This is the last story for my September Patreon drive! If you’ve been enjoying my stories, you can either support me monthly at patreon.com/melodytaylor, or you can leave me a one-time tip at buymeacoffee.com/melodytaylor.
I’d LOVE to be able to make enough money from Patreon and my books to be able to live on that and just write all the time, but for right now the Patreon money isn’t enough for all that. I use it for things like booth space at fairs, traveling and getting lunch at those fairs, attending workshops, business cards, website fees, paying my professional cover designer, and buying my husband dinner when he fixes my computer (which he’s good at and does fairly often for me!) Without my peeps at Patreon, I wouldn’t have the funds for all that, and all of it gets me a little closer and a little closer to my dream of going full-time as a novelist.
A HUGE thank-you to the folks who support me there, a GIANT thank-you to the new people who signed up this month because of the drive, and a big thanks to everyone who’s just enjoying my stories!
The request for topics this week came from Tiffany and Terry Angell. Tiffany asked for Halloween shenanigans from the spirit side, and Terry Angell asked for a cement truck to be included.
I hope you like it.
Los Muertos
“Mom, I can’t tell her that!”
“That rotten brat deserves to hear it! Her and her rotten husband.”
Christina shook her head. She sipped her coffee and didn’t meet her mother’s eyes.
“You can tell her I said so, too,” her mama said, and scowled.
“Dios mia,” Christina sighed. “Mom, you know I can’t tell Auntie Lucia any of this stuff. Why didn’t you tell her yourself . . . you know. Before.”
“Don’t you take the Lord’s name in vain!” Christina’s mama scolded. “I’ll tell Him myself that you did.”
“You go right ahead. I’m sure He’s got some famines or something He needs to see to, more than worry I said a bad word.”
“You’re such a naughty child. Your papa is so ashamed.”
“You tell me every year, mama. Tell papa I love him.”
“He’ll be happy to hear it, mija. Now, you tell my rotten sister that I remember how she borrowed my favorite skirt in high school — ”
” — and it came back all stained, Mama, I know. I’m not going to tell her. I’ll tell her you love her and you miss her.”
“You tell her about the fire and brimstone that waits for her!” her mama grumped.
“Mom. There’s no fire and brimstone.”
“And how would you know?”
“You know I talk to el espiritu. Just like Abuelita. They tell me. No fire, no brimstone.”
“Well, don’t you tell your Auntie Lucia that!” Mama huffed. “You know she never paid us back the money she borrowed to buy that cement truck. No pot to piss in, and your father and I helped her out, and when her rotten husband started getting jobs and making money, suddenly they forgot where that stupid truck came from.”
“Cousin Louise sold the truck when Uncle Ricky retired they paid that money back to us,” Christina said patiently. “With interest. I will tell Auntie Lucia that you love her and you miss her.”
Her mother’s face crumpled in tears, as Christina had been waiting for. “Ah, Dios mia, I miss you all. It’s so good to be able to talk to you.”
“I know, Mama, we miss you, too.” Christina took another sip of coffee. The sun would rise soon, and her mama would be called back to the shadowlands. El mundo espiritual. The parting remained bittersweet.
Her mama tried to pat her hand on the table between them. Her hand passed through Christina’s, which brought on more tears. Christina’s own eyes welled up in response.
Outside, the sky began to lighten.
“I love you, Mama,” Christina said.
“I love you, too, mija.”
“You come back next year so we can talk some more, comprender?”
Her mama nodded, still tearful. Then her face changed. “And you make sure to tell your brother I saw what he did last month –”
The rest was lost as her mother faded from view in the morning light. A sort of feeling of — almost lightness, but with a quality of emptiness — took the world, and left the new morning feeling strange.
Christina wiped the small tears from the corners of her eyes and finished her coffee.
I rolled the ideas from my Patrons around for a little while, as the first thing that popped into my head was a Tim Burton-esque dark comedy with ghost children. I may still write something like that, but I actually don’t like The Nightmare Before Christmas or similar movies (sorry!), so I wanted to veer away from that flavor. That idea will take more baking before I have it tweaked how I want. I’ll let you know if I do wind up turning that one into a story at some point! I couldn’t decide if this one should be funny or serious, so I settled on something in between. I had it all fleshed out — pun intended — in a couple hours.
Thanks again to all my supporters, and thanks so much for sticking with me during this drive! It went well, so I’ll probably do it again sometime!
