by Ocean
“Yeah, recipe book,” Rosie said. “Can’t wait to try them.”
“I love to cook too,” the woman said as she closed the lid of the basket. “I wish I’d had time to read it.”
She shrugged, straddled the seat and began pedaling. Rosie and Devin settled into the wicker carrier.
When they reached the harbor, the woman hopped off the bike and with a swift swipe of her foot, set the bike’s kickstand. She reached into the basket and lifted up first Devin then Rosie and gently placed them on the ground.
“I wish you the best of luck. I hope you get back into your own bodies,” she said.
“Thank you,” Rosie said. “If, I mean, when we do, we’ll look you up.”
“Please do,” said the woman. “I’d like to meet you, ah, again.” With the toe of a foot she flipped the kickstand up and pushed off. They watched as she pedaled away.
“Damn it,” Devin said as she surveyed the area.
“What now?” Rosie asked.
“We forgot again to switch clothes with the dolls at her place.”
“Will you forget about those stupid overalls,” Rosie said. “If we ever get out of here, I swear I’ll buy you a pair.”
“When. Not if,” Devin said.
The harbor was dimly lit by only an occasional dull lamp.
Rosie glanced around.
“Now what? Where do we go?”
Devin pointed to a small billboard along the path that led to the boat. Posted on the board was a map of the harbor.
“There’s a map. Let’s check it out and see if it can help us. Follow me, stay in the shadows.”
They scurried along the edge of the path that led to the giant map. When they reached the display, they looked up and studied it. Beside the map was a schedule of the boats.
“The boat going to Key West leaves in twenty minutes. We have to get on it, otherwise the next boat leaves in the morning for Miami,” Devin said. “Hurry, let’s go! This way.”
Devin hiked up her skirt and took off. Between holding the book and her long habit getting in the way, Rosie struggled to keep up with her.
Suddenly footsteps approached from behind. Rosie stopped.
“Devin, wait!” she whispered in a low, forceful voice.
Devin stopped and turned.
Moving toward them was a man, walking very quickly. He was tall, thin and smartly dressed in dazzlingly colorful attire. Bright blue pants, that were intentionally a tad short, exposed colorful, decorated socks. A shimmering gold blazer fit neatly over a light blue shirt complete with a fancy bow tie that fashionably brought all the colors of his outfit together. His shoes were exquisitely polished maroon leather.
Devin and Rosie fell to the ground, lay on their backs, faced skyward and froze.
Rosie didn’t know if being in a nun’s body gave her any extra divine power, but if it did, she tried using it and prayed that the man would walk by and not see them.
The man carried a trendy leather knapsack slung off one shoulder. As he hurried by, he occasionally lifted a small bottle, and took a swig. He sang jovially to himself.
For a few moments, Rosie thought he’d walk by them. She held her breath. But after he’d passed, he paused, cocked his head, turned and looked down at them.
“Well, aren’t you two little delights adorable?” He back tracked and stood in front of Devin and Rosie.
“Two preposterously charming dolls. What a find. Phillip, this is your lucky day.” He tucked the flask into the front of his pants, reached down and picked up Rosie. “And this one has a little book. How insanely charming you are my dear. You’ll look splendid on the mantlepiece in my flat in London.” He turned Rosie around and examined her back. He lifted her dress.
Rosie faced downward and made eye contact with Devin.
“Devin,” she whispered. “Help. Do something. We can’t let him take us to London!”
Devin leapt up and said, “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you.”
The man paused and moved Rosie out of the way to peer down at Devin.
Devin’s hands were on her hips, her feet splayed in a wide stance. She lifted a finger and pointed at the man.
“Yeah, you. Phillip. I’m talking to you.”
The man gasped and dropped Rosie. She grunted when she hit the ground, face first. The man made the sign of the cross, took the flask out from inside the front of his pants, threw it to the side of the road, turned, and ran.
Devin bent and helped Rosie up.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she wiped dirt off Rosie’s cheek.
