I woke up the next morning, feeling like nothing had changed. Nothing felt different. Did I jut dream up that girl in black and dreamt that she put a spell on me? The thought made me snicker. Spells? Enchantments? Those were from fairytales. As in, not real. I had to nip this in the bud, and speaking of bud, that flower that she mentioned that was in the gardens... I had to see if it existed. That would prove this, wouldn't it?
Before anyone was up, aside from Gertrude, I left the house that went into the backyard to the garden where Momma would spend some time tending the roses. It was the only part of the garden that she didn't want the groundskeeper to touch. Now, they tended to it since she wasn't around. No one else had a green thumb aside from the groundskeeper.
There were pink, yellow and red roses. Nothing out of the ordinary. I smirked. Yeah, it was all a dream.
"I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore."
I started to head back, and the moment I turned, my heart jumped to find Hugh, the groundkeeper. He was giving me a great big smile. He was a handsome man in his forties, and he had brown hair and blue eyes. He also was lean like me.
"Good mornin', Elvis!" he greeted me. "Didn't expect to see ya walkin' about the garden this mornin'."
He was from the South like me, so he had the same drawl. "Good mornin', Hugh. And, yeah, I just wanted some fresh air."
"I see. I want to say first how grateful I am that you allowed my daughter Sam to work here for a little while to save up some cash. It was mighty nice of ya."
She could pick any job, yet she chose here. "It wasn't a problem. She here with ya?"
"She'll be here later this morning. And I apologize ahead of time for any attitude. She's not much of a fan of yours."
Now I knew that Hugh probably convinced his daughter to work here. As in, this wasn't her choice. "Well, that means she won't be easily distracted."
And she was a great candidate for someone to see me for me and not my fame. That is, if all that stuff with Ignis was real, which I believed it wasn't.
"Yes, indeed," said Hugh. "Well, better get a start on the day. I have to tackle the thorn bush behind the shed."
This surprised me. Nothin' like that was supposed to be there. No thorns, just beauty on Graceland. "There's a thorn bush behind the shed?"
"Yeah. I found it last night before I left and figured I'd get rid of it this morning. It's like it just appeared there out of thin air."
Or out of magic. "Could you show me? You keep the grounds perfect, so I don't know how thorns could get here."
"Sure thing."
I followed him to behind the tool shed that was a short walk away, and we came behind it to find a prickly bush, like all of it was deadly thorns. My mouth dropped open. "What in the blazes?"
"I know. A bit spooky since it just appeared there, and the plant is black. But there's a bright pink flower there. It's not a rose, but it's a pretty flower. I might pluck it and give it to my wife. That is, if you say it's alright."
He moved some thorns with his gloved hands, and I saw a bright pink flower that wasn't a rose, but a flower with many, many petals on it. Maybe a hundred of them. I was a bit entranced by this flower, and it seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
"Ain't it somethin'?" asked Hugh. "She's a beauty. I've never seen a more enchanting plant."
That made my heart jump, and I looked over at him with wide blue eyes. "Wait, whadya say?"
"I've never seen a more enchanting plant. Don't you agree?"
We both looked back at the flower. There was something about this flower... "I'll say." A petal suddenly dropped from it and was impaled by a long thorn. "Um, actually, I think I would rather this stay here. The whole thing. I mean, just leave it for now."
"Whatever you say, boss."
"You can pluck one of the roses to give to your wife. She's a nice gal who would love a flower from her man."
He grinned an attractive smile that probably won over his wife twenty years ago or so. "Thank you so much! Alright, then. In the meantime, I'm going to research this plant. I went to school for botany, but I haven't seen this before. I mean, I've seen thorny bushes, but none that produces such a beautiful peony." Be patted my shoulder. "Well, back to work. Have a good day, Mr. Presley."
"You, too."
He left me, and I stared at the flower. This was insane. That couldn't be the flower that Ignis was talking about, could it?
I spent the next few minutes counting up the petals, and when I stopped, I was dumbfounded. There were exactly the right number of petals that there were days until September 21st, and the petal that fell was today.
"This is real, isn't it?"
"It sure is," I heard from behind me, and I turned and saw Ignis standing there, leaning against the fence, picking at her nails. She looked the same as she did the last time I saw her, with all the black and outdated clothing. "I figured you would need another reminder."
"So, all that yesterday... It really happened?"
