Story Excerpts----Corner Time---Part Two

A recent post by Spanky over at Bright Bottom gave me the idea for this collection of corner time scenes. All of these excerpts are from my short story collection, The Long Arm of the Law.

This one is from The Assignment, a Halloween Story about witches who have infiltrated society to learn about us.

"Trick or treating will be over soon. I'll take over here. I want you to go upstairs and wait for me. You know what to do."

Yes, Wendy did know what to do, and she wasn't happy about it one bit. She plodded slowly up the staircase, berating herself for her foolishness. It was stupid of her to use magic on those little witches. Wendy knew that now.

She went into the bedroom and stood in the corner near the closet. While she stood there, she chastised herself for ever telling Charles about the conversation that she'd overheard at a Tupperware party. She'd been eavesdropping on a variety of conversations that night when she overheard two sisters whispering about the spankings their husbands had given them the night before. She learned that many mortals viewed this practice as a way of maintaining peace and harmony in their homes. She explained what she'd learned to Charles when she got home that night. Three days later, when she wrecked the car while putting on makeup, they put what they'd learned into practice.

Wendy had a feeling that tonight's transgression was worse than a scrunched up bumper. Waves of anxiety crashed in her stomach as she waited for Charles' footsteps in the hall.

Finally, the bedroom door opened. Wendy knew better than to look. She continued to stare at the wall in front of her and listened while Charles closed the door behind him and walked across the room. She heard the bed creak with his weight. "Come here, please, Wendy." 

Wendy slowly turned from the corner. Her long skirt rustled in the silent room as she crossed to the bed where her husband sat. Wendy kept her eyes downcast. She really was ashamed of herself.

Charles held both of her hands in his and looked up at his wife. Blonde ringlets fell forward across her breasts as she hung her head.

"What you did tonight was very serious." Charles' voice was calm, but Wendy recognized the steely determination beneath his tone. "You could have compromised our whole assignment, not to mention our futures with The MOB, by using magic tonight." Wendy shivered with the realization, and Charles slid his hands up her arms to warm her. "I know how much you hate Halloween here, and I rushed home as quickly as I could to try to relieve you of as much of it as I could. And then I pulled into the driveway just in time to watch your hand flick just before those little witches went rolling across the lawn."

Charles squeezed his wife's arms, and she looked at him. "Those little girls could have been hurt."

"I know." Wendy felt a stab of shame at the realization that she had used magic, and broken her word, for such a petty reason.