To be published: October 15, 2020
Inez was at an outdoor church service by the river. She could hear the girls behind her whispering.
“Oh, my God! There’s Sophie Ackerman. Over there on the grass. Did you hear about her?”
“What?”
“She has some kind of weird disease-y thing where her arms keep moving around. Watch her.”
Inez didn’t want to turn and stare like she imagined the other girls were doing, but she allowed herself a sideways glance through the tent towards the grassy slope at the back where Sophie was sitting alone. Inez recognized her from school. Although they didn’t run in the same circles, they had once said “Hi” in the hallway. Inez knew Sophie was on the honour roll and that she was a ballerina. A quiet, serious girl, always a little standoffish. Just as Inez was sneaking a peak in her direction one of Sophie’s arms jumped up off her lap. It twisted behind her head and then shot into the air like it was pointing to the sun. And then, as it settled back down again, the other arm began to shake. That arm snaked behind her back so far that the shoulder looked as if it was going to pop out of its joint. It was so unexpected, such an unnatural movement, that Inez could not help but feel horrified and repulsed and sorry for the girl all at the same time.
As Inez watched, an unexpected stray breeze stirred the treetops, set the tent flaps swaying, and ran over her body, bold and sly in its touch. Her sweat turned cold. She shivered. Then, a few seconds later, the wind was gone, vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Once again the midday heat pressed in, heavy and close.
And all the while, the girls sitting behind Inez continued talking.
“Ew! What the hell? It’s like she’s some kind of freak or something. It’s really creeping me out.”
“I know!”
“If I was her I’d never go out in public. Ew! Look at her!”
“Oh, my God! It’s completely disgusting!”
“What did you say was wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. She just woke up one day and she started doing it. That’s what I heard.” A pause. “She’s probably just wants attention. Either that, or it’s all in her head.”
“Maybe it’s some kind of Tourette’s thing. You know, where you swear all the time and bark like a dog.”
“I think it’s just the arms. That’s what I heard.”
“Maybe she’s possessed.”
“Yeah. By the devil.”
“Or maybe it’s that thing like where people go to church and they start talking in tongues and dancing down the aisles, and falling down. Like they’re overcome by the Holy Spirit.”
“You know her dad was the minister in that old white church that washed away in the flood, right? The one who drowned? She’s probably all screwed up in her head with religious stuff and shit. I mean, how could you not be?”
“And did you hear that she was going out with Stuart Harris, but they broke up?”
“I know! Who’d want to go out with that?”
Inez snuck another peak at Sophie, and wondered how much misery could be contained in that one small body.