She leaned off the fence and let out a sigh. "I guess you need another reminder." She pointed to the flower. "I planted that. Or more, I made it appear there. You already noticed that it has the exact number of petals to equal the amount of time you have left. Once all the petals are gone, your fame vanishes, and you become a 'normal joe' as you put it. You'll look the same, but your fame won't be there. And you'll still have Graceland, you'll just need to find a way to pay for it."
This was making my head spin. I looked back at the beautiful flower. "I can't believe this. It's something from a fairytale."
She came and stood next to me and folded her arms. "Indeed, it is. I admit, I'm a fan of the fairytales. It's one of the reasons why I chose to learn magic."
I looked over at her as she gazed at the glittering pink flower. "You're really a witch? And magic is real? Not that hokey stuff like pullin' a rabbit out of a hat?"
"Again, I would prefer enchantress, and yes, magic is real. The tricks like pulling a rabbit out of a had and those card tricks... that's all fake magic. Watch this." She pointed finger with a long black nail on it to a spider that was crawling up the wall of the shed. She said nothing, and a little zing escaped her finger, like a mini lightning bolt, and the spider turned into a little blue butterfly and fluttered off. "That is real magic. As is this. It is very serious."
I was recovering from seeing a spider turn into a butterfly. I probably blinked yesterday when I saw that mouse turn into a bird, but I saw this without blinking. "Holy Lord..."
"I know. And I suggest you take this seriously. There are people out there who could love you for you, and you love them for them. You just need to find them."
"Do I really need to love this person in return? I hope you know that it would be strange if it's a guy."
"This love can be romantic or purely platonic. I know you guys say, 'Love ya, man,' and so on. If the person in question happens to be a man, and he really means it and is a true friend to you and is there for you as a person and not your fame, that counts. And as I said, this person can't be an existing friend or family member."
I looked over and eyed her for a moment, and I inwardly wished I could see her without all that heavy makeup. I was all for makeup on a girl, but not the extent that she wore it. "This is really a thing now, huh? I'm not dreamin' it."
She turned her head, and I met her brown eyes. "Yes, it's a thing. Now, I should go so you can get a start on this. I hear there's a new person coming to work for you soon."
"Yeah... you think she could be the one?"
She smirked, turned and walked away, and when I turned to watch her go, she was gone. Like she wasn't even here. I blinked a few times.
"Is she a witch or a ghost?" I shook my head. "Nevermind. I have to somethin' about this."
I went back to the house, and I found Daddy and Gertrude in the kitchen. They both looked at me, not saying a thing. "What?" I asked and went into the kitchen. "Were you two talkin' about me?"
"Your father told me about what happened yesterday," said Gertrude. "Quite the story."
I grabbed a banana from the bunch and leaned against the counter near the stove, but I didn't open the banana. "You're tellin' me. I'm starting to believe that it's an actual thing now. And before you ask how I came to believing it, I'll just tell ya. I ran into Hugh in the backyard, and he directed me towards this thorn bush in the back of the shed, one that has a bright pink flower on it with many petals. Turns out Ignis put it there, and that flower is how much time I have left to find someone who can see passed my fame." I saw their expressions. "You both think I'm nuts, huh? Well, join the club."
"I just think this is fascinating," said Gertrude. "My mother and grandmother told me about witches and enchantresses and told me that they weren't just characters in fairytales. They're actual beings, and people can learn the art of magic. I remember being so fascinated by it all. I wouldn't mind meeting this... what was her name?"
"Ignis, Latin for fire, apparently," I said.
"Well, I think meeting her would be great."
"You just missed 'er. She was outside with me as I was oglin' the flower bush. She was just solidifying the fact that this is all real. And you wanna know somethin'? She turned a mouse into a bird yesterday, and I thought that was a trick, but just now, she turned one of those big black spiders into a blue butterfly, like I saw the thing morph into a butterfly. It was unnatural."
Gertrude's aging face lighted with interest. "Ooo! I would love to meet her!"
I smirked, amused by this. "I'm sure she would like to meet you, too, but she comes and goes like a stray cat. I think it has to be her idea."
"Is she pretty?" asked Gertrude, a sly eyebrow up. I shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess so, if she didn't wear so much makeup and dressed for the time. She dresses like someone from 1880 and looks around twenty years old."
"I see. Well, I guess you wouldn't completely mind her coming and going as she pleases."
"Psht. I don't want to think about it. A new worker is comin' today, and I wanna make sure that she's welcome. She's Hugh's daughter, and I want to give 'er a good first impression."