“Yeah, I guess.” Rosie spit out sand. “The book softened the blow a bit. But I tell you what Devin–”
The low, moan of a ship’s horn interrupted her.
“Oh crap. Rosie, we got to go, now!” Devin grabbed Rosie’s arm and began running, pulling her. “Come on!”
A line of people waited to board the boat. A man stood at the back of the crowd. A square black bag that looked to Rosie like a large camera bag, sat on the ground beside him. He was attempting to light a cigarette with a lighter that sparked but wouldn’t flame.
“Damn it,” he cursed as he tried repeatedly to light his smoke.
Devin pointed to the case, ran to it and unzipped it. Rosie ran toward the black bag.
“Hurry!” Devin waved her on.
Rosie ran as fast as she could with her short doll legs. In her haste, the billowy skirt of the nun outfit got tangled between her legs. She fell forward and slid on her stomach toward the bag. As if in slow motion, she watched in horror as the book flew out of her hands and skidded across the boat ramp in front of her.
30
Key West here we come
Before Rosie could right herself, she watched as in one swift and miraculous movement Devin leapt up, retrieved the book and reached a hand toward Rosie. Rosie locked wrists with her, and with a strength that Rosie could not fathom, Devin yanked Rosie to her feet and tossed both her and the book into the square case.
Rosie's veil got caught on a broken part of the zipper and although her body was in the bag, her head hung outside it. The veil tugged her hair.
"Ow, Devin, help. I'm stuck!"
Devin tugged at the veil and it tore, releasing Rosie, who fell into the dark interior of the case.
After jumping in herself, Devin re-zipped the bag, closing it just as the man’s hand grabbed the handle, and he hoisted it onto his shoulder. Devin and Rosie bounced against each other as he walked up the plank and onto the boat.
Rosie clutched the book to her chest and settled in, leaning against Devin for the long boat ride back to the States.
“These darn nun outfits,” Rosie said. “We’ve got to get out of them and get into some decent clothes.”
“I agree,” Devin said. “But it’s not exactly easy finding sweatshirts and sneakers in our size right now. Besides, the black outfit comes in handy when we’re trying to stay hidden in the night. Think of it as kind of like a ninja outfit.”
Rosie chuckled. “Ninja outfit,” she repeated. “That’s an interesting way to look at it.”
They rode for quite a while in silence, gently swaying back and forth with the rhythm of the boat. Other than the constant droning of the engine, there were no other noises.
Something had captured Rosie’s attention, thoughts she couldn’t ignore. Finally, she asked Devin.
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?” Devin said.
“Find the superhuman strength to do things that you do sometimes. Like what you did when I tripped back there and dropped the book. You practically flew through the air, scooped both the book and me up in one super Wonder Woman movement and tossed us all into this bag. I mean, it was like something out of a movie.”
A light laugh floated from Devin. “Oh, you’re exaggerating.”
“No, Devin. I’m not. I’m serious. I’ve seen you do things, that seem, I don’t know, like something a non-human would do.”
“Well, I’
m not human now, technically. I mean, we’re dolls. I’ve been called a doll before by women, but they didn’t mean it this way.”
“You know what I mean. Even when you were human, back on the island. How do you do it? Find the strength, the courage?”
“I can’t say for sure. It’s just in me. It’s something inside. When I need to do something, even if I’m afraid I can’t do it or I’ll fail, I take a deep breath and say to myself, ‘You have to do this.’ ‘You can do this.’ Then I try to do it. Somehow, it always seems to work out.”
“That’s amazing,” Rosie said. “I can’t imagine having that much confidence in yourself.”
“You should, Rosie.”
“No way. I could never. I don’t have what you have.”
“Yes, you do. I’ve seen it. The only difference is, you don’t know you have it. But you do.”
Again, they fell quiet. Rosie’s thoughts wandered as she considered what Devin had just said.
Do I really have the same kind of courage that Devin has but don’t realize it?
