Mannequin Reality (Patreon)

“What’s in the box?” Kelly said.

Troy looked up from the book he was trying to translate. He first looked at a velvet lined box on the chair next to him before pointing to a box shipped from a popular online store on the table. “That box?”

“Yes. What did you order?”

“That should be the party favors for your birthday party in March.”

He attempted to resume his study of the book that had been in the velvet lined box.

“You bought party favors? What are they?”

“You can open the box and find out.”

She rushed into the kitchen to get the shears. She nattered on about each favor as she went through the box. But, Troy was use to her needing to hear her own voice. He let her fill the room with it, offering a “Hmm?” or a “Really?” as needed to keep her going.

An hour later, Troy removed his white gloves and got up to use the bathroom. When he returned, she was in the seat he had been sitting in. “Troy? Is this right?”

“What is it, Kelly?”

“This book you had open on the table. Is it supposed to be some kind of spell book?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t really believe there are spell books?

“I believe there is at least one spell book and you are sitting in front of it.”

“I thought you studied real ancient texts. This is just gibberish.”

“It is Phoenician with margin notes in Greek and occasionally Latin that was hand copied from an earthen jar full of scrolls discovered in the twelfth century.”

“Fine. Is there a spell here on the open page? I made sure not to touch the page with my bare hands like you’ve told me.”

“There is a spell there. Though I’m having trouble with the translation. It apparently turns a person into some kind of effigy of a person. Like a doll or perhaps a wooden mannequin. But, I’m not aware of such artifacts existing in Phoenician society.”

“You have a spell that would turn someone into a mannequin?”

“Something like a mannequin.”

“Do it to me.”

“What?”

“Wouldn’t it be cool, assuming you could turn me back?”

“Some of the spells have counter spells but this one just ends after four sunsets, it says. Yes, theoretically I could turn you into a wooden dress form or doll or something. I just don’t know why you would want me to.”

“Because, it’s a spell. Like, an over 2000 year old spell. And I would be a beautiful doll. Maybe you can make sure I look sexy. Dress me up in a revealing toga.”

“Togas are Roman.”

“Whatever.”

“You’re serious?”

“I am. What do we need to cast the spell?”

“Well, most of the materials are readily available. Although you will need to bathe in an olive oil based aromatic concoction.”

“Slathered with olive oil? Kinky.”

“Are you going to be serious?”

“I will.”

“The spell isn’t specific about how much of this concoction is needed nor how long the bathing should last though. I know someone I can ask about that though. If you really are serious, I will get the materials together and we can cast the spell Friday night. You might want to get time off for Monday and Tuesday of next week since it lasts four days.”

* * *

Friday, Troy’s phone rang as he was setting up the ritual. He glanced at his watch and it said the call was from KT, Kelly’s middle name was Taylor. “Yes, Love?”

“Can I invite Sarah to observe the spell? She was fascinated by the whole concept: ancient spells, mannequins, olive oil.”

“I suppose. She might even be able to help me with parts of the ritual. You realize you’ll be naked while the ritual takes place.”

“Not a problem. See you later. Mwah.”

“B-bye.”

Kelly and Sarah arrived a few hours later. Sarah sniffed the air. “Are you marinading something?”

“No, that’s the oil we’ll be rubbing all over Kelly.”

“We’re marinading her?”

“I suppose.”

“The ritual says you should wash before the oil is applied, so go take a shower while I tell Sarah how she can help.”

“I get to help?” Sarah clapped her hands together and smiled gleefully.

An hour later, Kelly was standing in a wash basin in the living room, all the furniture had been moved out of the way. She was covered in an oily unguent that smelled like some curries do. Troy was chanting verses from the book in a slow, steady cadence. Sarah watched in silence, still as a statue, worried that her breathing my harm the spell.

Troy tapped her shoulder. She seemed surprised and then remembered what to do. She crawled over to one of four candles set at the north cardinal point. When Troy nodded, she blew it out and moved the east candle. Troy’s watched as she did this, nodding when she should extinguish the candles. His voice rose in pitch and volume until the last candle was snuffed and he spoke the final word of the ritual.

The room was plunged into unnatural darkness for a moment until the light in the kitchen resumed spilling into the room.

“Did it work?”

Troy turned on the flashlight on his phone with shaky hands. He waved it slowly around the room. In the center of the dry wash basin, devoid of any curry flavored ointments, was a wooden mannequin that looked like Kelly.

“It did.”

None of the lamps in the room worked.

“Next time, don’t forget to remove all the light bulbs in the room.”

“Next time?”

“Oh, well, assuming she turns back, you’re doing this again. Yvette will flip when she finds out she missed witnessing Kelly turning into a mannequin.”

“Of course.” He took a step and nearly tumbled over. Sarah caught his arm and helped him sit down. He felt exhausted.

Sarah took some pics with her phone. “You look like hell. I should leave. Have fun with her. She really hopes you’ll put different clothes on her each day.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t she tell you?”

“Perhaps she did. I was focused on the spell the last couple days.”

“Go to bed, Troy.”

“Good night, Sarah.”

