Far Out

[sissy servant 737-820-633]

First time read for me,, interesting concept,, will follow as it intrigues me. 

[Alexandra]

Sorry for the delay!  Just some moderate turbulence. It’s all over now. Not that a little turbulence bothers me of course.  I love flying!   â€œMilitary brats” like Athena and me fly all the time.  But the lady in the next row?  Well, she’s never been on a plane before in her life.  Her baby probably wouldn’t have been scared or even know what was going on...but when Mommy gets scared Baby picks up on it and gets scared too.  It's the sacred duty of a Baby Sheriff to offer to intervene in a situation such as this.  Plus, Athena accidentally elbowed me in the ribs really hard when the crying baby woke her up.  UGH! 

Well, it was pretty cool how everybody who saw what I did (quietly) applauded me.  The flight attendant thanked me too and he even brought me a free soda! They were lucky there was a Baby Sheriff on board!  No crying babies on this flight! Oh, I should write a letter to President Clinton and suggest she should have a Baby Sheriff on every commercial flight!

Oh, but the good news is I think I may have gotten something helpful.  After I helped calm her down, I talked with the baby’s mother.  Her name was Jenna and she was on her way to Texas for a concert.  I asked her if she knew a lot about music because I was trying to figure out why this “hippy” music was apparently so important to the Ramirez family and their story.

I had to change some names and details for the sake of confidentiality, but I was as honest as could be expected in the circ-umstances.  I showed her a picture of one of the album covers from the record collection in the Ramirez house and Jenna laughed.  “No wonder you can’t find anything out about them.  They’re underground.”

“I can’t even find out their name,” I told her, exasperated. 

That’s when she told me the band doesn’t have a name.  They go by various unofficial nicknames instead.  One of them, the one the Ramirez family seems to favor is "The Flaming Skullflowers."  They had started playing in the 1960s and were heavily influenced by the use of psychedelic drugs.  They performed concerts behind curtains while bizarre light shows played on the stage and in the sky.  They never were photographed. They sold records or cassettes and later CDs sporadically by mail order and never released anything officially online.  If they ever started to gain too much popularity, they stopped performing or releasing anything at all.  Nobody knows for sure who they are, or if they do nobody has ever proved anything.  It's possible the members of the band have changed or were always changing.

There are apparently a lot of theories.  Some people see it just as an early example of guerilla marketing.  But I think if it’s any kind of marketing they are doing a really bad job of it.  I couldn’t even figure out anything about them without Jenna’s help.  I don't think they care that much about money.

I think I might get it now, why someone like Elena would be obsessed with it and why she would try and pass it on even to a naughty child who is not at all interested.  I think they want the music to speak for itself.  The identity of the creators doesn’t matter.  It’s a gift to the world, and they want it to be passed from hand to hand.  That’s how hippies think, I think.  If you like this music, walk down the street and listen to it.  Every person you see could be the source.  Treat them like it.  What a neat, honest little magic trick.  Who says you need religion to have reasons to love your neighbors?

Magic, huh?  I wonder how much magic you can get away with in a story like this.  I guess the audience will be the judge of that.  This is gonna be the hardest part, because I could totally just skip it I think.  We’ll be in Texas soon and everything will be clear, but if I’m going to do my job and convince the Ramirez family to forgive us I think it will help if I can try it the hard way.

-

”Becky-Bow, we’re waiting!” Elena shouted over the din of the music, an obvious hint of impatience in her voice. 

Rebekah came down the stairs wearing a yellow silk nightie with white lace trim at the hem and a cream white bodice.  On the bodice there was a graphic of an elaborate tiered cake with multicolored frosting and candles on top.  There were tiny, festive multicolored balloons printed on the short skirt of the nightie and the matching yellow and white slippers. 

Elena had selected the rainbow colored pigtail wig although she wasn’t even sure it was the right match without “Alexandra’s Makeup Mayhem” as a guide.

Rebekah stood obediently in front of his “Mommy” and received his instructions.  “Now, you are responsible for keeping an eye on Donna.”

He glanced over at the sleeping baby, “Bu…”  He froze at a raised eyebrow. “Umm, sorry Mommy.”

“We’ll both be right here the whole time if you have any questions.  If she stays asleep, this will be the easiest chore you’ve ever had.”

Rebekah resisted the urge to point out the blaring music was not helpful in this goal.

Elena smiled at the lack of interruption or objection and continued, “If you need help I’ll back you up. I’m going to be keeping an eye on Peggy, and you’ll be my backup too.”

