GUARDIAN TALES...WEBMASTERS TALES

WEBMASTERS TALES

Guardian (Part III - Changings)

My idea of having a Guardian meant feeling safe and protected. Actually having one however, didn't feel that way, and I didn't cope well with the presence of the entity in our house. I detested the thing; hated living with fear every day, always waiting for the next incident, the next reminder that one of the houses' occupants wasn't human. We found out from the landlord that other tenants had moved out because there was 'something weird in the house,' which didn't help me to feel comfortable living there.

One of the most disturbing things about my experiences in the house was the difficulty in remembering the SEQUENCE of events that happened. To this day, I can't recall the order of the incidents, and have no idea which came first, and so on. With that in mind, read on...

I also began working the graveyard shift at the convenience store CC and Sis worked at. At about this time, CC moved out, leaving behind her furniture, and I began using her downstairs bedroom to sleep in. No matter how tired I was, no matter how comfortable, every time I slept in CC's room, I would wake up every 2 hours, and would then feel an overwhelming need to get up and do a walk through of the house, as though I had to check it to make sure it was safe. I didn't say anything about it, but one day, I got up and walked out of the room to stand facing the breakfast area, where Sis was occupied with either a jigsaw puzzle, or sewing. I came to a stop when I saw her, and just stood there, watching her. Slowly, she raised her eyes until she made eye contact, her entire expression acknowledging the problem. "You do it too," her expression seemed to say, before she looked back down at what she was doing. Not a word was spoken.

The Guardian affected our personalities. We would snap at each other and argue over things that ordinarily would not be a problem. Sis owned a stereo that she kept in the living room. She liked country music; I did not. Whenever Sis wasn't home, I would find a rock station to listen to, which of course Sis would find when she turned on the stereo to listen to country. She reminded me and asked me several times, and I would agree, only to leave it where I had put it. I wasn't aware I was doing this; ordinarily I would have gladly changed the station back as a courtesy, since Sis was good enough to let me use her stereo.

One day, we got into a hateful argument about the stereo usage. Sis said that she would just take some of the parts out of the stereo, so I would not be ABLE to use it when she wasn't there. I looked at her and said somewhat menacingly; "When you're in the HOSPITAL, I'll use it all I want." What gave me a chill somewhere deep inside was the knowledge that, right then, threatening Sis in this way sounded like a REASONABLE way to solve the problem ...I don't remember if I continued to use it afterwards, but the arguments over the stereo stopped after that. Neither one of us would ordinarily clash in this way. At the time it was happening we didn't realize how our behavior was changing.

Sis and I weren't the only ones affected by the Guardian's presence. CC was also affected by our 'roommate", even after she had moved out. On one incident, Sis had put her back out, and had to take muscle relaxants and lay flat on her back on the floor with her knees up as she waited for the pain to ease enough to go to bed. CC came by, and she and Sis clashed. CC wouldn't let up, and kept harping at Sis, who, finally reaching her limit, burst into tears. Because of her back, she couldn't get up and leave the room, and had no way to get away from CC, who pressed her advantage.

Three things happened that weren't characteristic for us; Sis bursting into helpless tears, CC haranguing her sister in such a cruel manner; and myself telling CC to LEAVE. I would never throw CC out of the house. Certainly not over a sisterly spat that didn't even include me. Again, I saw nothing unreasonable about dragging CC out of the house if necessary, but fortunately I wasn't put to the test. CC left.

-Webmaster.

End Part III

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Epilogue