* * *

He moved the mannequin out of the tub Saturday morning. The tub showed no sign that the unguent ever existed except for a pleasant lingering odor. Though he felt a bit foolish, Troy dressed the mannequin each morning in an outfit that was labeled in Kelly’s closet for what day it was. Tuesday night, as he was watching a show, he heard some cracking sounds behind him. The mannequin cracked and Kelly said, “Help, I’m stuck.”

He got up and helped Kelly escape from what was essentially a thick paper-like cocoon.

“Show me pics.”

“I have it all documented in your phone.”

She talked and talked about each photo and how boring being alone overnight had been. “You could have spent a few minutes every now and then talking to me.”

“Like a houseplant?”

“No, like a boyfriend talks to his girlfriend.”

“When she’s a mannequin?”

“Yes. I gotta call Sarah.”

* * *

It took almost four months to get the women coordinated and get the spell components together for the next spell. Troy explained that the spell he used the first time only worked on one person and he wasn’t casting it four times for her and her friends – along the way, a third friend, Marisel, wanted in on the mannequin spell after hearing about it at Kelly’s birthday party a few months earlier. There was another spell a few pages after the former spell that could do group transformations. He never could figure out why someone needed a spell to change several people into inanimate objects. Perhaps girlfriends wanting to be mannequins together is a universal truth. He doubted it.

This time, they would cast the spell in the garage as there were less furnishings to move and more space to turn four women into mannequins. That, and they didn’t have four wash tubs for each of them to stand in. Marisol was disappointed about spending four days in a garage. Sarah was going to have her husband pick her up the next morning, he was going to be at a poker game the same Friday night as the ritual was to be performed.

The ritual was longer for this spell. And the fragrant oil concoction slightly altered for this spell. He spent the last few weeks before the ritual reminding the women they would be naked in front of him for at least ninety minutes while the ritual was in progress. None of them expressed any concerns.

Friday night, the ritual was in full force. The women had to lend their voices to the spell at regular intervals. Troy had to blow out the candles himself at the ritual rose to its climax. When the final candle was snuffed, he felt the ground shake and the air rushed toward the women before exploding outward. Troy was thrown to the ground where his head struck the concrete floor hard and he lost consciousness.

* * *

“Honey?” A woman’s voice said. “Honey? Are you all right? You have bruises on your arms.”

The sound of her voice pierced through his head like a hot poker. His first attempt to open his eyelids failed as the light felt like a physical object smashing into his eyes repeatedly.

“Shhhh,” he whispered.

“Are you hung over?” She shouted. “I go out for one night and you end up drinking yourself silly? Did you forget the birthday party is tonight?”

“SHHHH.” His head drooped and he fell asleep.

“Men.”

He awoke hours later, relieved that the light in the room was no longer trying to slice his head in two. He vaguely recalled crawling into bed the night before but he had no idea why. “Kelly?” No one answered. He got out of bed and got dressed. He felt mostly okay now. Downstairs, he spotted his girlfriend putting up birthday decorations.

“Finally. Grab that other box and start over there. People will be here,” she said looking at her phone, “in four hours and we have a lot to do.”

“Wasn’t your birthday in March? It’s July.”

“Yes, it’s July and July eighth has always been my birthday. How could you get that wrong?” She walked up to him and touched his forehead. “You never forget birthdays. Are you okay?”

Troy hadn’t really been looking at her until she got close to him. The woman she could have been Kelly’s sister. But this woman was not Kelly. More important, Kelly had no sister. The resemblance was uncanny. But, this was not his girlfriend of four years.

“Who are you?”

“What do you mean, ‘Who are you?’ Is this some kind of prank, Troy?” She touched his head and said, “You got a good lump there. What did you do last night?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She stared at him, “Karla. Karla Taylor Schmeid. Look me up in your phone.”

He unlocked his phone and there was a picture of him standing next to Karla as his background image. In the contacts section, he found the entry for “KT”, but the number wasn’t his girlfriend’s number. It was different.

He became unsteady on his feet and dropped onto the sofa.

“Should I call an ambulance?”

“No, no. Let me think. Did Brad show up to pick up Sarah?”

“I don’t know either of those names.”

“Do you remember the spell book?”

“Of course, we still need to get the stuff together to cast the spell again. I loved being a mannequin the two times we did it.”

“I cast the spell last night with you, Sarah, Yvette, and Marisol.”

“Who are those three people? You were turning other women into mannequins without me?”

“You were there. Well, not you, someone who mostly looks like you. Kelly Taylor Schmeid.”

“What did you say?”

“Kelly Taylor Schmeid.”

Karla sat down. She looked as shell shocked as he did.

“What?”

“How did you hear that name?”

“I’ve known Kelly for four years. We met at the Jolly Roger.”

“That’s where we met four years ago.”

“What?” Troy said. “Hold it. What is it about Kelly’s name that has you confused.”

“My mother had a miscarriage about four months before I was conceived. She always told me the unborn girl would have been named Kelly Taylor, Taylor for Mom’s…”

“Maternal grandmother, Greta Taylor.” Troy finished.

“I’ve never told you that.”

He stood up. “Follow me.” He led her to the garage.

