The Dark Issue 99 by James Bennett

Author:James Bennett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dark fantasy, fantasy, horror, magazine
Publisher: Prime Books
Published: 2023-07-29T22:05:52+00:00

Neil Williamson lives in Glasgow, Scotland. His books include The Moon King and Queen of Clouds, and his work has been nominated for World Fantasy, British Fantasy and British SF Association awards. Find out more at www.neilwilliamson.org.uk.

The Rituals of Bathing

by Libby Cudmore

Your mother teaches you the rituals of bathing. First with a rubber duckie, then with Mr. Bubble, then with rose-scented crystals that come packaged with a satin bow on top. No one was ever allowed to bathe you but her. She didn’t trust anyone to follow the rites. These are the secrets that must be passed on from mother to daughter, she says, What would your father know of bath time anyway? He showers in the morning, slaps fresh cheeks with aftershave, combs his hair. A ritual, sure, but not one that’s special.

For herself, once a week she lights candles and closes the door; crumbles foil-wrapped salts into the water, pours a capful of her own bubbles, drops in one of the jewel-like bath beads to dissolve beneath the lather. She lets you watch as she prepares her tub. She tells you the story of a waiter carding her for drinks the last time they went out. They must have thought your father was having a midlife crisis, she says as she ties up her hair in a gold satin scrunchie. They acted like he was dating a teenager!

On your thirteenth birthday she lets you pick one of her bath beads. Stars and orbs and shells, gold and blue and green in a crystal bowl on her bureau. They are almost too beautiful to use. You freeze. Don’t worry, she assures you. I can always get more. Pick your favorite.

You choose a gold star. She drops it into the bath and you watch it dissolve. Your skin is impossibly soft after you get out of the tub. The porcelain is slick. She offers you her hand. Be careful, she warns. Beauty can be dangerous.

Your father comes home early from work. He does not know that you came home sick at midday, that your mother left you in bed while she ran to the store for cough syrup and lozenges. There is someone with him. You recognize her laugh. You open the door to see your old babysitter, Stephanie. She is wearing your mother’s robe. She goes into the bathroom, holding a bottle of French lilac lotion. The water is running. Your father is waiting.

Your mother wilts. Some days she doesn’t even get out of bed. Twenty dollars arrives in a card for Christmas. From your father, now living in Winston-Salem with his brother. Your mom called Stephanie’s parents when you told her and he was gone the next day. You take that twenty dollars and you buy her bath beads from the gift shop you pass on your way home from school. She cries when she sees them. She is aging in front of you. No one cards her at the liquor store anymore. They all know her there.

A box arrives for your mother.

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