"What time is she gonna be here?" asked Daddy.
"Later in the mornin', accordin' to what Hugh told me. My guess is around ten or eleven. I'm just glad that she isn't much to look at."
"My, you shouldn't say that, Elvis," Gertrude reprimanded. Once Momma passed she became something of a matron for me. She was like an aunt, actually.
"That's what Daddy said, and he got it from Hugh himself. I guess I don't want to deal with another pretty face."
"I've never ever heard you say that before, Elvis," Daddy said in laughter. "You always want to be around a pretty girl."
"I mean with what's goin' on right now, I don't want to worry about anythin' else. I'm just glad I'm in a hiatus for the summer after the movie. I need a well-deserved break. I just never imagined that I would spend it bein' under some enchantment or whatever Ignis did. I just want to get it over with."
"I don't think that's the right attitude you need to have, Elvis," Gertrude said in a tone. "You need to take this seriously."
"That's what Ignis said." I opened the banana and started eating it.
"She's right. Now, you boys vacate while I make some breakfast."
Daddy and I left the kitchen and went on to the den and sat down on the same sofa as yesterday. I ate my banana as I thought about the situation I was in. Daddy eyed me as I stared off at nothing.
"You really believe all this is real? That enchantment and all?"
I finished off the banana. "Don't you? Seems real enough to me."
"Then take it seriously. Plus, wouldn't it be nice to find another person who sees you for you and not for your fame? Does this person have to be a woman?"
"No, it can be a man. The love part of it all can be purely friendship. The person just has to use the word love. Shouldn't be hard, right?"
"Just remember, the person has to see passed your fame. They can't like you for your fame first. That would defeat the purpose. You need to find someone who will see you for that great human being that you are, the person that God made you. Maybe this young lady Sam can be her. You have to love the other person, right?"
"Love consists of loving a person for their character as well as their looks. She's not much to look at, apparently."
"I think just wait to meet 'er and see. And... I think I would like to talk to this Ignis girl."
"Like I said, she's like a cat. A black one. With claws. You should see those nails of hers. They're like little pointed black daggers. I honestly thought she was gonna impale that poor spider with one of 'em."
He snickered. "I think let's just focus on welcomin' a new face to Graceland."
"Right."
We sat there talking until breakfast was ready, and the boys were sat around the dining room table as well. They all had no idea what was going on. Well, I wouldn't tell them. No one on the outside of Graceland would know about this. No, not even outside the little circle consisting of me, Daddy and Gertrude. And Ignis. But she hardly counts since she was the cause of this.
What made her the boss and decided that she could do this? Maybe it was moot now since this was my me new reality. My new, strange and enchanted reality.
~ ~ ~
There was a gate on the left side of the property that led into the back fields of Graceland. One just had to round the left side of the house to get there, and that was where Hugh's daughter Sam would enter though. He said that she insisted that she do that instead of going through the house. She wanted to just go where she had to work and nowhere else. Well, it was as she wished, as welcome as she was in the house.
Daddy, me and Hugh were out in the back, just outside Daddy's office, where we had that little party after I came back from the army in '60.
"She has her own car," Hugh told us and looked at his watch. "Told ya she would be late."
"I'll blame it on the crazy traffic of Graceland," I said, and Daddy patted my shoulder.
"Good man."
The gate started to open, and in came a girl. The first thing I saw about her was shiny sheen of blonde hair about the color of mine before I dyed it, and she had a petite body that was pleasantly curvy. Well, she was a girl, and girls had curves. Hers were pretty attractive as she wore jeans and a brown blouse that showed her shape but was rather plain. She turned, and I saw her face.
Well, now I knew what Hugh meant. The closer she came to us, the more I saw her nose protruding from her face, she had a lazy eye that was blue while her other eye was brown, and she had a rather small mouth and wide distance between her eyes. She had a pointed chin that made her resemble one of those aliens, and... I had never seen eyes so far apart!
She was a sight, but sadly, not in a good way.
"Hey, there," Hugh said and put an arm around his daughter. I saw some resemblance, but not a whole lot. If she took after her mother... well, Hugh had a heart of gold if that was the case. "Thought you wouldn't show."
"Of course I would, Dad," she said, and my brows rose at her voice. Like her form, it was rather attractive, but it didn't really match her. "I'm not going to ruin my chances at another job, one that you had to beg the most famous man on the planet for." She looked at me. "I apologize on his behalf, Mr. Presley."