“You know, I’m sorry,” Devin’s words broke the silence and Rosie jumped. “I never meant for any of this to happen. If I’d had any idea…”
“I know,” Rosie said. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is my fault. I got you, us, into this. I promise, we’ll get out of it. If it takes the rest of my life, or eternity, whichever comes first, we’re going to get out of this.”
Eternity, Rosie tried to think about how long that was, but couldn’t fathom it. The word repeated.
Eternity.
“Devin?”
“Mm hmm?” Devin was attempting to peer out through the space between the teeth of the zipper.
“Do you think we’ll ever get back into our bodies, or do you think we’ll be stuck like this forever?”
Devin sat back down. “Oh no, not forever. We’re getting our bodies back. Trust me.”
“But how can you be so sure?”
“Oh, I’m sure. I can feel it in my bones. Um, that is, if we had bones.” She elbowed Rosie. “Come on, you got to laugh once in a while, or you’ll make yourself crazy.”
“I don’t find it very funny,” Rosie said. “Speaking of feeling it in your bones, why do you think we can still feel so much? I mean, when I’m afraid, I still tremble. Or when I get nervous, it’s like I can feel my heartbeat faster, even though I know, I don’t have a heart.”
“Yeah, I’m the same way. I don’t know why we can still feel all that. I guess because we still have our souls and our souls still remember all those feelings.”
Rosie nodded. Yes, she still had her soul. Even if she didn’t have her body, she had her soul, and no one could ever take that from her. At least, she didn’t think they could.
“It sure would be nice to have my body back,” she said wistfully. “Do you think we could possibly do it today?”
“I’m planning on it,” Devin said. “I figure we’ll get back to Key West at about 1 a.m. That gives us six hours until sunrise. That should be enough time to find the women who stole our bodies and reverse the curse, right?”
“Oh sure. What could be easier? Next time, give me something a little more challenging.”
They sat in silence again for a while. Rosie didn’t feel like talking. Her brain was tired. Her body was tired. Thoughts of home, her little dog, her knitting, floated through her mind.
As if Devin’s thoughts were on similar things she said, “Rosie, what do you miss the most?”
“Miss the most? About being human?”
“Yeah, that. And everything. You know, do you miss New Jersey, teaching, your friends? I know you miss Itchy.”
“I do miss Itchy the most. And I miss my home. It’s so peaceful and comfortable. And I do miss having a human body. Though it’s been nice not having to worry about eating or going to the bathroom.”
“Yeah, that’s been pretty awesome. I hate being this small though.”
“It stinks being as tall as someone’s knees. What about you? What do you miss most?”
“I miss the freedom I had, to go anywhere and do anything I wanted. I don’t think I ever really appreciated it before, but I have a whole new outlook on life. I feel empathy for anyone who is limited, you know, either physically, financially, mentally. I never realized how good I had it.”
“It’s easy to take what you have for granted and not appreciate how good your life is when everything’s going well for you. Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you get back to being Devin?”
“Oh yes, I’ve thought about it. I want to make movies, more than ever. But I feel that after going through this I have a lot more to offer. I can’t explain it, but I feel a deeper sense of purpose. I feel in my gut that it’s my destiny to help people, somehow. The only way I know is to make movies and tell stories. What about you?”
“I miss my students. I expect my life will go back pretty much to what it was. I’ll teach, I’ll knit. I’ll never be the same, of course. Going through what we went through changed me. But I liked my tranquil little life.”
They fell quiet again, immersed in mutual silence. Rosie’s thoughts wandered aimless through all they’d been through and how it had changed her. She wondered if she could truly ever return to the peaceful life that she had before.
“I can’t sit here doing nothing.” Devin jumped up. “I’m going to take a look around.” She reached for the zipper.
“Devin, please be careful,” Rosie said.
“I will.” Slowly, she unzipped the bag. “I’m just taking a look.”
She stood on tiptoes and peered out.
