The Girls of Ohmer CH 2 Trouble in paradise

The Girls of Ohmer
Chapter 2
Trouble in paradise

The Ohmer residence  was a quaint little cottage nestled on a hilltop that overlooked miles of green pasture and wildflowers. A spring of crystal clear water fed a shallow brook that circled halfway around the house and turned sharply to flow down into the lowlands and through a nearby village.

The surrounding countryside was dotted with fruit trees of many kinds. succulent peaches, tart apples, and sweet red cherries to name a few.

From the outside, the little cottage looked neat and proper, with a well kept yard and garden.  The stone walk curved across the lawn between parallel rows of orange and yellow flowers. It ended at a white stone stoop beneath a bright red oval door.

The rest of the house was natural in color with wooden shingles covering the exterior. The shingles were all of varying sizes and colors, depending on the type of wood they were made from,this gave the cottage a whimsical patchwork appearance, despite the neatness of the place.

In the front yard grew a small oak tree with thin red leaves. It's branches were festooned with wind chimes of all shapes and sizes. The slightest breeze raised an orchestra of tinkling, jangling, clanging music.

The neatness outside contrasted sharply with the chaos within.

Erika stood in the living room assessing the damage from Vey veys most recent tantrum. She was on the verge of becoming overwhelmed when she decided not to let the situation get her down.

The past months of peace and quiet had given her hope that she wouldn't have to clean this kind of mess ever again. Obviously that hope had been short lived. The room she stood in was a catastrophe, or more accurately  it was a VayVastrophe!

Furniture was overturned, dishes were falling out of the cupboard, melted wax was pooled and hardening on the floor. That's not to mention all of the floorboards that were loose with nail heads poking up.

As Vay and Bear Dog Vampire continued playing, Erika surveyed the disaster, developed a plan of action, then stood straight and tall. She took in a deep breath, raising her arms out to her sides and up over her head. She closed her eyes and held her breath for just a moment. As she exhaled she slowly lowered her arms back down to her sides, while she did this the sound of her sisters became muted and then silenced. Everything was silent.

With her hands by her side Erica finally opened her eyes and began to breath normally.  The bear and the girl were still in front of her but instead of tumbling and tickling, they were still like statues. Just outside one of the broken windows was a bluebird suspended in mid flight. And right in front of Ericas  nose was a housefly, completely still and silent, just floating in space before her. She plucked the fly from the air and dropped it to the floor.

"There" she said "now I  can get something done around here. "

Surrounded by the quiet calm of "never time" Erica began straightening up the house humming a sweet little tune as she did so.

She set the table and chairs upright. She straightened the dishes in the cupboards. She went down to the basement and retrieved a hammer, and upon returning, she began pounding protruding nails back into place. She took a flat metal spatula from the kitchen ans scraped up all the wax then she melted it and made all new candles. Outside the cottage she climbed a ladder and began replacing broken panes of glass with new ones from the basement.

Erika went back into the house still humming her little tune. She swept up the glittery pixie dust and deposited it in a special box labeled " BEAR" on the shelf.

After countless hours of happy humming, Erika surveyed her work. She was very proud of herself for a job well done! The house was immaculate. Everything was spotless and in good repair. She had even made up some new tunes to hum while she was at it. But now she was very tired as well as being very proud.

She lay on the couch and drifted off to sleep humming one of her new tunes.

Erika dreamed of slow motion butterflies and fields of bright yellow flowers with purple centers. She dreamed of riding a unicorn, that was the bestest ever!

One time last year Erika actually thought she saw a real baby unicorn in the meadow near her house. But when she got a closer look it was just an old white cat that had somehow gotten a bright yellow pencil impaled in its forehead!? Erica took pity on the cat and carried it all the way to the village so doctor Jay could look at the wound.

"Well little rescuer" he began " I'm surprised this cat is still alive with an injury like that. But he seems to be doing OK but if we remove the pencil it may kill him."

"So he's really OK like this? " she asked suspiciously

"As OK as OK can be!" He said.

Erika smiled "I'm gonna take him home and name him unicorn!"

However, as soon as Erika got home with the cat, Bear Dog ( who had yet to discover that she was also a vampire) saw the cat with a pencil sticking out of his head and began laughing.

" he looks like a popsicle!" She laughed

Vay vay overheard and began running around the room shouting with glee. " pop sick O! Pop sick O! E I E I pop sick O!"
So despite Ericas wishes, the name Popsicle stuck. It stuck like a pencil in an old cats forehead.

As Erika slept she dreamed of all the wonderful things in existence and even some that never existed before. This is why she loved napping in never time.

But suddenly, her dream changed. The sky above her meadow of flowers turned darker and finally split in two with the most horrible thundering rip! Exposing only blackness above her. She heard her mothers voice from far off; a terrified scream. An awful, sorrowful sound devoid of all hope. It was the sound of shattered Dreams. Erica felt a heavy suffocating weight all around her as her mothers screams died out only to be replaced by the most sinister cackling laughter she couldn't imagine. Erica began to scream.

Never time winked out. (something that had never before happened) And real time came rushing in like a smack in the face. The unexpected shock left Erika dizzy and nauseous. Though she didn't really notice in the midst of the fear that gripped her.

Vay vay and Bear Dog Vampire stopped playing and stared wide eyed at Erika. They had no perception of never time. To them one moment they were tusseling and tickling in a patch of pixie dust and 1/3 second later( the exact time it takes one to blink her eye) the house is spotless and Erika is curled up in the couch shaking with fear and crying out for mom.

This scene disturbed the younger Ohmers greatly. No matter what, Erika was always strong, always calm, always in charge and she always knew just what to do.

Now she looked like a broken soul and her sorrow was infectious. Vay vays lower lip began to tremble as her big round eyes filled to the brim and flooded over. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she held out her arms, walking to her big sister and began to bawl.

Bear Dog Vampire hunched over with a gruff growl. She flexed her Bear muscles and shook vigorously. Clumps of soft brown fur fell out and separated into a fine cloud of fur that floated down and landed on the formerly immaculate surfaces in the room. The fur settled revealing the little girl who disguised the other three personae.

Now both sisters sat beside Erika holding her hand and stroking her hair, trying anything to sooth her.

"What's wrong Erika" Bear Dog Vampire asked

"Wats wong Ewika?" Vay vay mimicked through sniffs and tears. She was patting Ericas  shoulder trying to calm her.

Erica, finally coming out of her stupor looked Bear Dog Vampire directly in the eyes and said.

" It's got Mom!" Her eyes began widen and tears overflowed as she continued." It's got Mom and the baby and I don't know about Dad but I think so!"

Vay started to cry harder at the mention of her parents. Hitching little whimpers interrupted long sorrowful breaths. Seeing Erika so scared made Vay absolutely terrified.

Bear Dog Vampire was getting impatient. She shook Erika by the shoulders and shouted a little too loudly " Who has Mom? What are you talking about?"

Erika took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. But when she began to speak it came out in a blubbering rush.

"IDON'TKNOW.....BUT HE IS EVIL AND MEAN AND AWFULLLL. AND HE'S GONNA HURT HUR HUR HURT THEMMmmmmmm"

Erika fell into Bear Dog Vampires arms sobbing uncontrollably.

With her big sister so distraught and her parents apparently ( or a parent ly if you prefer) missing...Bear Dog Vampire knew of only one option.

She looked at Vay vays sad little face and said. " We have to get Nina. She'll know what to do."