“Were we robbed?” The garage looked like a cyclone had hit it. A bag of lawn fertilizer must have broken open as there was dark brown fertilizer everywhere. Laying on their sides in different parts of the room were four mannequins. “What were those names you mentioned?”

Troy picked up one of the mannequins. “This is Kelly’s BFF, Sarah. Over there is Marisol. Yvette seems to be in that corner. And this, this is Kelly.” He picked up another mannequin that looked almost identical to Karla.

Karla stared at the effigy of what was not quite herself. “I almost believe you.”

“Almost?”

“This is the most amazing birthday prank ever. The little details about Yvette and Sandra.”

“Sarah.”

“Like that. Well done.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. It felt familiar. It felt different. He knew he had kissed this woman before. And yet, he hadn’t.

“It isn’t a prank.”

“Oh, come on, you told me yourself we couldn’t use the spell to do multiple mannequins when I mentioned Barbara might want to be transformed. And then you found the other spell. But, you said it had a terrible side effect. And it could only be reversed with another long ritual.”

“I did? I never saw a side-effect in either spell.”

“You never explained it. But, you said you couldn’t do it.”

“I cast that spell last night. These four mannequins were living breathing women” – he looked at his watch – “fourteen hours ago.”

“Where is the spellbook?”

He looked around and blanched. He saw it under some of the fertilizer on the floor halfway under a workbench. “I need my gloves.” He said before reaching out to touch it.

She grabbed his arm as he made to leave. “We don’t have time for your prank. Show’s over. We need to prepare for my birthday party. You were supposed to go out and get chips, dips, veges, and pick up my cake an hour ago.”

He gave her a look that had her take a step back. “You don’t understand. This isn’t how the world is supposed to be.”

“Now, you’re just being dramatic.”

“No matter how huge a prank you think I’m doing, do you think I would have allowed that ancient book to be covered in dirt as part of a prank? Those mannequins are people.”

She looked at the mannequins. “If they’re people, and the one named Kelly was your girlfriend, presumably born from my mother less than four months before I was, what happens when you counter the spell?”

He calmed down. “You’re right. I can’t just jump into this willy-nilly. We’ll throw your party. And tomorrow, I can read the spell book and see what your Troy noticed that I didn’t.”

* * *

The party was a success. Troy knew most of Karla’s family already. Her friend Barbara was unfamiliar. That they were best friends was obvious. She even showed up an hour early to help with the decorations and stayed an hour late to help cleanup. Most of the garbage was in garbage bags when Troy heard Barbara whispering with Karla.

“What are you two getting up to?”

“You have to cast the counterspell,” Barbara said.

“I believe that too. But what about Karla.”

“She’ll be fine. The universe will find a home for her.”

“Are you some kind of quantum engineer?”

“No. But, I read a lot of science fiction.”

“I’ll take that under advisement. I still need to see what I missed in the spell that Karla’s Troy warned her about. So, we won’t be casting any spells any time soon.”

“Well, that could be bad. The longer we let this timeline exist, the stronger it will become.”

“Barbara, you weren’t Kelly’s best friend. I never met you before today. For all we know, you might cease to exist in my timeline.”

“Yes, but in this timeline, I’m also your friend. And we both study ancient texts together. The Universe will make it all right.”

* * *

“That is a pickle,” Gerold said. Troy was visiting a colleague who could help with the translation of the book. The book was now scanned into an online repository so he wouldn’t have to risk walking around with the actual book. “You visited me a month ago asking this same question. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have believed you came from an alternate timeline.”

“From my perspective, this is the alternate timeline.”

“A natural thought, and worthy of debate at some other time. Getting back to the text of the spell, I agree with you. The group ritual you cast didn’t just turn the women into mannequins. It erased their existence as people from the universe, the terrible side effect discovered by this timeline’s you. They were never born in this timeline. I don’t think you can cast the reverse spell and have it only effect the other three mannequins. As long as you leave your Kelly a mannequin, the other three are stuck as well.”

“And if I cast the reversal spell on Kelly, Karla probably ceases to exist since her mother can’t carry Kelly to term on March sixteenth and Karla to term on July eighth. Both of them cannot be born of one woman within four months of each other.”

“So what do I do?”

“I don’t know, Friend. I’m just glad I don’t have to make the decision.”

* * *

Troy arrived home after four in the afternoon. There was a light hint of a familiar East Mediterranean smell in the air. “Karla?” He searched the house top to bottom and could not find her. The last place he looked was the garage, mostly because he didn’t want to find her there. An envelope was taped to the door to the garage with his name of it. He opened it and read the letter inside.

“I can’t watch you dithering over what to do. I had Barbara cast the spell on me. If I’m a mannequin, maybe the universe will restore me after you restore the other women. It’s worth trying.

“Love, Karla”

He entered the garage and found five mannequins lined up. The two at one end could be sisters. Barbara wasn’t around. He found the book open to the second spell. Did Barbara cast the second spell on Karla? Before he could think further about that, his phone rang. He looked at his watch and the call was from... “Katie”? He answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, Troy, it’s me. I’m leaving work early today and thought today would be a good day for us to get decorations from the party store for my birthday in September.”