River Teeth

Monstrance Clock

                                                                                                                                                        October 29, 2016

The mirror had toothpaste splatters all over it. Black and white face paint and non-prescription contacts were bundled in a small Party City bag on the marble counter. A breeze whistled through the open window. The windchime that Sharon Marsh had hung from the bathroom ceiling rattled in pleasant, oaky tones. Both Stan and Kyle were confused as to why she chose the bathroom for a windchime, especially since it was made of layered brass and tiny wooden spoons. It would make more sense in a kitchen. But no one dared confront her about it. There were more important things.

A painted wood panel that read BLESS THIS HOME in blue calligraphy that was nailed above the vanity-style mirror was illuminated by the yellowing light bulbs. Almost all the bathrooms in South Park looked like this- the 70s having unprotected, unnatural sex with a western ranch. Floors creaked or had holes in them. Depending on whose house you were in, the tub would be stained orange from well water.

The carpeting in the bathroom was long enough so that Kyle could squeeze it between his toes even though he had socks on. Black socks. His whole outfit was black. Soon it would be covered in black, satin robes.

He gripped the frame of the sink and sighed at this reflection in the dirtied mirror. Today had been hard. Harder than most other days.

But he made sure that the handprint from his face had faded before escaping to Stan's house.

The Marsh family was out for the night, doing one of those 'Survive the Night' camps at a "haunted" farm a few miles away. Kyle couldn't imagine forking over $100 just to have to deal with Randy overreacting to every single thing all night. Stan couldn't either, and that's why he was downstairs, going through the family costume box. Stan had his heart set on the Frida Kahlo costume, but it was too big, and his father had done it the year before anyway.

They were due in an hour for Token's Halloween party.

Kyle opted to dress as Papa Emeritus Ⅲ from the band Ghost, hence the face paint and contacts. He glanced over at the gold-encrusted Pope hat, stitched with a "G" that also doubled as an upside-down cross. Kyle looked up at the BLESS THIS HOME sign, bemused. He didn't think God would exactly strike him down just then. If he was going to do it, he would have done it a long god damn time ago.

Unpacking the Party City bag, he called out to Stan: "Hey, babe?"

"Yeah?"

"Should I do the contacts first or the make-up first?"

A pause, and then "I think you should do the contacts first instead of second 'cause you might irritate your eyes if you get make-up residue on the contacts."

"Oh, yeah," Kyle looked at his now seemingly dumb reflection in the mirror. The answer was so obvious. "Good thinking. I definitely don't want to go fucking blind today."

"Yeah, no... ooh, yes!" It sounded like Stan found a costume.

Carefully, Kyle put in the bright blue contacts, one pupil much smaller than the other. In the dim lighting, he looked like a completely different person. A demon.

"Well, that's the point I suppose," he muttered to himself. He opened up the face paint tray with a crack and used the tiny plastic brush to start outlining black around his eyes. He painted over his eyebrows, drawing them at a downward angle, giving him a permanently angry glare for the night.