This was nice, her not going crazy in my presence, and talking to me like another human being. This was a great start. I gave her a smile. "No need to apologize. And you can call me Elvis. This amazin' man here is Mr. Presley."
I slapped a hand on Daddy's shoulder. He extended a hand and gave her a smile with the crow's feet. "Vernon is just fine. It's a pleasure. Sam, right?"
She shook his hand, which was nice again, since she greeted my father first, rather than me. "Yes, Sam. Just Sam. And it's a pleasure as well. And thank you, Elvis, for allowing me to work here."
I just noticed that she didn't have a drawl like the rest of us. I would ask on that later. I put out my hand. "My pleasure." We shook hands, and hers wasn't soft like expected a girl's hand to be. Well, she like working with plants. "I hear from your daddy that you're studyin' plants and such."
"Botany, yes. I'm saving up for school so I can study it and eventually run my own exotic plant sanctuary."
"Ain't that somethin'?" I said, truly surprised. "That's a fulfillin' aspiration. I'm glad that I'm able to help ya get closer to that dream."
She only nodded. "Yes, thank you. So, Dad, show me the ropes?"
"Sure thing." He looked at us. "Well, I guess we'll get started."
"Yeah, go on and have fun," I said. "Just mind that prickly bush behind the shed. Just leave that be, okay?"
"Noted," said Hugh, and his daughter asked about it. "I'll tell ya later. Off we go. Thank you again, Elvis."
"You're welcome. I hope you have a great time here at Graceland, Sam."
She nodded again, and they were off, walking in the grass, and Daddy put a hand on my shoulder. "Well, what do you think? She seems like a nice girl."
"Yeah, she does, but she seems standoffish to me, and I mean to me. I guess Hugh wasn't jokin' when she said she wasn't a fan."
"That's a good thing."
"It is. Well, let's get back inside. The Colonel will be here any minute. And not a word of any of this magic stuff, okay? And no tellin' the guys or anyone else. I don't want anyone to think I'm crazy. I already think I'm crazy. I'm tryin' to think of any way possible way that a spider could naturally turn into a butterfly, and that a mouse could naturally turn into a bird, but I got nothin'."
He patted my shoulder. "Let's just get on with our day, okay? Maybe invite Sam to dinner tonight. She doesn't seem thrilled to be here. Let's make 'er feel welcome."
"That's a great idea. Next time I see Sam, I'll ask 'er."
And that was that. I got on with my day as the Colonel, Daddy and I discussed plans for the upcoming week. Yes, I didn't have to work on any films, but I was still busy with other things, like starting on the soundtrack for my next film and meetings with the press and fans and so on. When all the planning was done, me and guys chose to go out and ride horses. I had a feeling that Flaming Star wasn't a fan of me at the moment because I was there when all that strange stuff happened yesterday.
And speaking of strange stuff... I saw Sam over at the rose garden, kneeling, and pulling up weeds. She was using her bare hands around those thorny stalks. Yikes. I walked up slowly to her, that pink flower in my head and a falling petal tomorrow.
"Your hands are gonna get all cut up if you don't wear gloves," I said.
"I'm well-aware of that," she quipped, and I rose a brow. She turned around and gasped. She quickly stood up, making her hair shine in the sun. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, Elvis. I heard the drawl, and I thought you were my dad."
I snickered, a bit surprised that she didn't recognize my popular voice. "It's okay. I was just concerned that's all. I was walkin' to the stables, and I happened to see ya weedin' the roses without protective gloves. Ouch."
She looked at her hands, and indeed, there were some scratches, and one of them was bleeding. "Oh. Well, after working with plants as long as I have been, I don't even notice this kind of thing anymore."
Maybe I could make more conversation as to lead into asking her to join us for dinner. "You've had a green thumb all your life?"
"Most of it. I was hardly walking when I was helping my mother in the garden."
Her lazy eye was wondering, but I tried not to be distracted by it, not the few inches in between each eye. I had never seen someone with a lazy eye or with two different colored eyes. "I see."
Unfortunately, she noticed me staring. "Yeah, I know, I'm not much to look at."
The hurt, that a person felt that way about themselves, but... I guiltily thought that her opinion of herself was correct. How horrible that was! "I wouldn't say that. I've just never seen a person like you before. I've never seen a lazy eye before, and I've never seen a person with two different colored eyes."
