MTU: Hard To Look At - Chapter 6 (Patreon)

There was a soft knock at the door. I snapped my inner eyelids shut and called out, "Come in."

"Is it done?"

"No, I think I'm doing a different experiment, now."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Look at the bird," I said. "When I petrified it, his head was turned to the right at a sharp angle. I didn't like the way it looked so I turned it back forward."

"You turned the stone neck forward?"

"You know how I see these lines and swirls inside the stone?" I ask rhetorically. "Well, while lightly pressing against the side of its head, I imagined those lines which twisted with its neck to straighten out. And slowly its head turned back forward. It looks natural, doesn't it?"

"Sure, I couldn't tell it was modified."

"Well, the experiment now is to find out if the bird survives my messing with its anatomy while its made of stone."

"Right," he seemed to understand. "For all you know, you snapped its neck or ruptured a bunch of cells in its neck. Hopefully it worked or an hour from now you might have a bloody mess on your workbench."

"I know."

"Okay, time for the next experiment. You go stand where I was facing the garage door and I'll sneak up behind you."

"Why don't I just stand over here again?"

"Because there's a lot of reflective metal over here. There's none over by the door. If you remember the myth, Perseus observed Medusa in a polished bronze shield. Your trick shatters glass mirrors but it doesn't affect any of the metal in this garage."

"You think I could petrify myself in a metal mirror?"

"We can test that tomorrow."

"We can?"

"All we need is a toaster or some other shiny appliance."

"I guess I shouldn't use my trick in a kitchen."

"Stop stalling," he said giving me a playful pull. We walked over to the far side of the room. "Turn around and hold out your hand," he instructed. He put the tape measure in my hand and started walking away from me. "Shout out when I'm over sixteen feet away."

"That's sixteen," I called out. "I have my trick active. Start walking forward when ready."

"Okay, here I come," he started. "The sneaky thief is creeping up on the girl with the luscious body and snakes for hair."

"Ell-- ee-- ot!" I sternly intoned, emphasizing each syllable of his name individually.

"Shush, I'm narrating," he joked. "What malicious deeds ran through his mind? What salacious needs ran through his loin?"

"I'm warning you."

"Would she be startled to find him breathing down her neck or would some quantum force-- Oh," he said and was suddenly cut off. There was silence for a few seconds.

"Elliot?" I called. I called his name once more before looking at the tape measure to my right, moving the lock into place. I turned off my trick and turned around. "Seven feet, three and three-quarter inches. About the same distance either way." I had a sudden realization. "Elliot, we are idiots. We didn't test when someone is petrified head on. Just because the mirrors break at around 16 feet doesn't mean head on I would petrify someone sixteen feet away. Or fifteen feet, or fourteen feet. Any distance greater than seven and a quarter feet is purely speculation on our part."

I was pacing back and forth in front of him when the door to the garage suddenly opened.

"Oh, there you are," Daddy began as he stepped in and stopped. "I thought Elliot went home?"

"I never actually answered that question," I explained.

"And why is Elliot a statue?"

"He said I was making him stiff too many times," I joked. I had no idea that was about to jump out of my mouth.

"What?"

"I'm joking. We were experimenting. He insisted I need to know everything about my trick to know my limitations."

"Well, that sounds surprisingly wise coming from Elliot. It doesn’t explain why he’s crouched like that?"

"We only did two tests, since it takes an hour once he ends up like this."

"He was here through dinner?" Daddy asked.

"He was standing over there facing away."

"Okay. Now explain these experiments."

I explained the experiments in detail involving Elliot. I did not mention the bird at all. At the end, I asked, "Speaking of experiments, last night when I petrified you, how long did it last and how long did it seem to last?"

"It lasted about an hour as apparently is usual. You mother was in here talking the whole time so it felt like an hour went by before I could move again. Also, like Elliot said, I had no idea I was made of stone. I just couldn't move."

"Oh," I exclaimed. "I wonder if this time Elliot will feel the whole hour going by since we're talking in front of him."

"Probably," Daddy answered. "When he can move again get him into the kitchen. I'll have Mom reheat something. I will not send him home this late without giving him supper."

"Thank you, Daddy," I said sweetly.

Nonplussed, he gave a perfunctory, "You're welcome. Carry on," he added as he left.

I felt ambivalent about using such a sweet, girly tone on Daddy. I really didn’t want to become one of those girls who wraps their father around the finger. I felt a little dirty pulling that voice on him. At the same time, I didn’t want to get in trouble for omitting the fact that Elliot was a statue in the garage while we ate.

I turned to look at him and said, "You're always making my life interesting. I'll give you that."

My comment was met with stony silence.

I turned Elliot so he was facing my workbench. Rather than just wait, I experimented with my hairsnakes. I poured an assortment of screws and bolts out of a jar onto the workbench and attempted to sort them into piles using my snakes. With my eyes closed, I instructed the four long snakes directly, shifting my focus from snake to snake. I was talking about how I was thinking about naming the snakes and other trivialities just to keep Elliot aware of how much time was passing.