“Now, what’s Peggy doing?  Well…”

Peggy entered the room from the kitchen, “Drinking a magic potion.  Who knows what could happen?” she said with a laugh.

Rebekah rolled his eyes in exhaustion at being talked down to like a child but then gagged when Peggy walked past and he caught a whiff of the putrid smelling liquid in the mug she carried.

“You guys are doing drugs and I’m the one being punished?”

[Alexandra]

Peggy laughed.  Elena sighed, “I’m not drinking any ‘magic potions’, Rebekah.  I’m only here to look after her.  That’s what friends do.”

“Mommy, can we at least turn the music do…” he began.
 
Peggy turned the music up a bit.  Rebekah sighed and pushed the stroller Donna was sleeping in to the other side of the room as far away from the speakers as possible.  Peggy laughed.  “She doesn’t care, she’s used to it by now.”

Rebekah considered that he was much older and still hated the music so he wasn’t so sure about that.  Feeling a bit chilly he reached for a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders appreciating the warmth.  Then, he saw Donna briefly stir in the stroller.  With a sigh, he wrapped the baby in the blanket instead.

“See, Becky-Bow’s a natural,” Elena said proudly.  “All it took was that...god awful doll...to bring it out somehow.”

Rebekah grumpily curtsied in appreciation of the approval.  Elena stood and went upstairs to gather more blankets.

“So, sounds like you don’t believe in magic, huh?” Peggy asked with a smile.

Rebekah rolled his eyes. He was about to offer a sarcastic reply but instead just laughed at the contorted disgust on Peggy’s face as she choked down her psychedelic mushroom tea.  When she was finished, she fell back on her seat on the couch and joined him in laughing.

When she had gathered herself, she said, “That’s too bad, because I just happen to be a witch.”

Rebekah laughed out loud.  It seemed like there was no end of people who were going to try and sell him on incredible stories that day.

Peggy stood and turned away from him.  She pulled down the shoulder strap on her dress and revealed an elaborate pentagram tattoo with a flaming multicolored skull in the center.   â€œI’m not kidding,” she said in a deadpan.

Rebekah mostly ignored the tattoo and instead desperately wished the pretty woman would turn around with her dress still lowered.  Instead she quickly covered the occult symbol and turned around upon hearing Elena moving towards the stairs.

“I couldn’t say anything earlier obviously, but that spell you wanted?  I’ve been meaning to try something like that!”

“The spell I wanted?” Rebekah Rainbow asked in confusion.

“The transformation, duh!” 

Rebekah gasped, “That isn’t what I meant!”

Peggy smirked, “But magic isn’t real, so what do you even have to worry about?”

“I’m not! What I mean is…”  Rebekah trailed off as Elena came down the stairs. 

She glanced at the two of them and asked, “So what did I miss?”

“Just kidding around!” Peggy said. She attempted to smile but her cheeks were beginning to take on a greenish hue.  “Excuse me,” she said and quickly made her way to the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

Twenty minutes later, Peggy emerged from the bathroom.  The pupils of her eyes were maximally dilated.  Her mood and manner seemed to have shifted wildly.  She seemed confused and disorientated.  For a moment a look of panic crossed over her face before Elena grabbed her hand and pointed over to where Donna slept.  A look of relief came to Peggy’s face instead.

She squinted as she looked at the figure wrapped in the blanket kneeling beside the stroller.  “You’re watching my baby for me? Why thank you, little girl!”

Rebekah groaned.   â€œMommmm...y!  She’s not supposed to call me a girl.”

“Oh yeah, Becky-Bow, I remember now!  Give me a twirl, let me see your outfit.” Peggy pleaded.

After a nod from Elena a grumbling Rebekah Rainbow stood and dropped the blanket. He twirled and curtsied for the inebriatedly gushing Peggy.  “What an adorable cute little nighty!  And with a shimmering rainbow birthday cake on it!” Peggy exclaimed.

“You know what that means, Becky-Bow?” she continued, “That means it’s your birthday!”  She began singing the Happy Birthday Song which clashed horribly with the music coming from the stereo.

“It’s not my birthday!” Rebekah insisted.

Peggy, mercifully, stopped singing.  “Oh, of course not.  It’s a nighty, that means...it’s your birthday tomorrow.  Tomorrow, you’re gonna be the birthday girl, Rebekah Rainbow!”

“Just play along, Becky-Bow, it will agitate her if you don’t. She can’t help it if she’s confused. Just let her have fun.  Remember, you're being well compensated for this.”

He sighed and curtsied again, “Yes, Miss Peggy, tomorrow I’m going to be the birthday girl.”