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| Alarmingly Strange Stories |
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Fake Tan |
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| . Mary looked into her Mother's face, searching for a hint of derision but found none. Then the dam burst and through fits of tears and howls of pain, Mary's emotions, which for so long had been penned in, like caged animals were set loose. Her words were barely audible as they clambered over each other fighting to be heard first. The humiliation; the hurt; the pain and the lunacy of it all were raw and ill bred. Mary's display physically shook her Mum to the core of her ice-cold heart. Mum held on as her daughters anguished wracked body crumpled upon her, holding her tightly as she sang soothing words of comfort and eventually when it was all but finished she said in her best perfected motherly voice," Dearie me, is that all?" scalded a smiling Mum," I would have thought a bright young thing like you would have figured that one out long ago." Mum stroked Mary's long black hair and added, "Sun beds, that's the answer. Sun beds." The Wedding was now less than three weeks away (it had been twice that long since Mary's breakdown) and Mum now had complete control over Mary's life. Her first act of power had been to purchase Mary her very own high-powered sun bed. Then in blitzkrieg fashion she enlisted Mary as a member of 'Terry's Sun Parlor' using up her maximum visits of six a week. Then Mum struck gold when an advertisement stating a vacancy for a level mature young person to hold reception on a part time basis at the local health club was observed. The manager of the establishment was a close friend of Mary's Mum. A deal was struck over a few drinks and a late night cap that Mary would fill the position and receive instead of a cash payment for any hours worked a gold token for the club's latest state of the art superpower sun bed. Excruciatingly slowly the unimaginable began to happen - Mary began to darken. On the eve of the Wedding saw the hitherto pale Mary emerge from her cocoon like existence and back into the glare of her peers. She entertained once more back down at her local pub. Like an eclipsed sun they gathered around her entranced by her dark beauty. The night was a massive success for Mary who stayed on long after Marisa and her friends had left. For so long she had forgotten what it was like to be complimented and sought after. Mary like any other self-respecting addict was hooked once again and loving her first fix in a long time. Inside, Mary's black spot began to shrivel and die. When Mary drunkenly struggled up to the front door with two escorts in tow she was met by her Mum at the front step. After thanking the lads who had brought Mary home, she turned on Mary with a savage lamentation. The tongue-lashing lasted for nearly an hour. Cowering Mary listened with saintly presence as her Mum denounced the evils of mixing drink with boys. Eventually, when it was all over she made Mary promise that it would never happen again and then retired to her room to prepare for the big day ahead. Mary crawled into her bedroom and lay on top of her bed staring at the ceiling with the sound of her Mum's voice ringing in her ears. She noticed the sun bed canopy sitting in the corner of the room and rose from her bed and into the jaws of the canopy. Flicking the switch, each tube flashed and danced into life, each one happily radiating like little supernovas. Mary closed her eyes under the eerie blue light and dreamed of weddings and fairytale endings. Its pulse was very weak indeed, but it had been given a chance, it had felt her Mum's voice and latched onto it, holding it firm to itself, draining every inch of fear from it and into itself. It began to grow. . |
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