Eventually, the bird was flapping its wings and taking flight again. I had forgotten all about the bird. I followed it over where it was perched and managed to get a hold of it. It appeared to be turning its head from side to side without a problem.

"I've got food for Elliot when he's ready," called Mom from the kitchen.

"It'll be a few more minutes," I called back.

I returned to the screws on the workbench. Before the bird interrupted I had started getting some of the snakes to work independently of my explicit commands. I concentrated fully on the task and lost track of time because when I was done, Elliot was standing there video recording what I was doing with his phone.

"You have got to see this video," Elliot said, hitting a few buttons on the camera.

"Inside," I said pointing toward the house. "Mom insists on feeding you before you go home."

"I know," he said as he handed me the phone. As we sat down inside and I started the video.

"So, now you're a scientist?" Mom asked Elliot.

"Mad scientist," he insisted. "What's point of being a scientist if you can't take over the world?"

"Well, Medusa's trick is dangerous so be careful."

"We were just testing her limits. She can affect people she's not looking at or who aren't looking at her within seven feet."

"Did you speed this up?" I interrupted.

"No," Elliot exclaimed. "Your snakes were moving that fast. When I could move, I whipped out the camera because you were obviously not paying attention to me. I know you started out with just a couple of the snakes working but how did you coordinate so many at the same time."

"What are you talking about?" Mom asked.

I paused the video and slid the slider back a moment. Then I handed the phone to Mom.

"I didn't coordinate them. They joined in on the task on their own as they understood what to do. I would have to correct some of them as they didn't all realize there was a difference between screws and bolts. But eventually, I was just supervising them without really giving directions."

"I've got to show this to your father," Mom said zipping out of the room with the phone.

"How long did it feel like you were stuck?" I asked.

"Almost an hour. When you were talking and practicing with your hair, time crawled along, probably at what is normal speed." He continued in a quieter voice, "I didn't see what happened when you were doing something with the bird. I didn't see any blood either."

"The bird seems fine." I started whispering, "It was turning its head normally. It was looking up and down. I'm not going to mention this to Mom and Dad yet."

"If you insist," he replied.

Daddy entered, "Honey, this is amazing. This is your phone, Elliot?" He handed back his phone as Elliot held out his hand. "Who knew how useful those snakes could be?" He added as he exited.

"Yeah, every teenage boy wants to have snakes for hair when they grow up," I muttered.

"Hey, none of that, Missy," Elliot admonished. "No one is going to mistake you for a teenage boy. And you know you enjoy finding out what you can do with those snakes."

"Well, maybe a little," I admitted.

"Oh, my!" Elliot exploded.

"What?"

"You just twirled a snake around your finger like it was long hair."

I looked at the snake in my hand and let it go, "No, I didn't."

Elliot laughed. "You're right. No, you didn't. I'm crazy."

I giggled like a school girl and was shocked by having done so.

Elliot looked down at his plate. "No comment, here."

I resisted the urge to run from the room. "Tell me, Elliot," I stated calmly. "What color do I turn when I blush?"

He looked up and laughed, "You actually are a deeper orange or rust at the moment."

"I thought so."

"Tomorrow, I have just the thing for testing your trick on yourself."

"Oh, I just remembered," I interrupted. "On my way to biology yesterday, I ran into Marie Applebottom and she wanted me to do a bust for her in clay."

"Marie Amplebottom was talking to Gordon Harrison?"

"Don't call her that."

"When were you supposed to start?"

"She's giving me a ride home Friday afternoon."

"Who knew Gordon was a heartbreaker?"

"Oh, please," I sighed.

"Do you still like girls?"

I didn't answer immediately. "I didn't think I was going to be dating Marie."

"That's not what I asked."

"I don't know. I haven't seen a guy I've gotten all flustered about. I also haven't seen a girl who did it either. Of course, other than going to the mall, I haven't seen a lot of people either."

Elliot got up from the table. "Well, don't sweat it, my good friend." He reached out to give me a hug and did so when I didn’t resist him. "I've got to go home. You usually clean up the table, right?"

I rolled my eyes at him as he scurried out the door. I cleared his plate. I went out to the garage and scooped up the screws and bolts and put them back where they belonged. The bird flew by. I forgot he was still flying around in here. I opened the overhead door and chased him out of the garage.

In my room, I took off my shoes and got undressed. I found my closet emptied of most of my old clothes and the new clothes we bought today hanging in their place. I picked up the pajama bottoms I had worn last night but it did not feel right to wear them. I went back to the closet and picked out a sleeveless nightgown that had caught my eye at the mall. I put it on and went to the bathroom to relieve myself and brush my teeth. The hairsnakes did not tire as quickly tonight and I managed to use them to do the whole job. I also removed my eye makeup and lipstick after Mom knocked at the door on her way by and reminded me to do so.

I didn't feel like watching television or playing video games tonight. So I decided to turn in early. A parade of students reacting to the new me wandered through my mind as I tried to fall asleep. I imagined most of those reactions being poor.