A Winter Place

-- I'm working on a full-length and this is the backstory to it. The full-length is sort of like Chekhov meets Rosemary's Baby. Wow, I can't believe I just pitched something. As I was watching The Orphanage--check it out, great movie--I rummaged through my old notebook for the idea, because I hadn't thought of it in awhile. It got to a certain point in the movie and I remembered that I had wanted to do something that had a similar title, because I was thinking of the convent, but I actually happen to love "The Winter Place." So we'll call the backstory "Five Pretty Sisters," and the main piece "The Winter Place." Anyway, it's pretty self-explanatory. Just keep in mind, I don't tell scary stories very often, so be kind. --

"Five Pretty Sisters"

Anne got sick first
She started coughing
And just never stopped
They sent her into the city
By a train that would travel two days
Before it reached the hospital

She died one day out
And Reverend Mother didn't get the news
She didn't hear about Anne coughing up blood
Or the seizures that racked her body
As soon as the train left the station

Reverend Mother wouldn't know Anne was gone
Until the hospital received the corpse
And the train could travel back with a letter
Saying to quarantine the convent
Until the hospital could figure out
What Anne died from

Five pretty sisters
Daughters of the Lord
One got sick
Then there were four

Barbara wouldn't wake up
Not really
She'd sleep all day
And all night
And when she was taken to task
She apologized sincerely
Then fell right back to sleep

At prayers
At meals
At work
It came upon her all of a sudden

She fell over in the garden
And it was only a moment
Before Reverend Mother
Had her in her arms

They couldn't call for help
Because no help would come
They were to wait
Until treatment could be assigned
Something that could cure them
It was expected that more of them
Would get sick

But Barbara didn't seem to get sick
She just seemed to be asleep
Deep asleep and peaceful
What was the harm in that?

So Barbara was left asleep
In a room next to the chapel

Four pretty sisters
Spirits free
One fell asleep
Then there were three

Ruth screamed out once in the night
Then again
Then again
Then again
Until Reverend Mother came running
The others right behind her

She was sitting up in bed
Tearing at herself
Crying out for mercy
Reverend Mother went to grab ahold of her
But she was pushed back by Ruth
Who screamed as she shoved her

The push was so powerful
And so unexpected
That all of them were knocked into a pile
Down on the ground
In front of Ruth's bed

Perhaps that's why it seemed like Ruth
Sweet Ruth who barely spoke
Was hovering above them
Looking down on them
Cursing them with her eyes
Shouting vulgar words at them
Pointing her finger at them
And then slamming her hand
Down against her side

They slammed the door shut
And could hear Ruth pounding
But Reverend Mother ordered them
She ordered them to block the door
With the tallest bookcase in the library
And they did

Ruth pounded and screamed
But the sisters were instructed
Not to listen

All would be well
When the cure was found

Three pretty sisters
Faithful and two
One went mad
Then there were two

Hannah disappeared
They looked for her everywhere
They were afraid that she had fallen asleep
Just like Barbara bad
But the convent was small
And it was searched
Every corner
Every step
Every inch
And no Hannah

They were afraid that she'd escaped
And that she'd be caught by the sheriff
Who was charged with guarding the place
Lest the contagion get into the neighboring town
The sheriff wasn't sure he could shoot a woman of the Lord
But his duty was stronger than his faith
And he would have done it
Had he seen Hannah leave

But Hannah never left
Nobody did
That was certain

Two pretty sisters
Out of the sun
Someone's gone
Now there's just one

Reverend Mother stayed with Caroline
She stayed with her day and night
It was mostly out of fear
But she told Caroline
That she was doing her duty
Which part of her felt she was

They ate meals together
They rarely spoke
Reverend Mother had Caroline put a cot
Next to the bed in Mother's chambers
Which she did

At that time
Reverend Mother rarely slept
She would watch Caroline constantly
Scared that if she even blinked
The young girl
The youngest at the convent
Before the sickness came
And took the older ones
She was afraid
That Caroline would vanish
Or fall asleep
Or turn mad
Or who knew what

. . . . .

They lifted the quarantine
Five days later
The hospital sent word
That Anne had died of something
That wasn't contagious
They didn't know what it was
But they didn't want to admit that
So instead they said
It was probably just a weak heart

They sent the young sheriff in
To open up the convent again
When he walked in
He only walked out with Caroline

Five pretty sisters

He found Barbara in her bed
The pillow still over her face

Four pretty sisters

He found Ruth in her room
The axe still deep in her chest

Three pretty sisters

He didn't find Hannah
But he found what seemed to be ashes
A large amount of ashes
In a heap on the fireplace

Two pretty sisters

He found Reverend Mother
Hanging from the rafters
With a letter written in her hand
Asking for God's forgiveness

One pretty sister

He found Caroline
Locked away in the library
Huddling underneath an old desk
Clutching a copy of the Bible
And a butcher knife

The sheriff quit his job that day
And a month later
He married Caroline
With the promise
That she'd never have to go back to that place

A year later she gave him a son
The moment the boy was born
The old sheriff went blind
And Caroline passed away
Still begging for forgiveness
For a sin she wouldn't name

The people of the town talked
But there was never an investigation
Because of how unfortunate it all was
How scared and frail Caroline looked
The day she was brought out of that place
And the letter explained it all anyway
Even if it did leave out the details
That nobody wanted to know
And everybody wanted to know

The former sheriff got work as a groundskeeper
And he and his son lived on the outskirts of town
Only a mile from the old convent
That remained vacant

Twenty years later
The former sheriff decided to tell his son
The story of his mother
He had adjusted to life as a blind man
And his son helped when he could

The night he made the decision
To tell his son the story of the convent
He passed away in his sleep

The next day
A train came in from the city
With five young girls
And a Reverend Mother
Ready to move back into the convent
It's horrible legacy
Unknown to the new powers that be
Unknown to the new young women
Unknown to the old sheriff's son

The Reverend Mother's first job
Was to get a groundskeeper for the convent
As it had been allowed to go to ruin
And she had heard
That there was a local man
Who had just passed away
Whose son might be of some help

The young man was terrified
Because that morning he had buried his father
Dug a hole with his own hands
And as he did so
He could feel his sight slipping
And he knew
It would be soon be gone
For good

As he finished throwing the last bit of dirt
Onto his father's grave
He heard the whistle of the train
And he looked west
At the deserted convent on the hill
Thinking it was too bad he couldn't live there now
It was too bad he couldn't make it a grand castle
So that he would be safe when he went blind
And the winter came

Yes, he would take the job
When the Reverend Mother offered it to him
And he would hide his blindness when it finally appeared
He wouldn't be the only one hiding something

The convent on the hill
Would keep out the cold
And the dangers from outside

Yes
It would be just fine
As a winter place