. She had to prepare Brittany for the adult
world.
When
Brittany saw the list she was annoyed.
“I already
do these things. Why do I need to mark
them now?”
“It will
make you more efficient. It will prepare
you for the outside world.”
“I go to
school. I already am in the outside world.”
The mother
ignored that.
The next
night Brittany’s chore was doing the dishes.
The mother was at a church social so she didn’t come home until 9
p.m. She saw the dishes still not done.
She found
Brittany talking to the ground outside.
“Brittany it’s
9 o’clock and the dishes are still not done.”
“I’m sorry
I got caught up with the Earth creature.”
The mother
didn’t take it so lightly.
She
grounded her daughter.
“You’re
supposed to come home after school every day this month. No detours.”
“That’s
fine,” Brittany shrugged.
“That means
you can’t do your singing lessons.”
“That’s not
fair. That’s the only time I get out of
the house. Besides I thought you wanted
me to do them.”
“It’s a
privilege not a necessity.”
“No you’re
just cheap.”
Brittany
stomped to her bedroom.
It was
true. Brittany did have a lovely
voice. Unfortunately she’d been spending
more time outside than practicing.
There was
an improvement in the next month.
Brittany did her chores on the mark.
The house was more clean than usual.
But she was spending all of her free time outside.
The mother
ended up forbidding her daughter to use the backyard.
“That’s not
fair. I’ve done all the chores. I’ve kept the house clean. I’m allowed to have a friend.”
“You call
mud a friend?”
“He said
you would do this. He said you would end
up punishing me again. And he was
right. This time I’m going to listen to
his advice. He said he needed eyes. Well I’m giving him that option. He can have mine.”
She ran
outside to the backyard.
The mother
was slow in following. But she saw her
daughter leap into a hole in the ground.
When the mother looked back she saw eyes coming out of the ground.
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