"It's called Heterochromia. I was born like this. I was also born with the lazy eye and eyes a zip code apart."
I smiled. She knew what she looked like, and she even made a joke about it. "You were born unique, then. I kinda was, too."
"How so? You look fine to me."
"It's not really how I look, it was the circumstances. You see..." I didn't tell just anyone this, but this girl was a part of the Graceland community now. "I was a twin. My twin was born before me, but he wasn't born alive. My parents thought that was it, but then I came."
She nodded. "I see. I'm sorry. I mean, that you never got to meet your twin."
I shrugged. "It's alright. I'm just tryin' to relate to ya, that's all."
"I think that's the only way in which we can relate to each other. Aside from the fact that we're both human and are God's children."
This was good news. "You're Christian?"
"Yeah, but I don't belong to any sect, really. I just have the belief."
"I see. That's good." Her voice came to mind. "So, don't mind me mentionin' this, too, but I was wonderin' where you're from. You don't have the southern drawl like the rest of us. And your daddy."
"My parents are divorced and did so when I was around eight years old. My mom took me to Colorado, and I was raised there until I graduated from high school, with visits to my dad and my step-mom in between. Now, I'm here."
Oh, Hugh's current wife wasn't Sam's momma. "I see. I apologize for askin'."
"No need to. You should know about the person who's working for you. So... I should get back to this. Dad stressed keeping everything here pristine and perfect for the King of Rock 'N' Roll."
I heard the slight snide tone to her voice, and that hit a chord somewhere. "Hey, it's okay if there are a few weeds. And for the record, I don't care much for the nickname the world gave me. Nothin' I can do about it since it stuck."
"Elvis, then. Sorry."
"It's alright. Now... I actually came over here to ask ya somethin', and not just to wear gloves to protect your hands." She looked at them again, then put them behind her back. "I just wanted to ask ya if you wanna join me, my family and friends for dinner tonight. To commemorate your addition to the Graceland community. Not just anyone joins it."
She pressed her thin little lips together apprehensively, then, "Um... thanks, but I think I'll pass."
"Really? I promise, everyone's the nicest people you'll meet."
"I'm sure, but all the same. I think I'll just end my day at five and head home. I'm just here to work."
I saw the look in her blue and brown eyes, and I read in between the lines, but I wouldn't prod. "Okay. But whenever you wanna eat a meal in the house, of if you wanna go and chill in there, it's alright. Your daddy does it all the time."
She nodded. "I know, and thanks, but I'll decline the offer."
She really didn't want into the Graceland house? I couldn't fathom it. "Really?"
"Yes. And you're very kind, but..." She took a breath. "Okay, I think I should just say this straight off. You seem like a nice person. I know that you are. It's just... I'm not your fan. In fact, I don't like you all that much, and frankly, I don't want anything to do with you, but I need some cash. For college, like I mentioned."
Hearing this hurt. People bashed me all the time—that was one of the reasons why I was ultimately thrown into the army—but this stung a little more since I knew Sam now. "Everyone's entitled to their opinion. And... I commend you for bein' honest."
She only nodded again. "Is it okay if I get back to what I was doing? I want to get the rose garden done, and then I have to hit the weeds on the side of the shed. And I promise I won't touch the thorn bush. Dad made it clear not to touch it. Not that I would, anyway. That thing is intensely thorned like the Crown of Thorns bush that's native to Madagascar."
She really knew her plants. Made sense if she wanted to study them in college. "I'll take your word for it. So, yeah, go on ahead. I'll see ya around. And my offer still stands. Even ridin' horses. I have enough of 'em that everyone can ride one all at once. Plus a couple."
"Thanks, but... well, I rather like horses, so I may take you up on that. Plus, it's out in the pasture."
Well, at least she agreed to do that. "Wonderful. You know how to saddle a horse and everythin'?"
"I do. I took lessons in high school. In Colorado, it was actually an extracurricular class."
I would've loved going to her high school! "Ain't that somethin'? Well, I'll leave ya to the gardenin'. And like I said before, you're welcome inside. I'll see ya around, okay?"
"Okay."
She turned around and knelt back on the ground and went at a weed. Well, that was that. I would leave her to it. I started walking away, but I stopped and looked back at her.
Sam seemed to have already looked passed my fame, but there were the other things: she didn't like me whatsoever. So... me loving her and her loving me? I was doomed.