“What do you see?” Rosie whispered.
“A bunch of people, mostly sleeping,” Devin whispered back.
“Okay, get back in here and zip the bag closed again,” Rosie’s voice was a combination of rushed and hushed.
“Hey, our guy fell asleep reading the newspaper,” Devin said. “I’m going to get it to see if there’s any news about the island or Ria and Naomi. Maybe we can find out where they are.”
“Oh, Devin. Please be careful.”
She’d barely finished her sentence when the bottom of Devin’s tiny black nun shoes climbed out of the bag.
31
We made the big time
Rosie tried sitting still, waiting patiently for Devin to return, but when seconds turned to minutes, she popped up and cautiously peered out.
The man had placed the bag they were in on the floor beside his feet. The newspaper along with his hand had fallen by his side. He now leaned against the side of the boat, his head cocked at an odd angle, his mouth wide opened as snoring sounds drifted with each breath. They were in the back corner of the boat, next to the stairwell. The other passengers were on various couches and seats scattered throughout the lounge area. All had their eyes closed. Some slumped low in their chairs with hats pulled down low over the bridge of their nose, others curled up against walls or each other. Most wore headsets or ear buds.
Devin had climbed up the side of the seat and was slowly sliding the newspaper from beneath the man’s hand. He snorted and shifted. Devin froze, and Rosie held her breath. The man’s hand lifted, and he crossed his arms, sliding a hand under each armpit.
Devin quickly rolled the newspaper, carried it with her down the side of the seat, and slid it into the bag. She was about to rezip it.
“Keep it open or we won’t have enough light to read it,” Rosie said.
Devin settled in next to Rosie and struggled to unroll the paper. She reviewed the headline of each page.
“Sports.” She slid the page out of the bag and onto the floor.
“Cooking.” She pushed the page out and it landed next to the sports page.
“Here’s the front page.” She scoured it. “Politics, economics, and a hurricane in the far east. Nothing about the fire on the island. It’s got to be in the news somewhere.”
Rosie tugged at a page. There was an article about an a
rt show and another about an unsolved mysterious murder in Miami. Then she saw it.
“Devin.” She stabbed at the article with a miniature finger. “Here it is!”
“How Two Women Survived the Curse of Doll Island.”
Devin quickly tossed the rest of the paper out of the bag as Rosie folded the page and lay it out in front of them. They stared at a picture of themselves, surrounded by media cameras and microphones.
“Good gravy, look at that!” Devin pointed to the photograph. It was her body, but her hair was cut different. It was curly. She was wearing makeup, a skimpy, short dress, and was smoking a cigarette.
“That bitch has turned me into a cigarette, smoking femme! I’ll kill her.”
Rosie tried to stifle a laugh, but it slipped out. A fierce look from Devin stopped it immediately.
“It’s not funny." The words slipped through Devin’s clenched teeth.
Rosie stared down at the photo.
“I think you’re kind of cute."
“Easy for you to say,” Devin crossed her arms. “You look great.”
Rosie had to admit, she did look great. She liked the new Rosie. Gone was her long straight locks she typically wore in a braid. Her hair now possessed a stylish, fashionable cut. And some subtle but tasteful makeup gave her a sophisticated look that was flattering. Gone were the glasses she'd worn for years.
“She must’ve gotten me contacts,” Rosie said. “Read the article. The type is too small for me to read with Sister Martha’s glasses. Let’s find out where they are so we can reverse this stupid curse and get our bodies back."
Devin began reading.
“Rosie Morea and Devin Fitzroy were on vacation in Key West and decided to take an impromptu picnic on Thursday. Little did they know that decision would lead them to making history. When their boat unexplainably wouldn’t start, they were left stranded on an island known to the locals as ‘Doll Island.’ As many residents from the Keys and tourists have seen from a distance, the island was covered in dolls. No one knows where all the dolls came from or how they got on the island, but legend has it that they were cursed and when the sun went down, the dolls would come alive.”