Passages - Chapter 1: Suckers and Cereus Cactus

...my serial novel begins

Calliope gently stepped out into the night. She breathed in the humidity, feeling the summer heat, even after dark, permeating her skin. If her long brown hair wasn't pulled up, she knew it would be exploding in curls and frizz from the warm moist air. Her dark pants and hoodie already felt like they didn't get quite dry after laundering. Even after 22 years of living in the South, Calliope never developed the ability to ignore humidity. The extreme dampness pushed back against her and sunk into her pores making her want to turn around and go back into the house. But she needed to find the night-blooming cereus cactus, and if she was really lucky, this would be the night it actually bloomed. Not native to South Carolina, the cactus turning up at the edge of the woods was just one of many anomalies since the sleeping sickness pandemic.

Creeping through the wood of pines and the occasional oak, Calliope realized that at least the humidity meant no crunching ground cover. Summer in South Carolina produced humid earth even without rain, which made it much easier to move quietly. She continually scanned the woods as her eyes quickly adjusted to pitch darkness. Calliope's gift of seeing came in handy at these times - her vision automatically adjusted in bright light and extreme darkness with ease. She often recognized the slightest of movements and took in long distances. Of course, the wooded areas caused more difficulty than open fields, allowing people and creatures to hide behind and up in trees. But most of the time, she saw them before they saw her. At first, Calliope only heard the normal scurrying of small creatures and her own shallow breathing. In fact, it was the lack of scurrying a few minutes later that initially caught her attention. She discerned a flash of shine out of the corner of her eye and slowly turned her head toward it, but it was gone just as quickly. She knew what that meant...suckers.

Calliope stood stock-still. Although athletic and a fairly fast runner, she knew she couldn’t easily outrun the suckers. She watched and listened, holding her breath to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. Then the bleat of a deer broke the silence, and Calliope knew she needed to move silently and quickly. While waiting, she calculated the distance to the ditch knowing that she had to make it there rather than turning back toward home. As the poor deer's bleats continued to break up the night silence, Calliope raced for the ditch, praying the water she'd filled it with earlier in the day had not evaporated much. Touching the woods' damp floor as lightly as possible, Calliope ran with awareness. She knew how easy it would be to miss the ditch at night, especially with so little moon shining, and then suddenly, her gut told her to stop. She stopped.

Proceeding slowly, she occasionally glanced over her shoulder in case any more flashes of sweaty shine tried to sneak up on her. Calliope used her toes to test her way forward until she felt the slight slope of the ditch. Reaching to her left, she sensed and then touched the large root protruding above ground, the root that had been sticking out of there for years like an old friend. Using it to quietly guide her way down into the ditch, she felt comforted by the depth of the water. She slid down lying on her back, submerged in the warm liquid with only her face breaking the surface. Holding onto the underside of the overhanging root for support, she took several deep breaths and relaxed. She was safe. Even if she had to stay here until dawn, she was safe.

The deer's cries faded and the night fell silent again. Feeling for the poor suffering deer, Calliope sent up a prayer of gratefulness that she wasn't attacked by the suckers. Even if they discovered her now, they wouldn't attack. The water provided a layer of protection as long it covered her belly. The suckers attacked the navel in mammals. Whether an obvious belly button on a human or a simple scar on an animal, the suckers thrived from that umbilical attachment. They connected their sucking mouths to it, seeking the life that originally derived from that belly. To some extent, it was a fruitless search, only providing them temporary satiation, but it didn't stop them from trying at every opportunity. In the process, the suckers literally siphoned out the insides of the victim, and rarely did a human or animal survive the attack unless it was interrupted early on.

For some reason, water deterred the suckers. They didn't seem afraid of it, only confused by it. They never attacked a creature submerged in water. It appeared that they couldn't see past their own reflections and the reflections distracted them or simply appeared to be darkness. The suckers traveled in pairs, each of them about the length and width of a medium-sized dog without legs. One pair usually covered around ten square miles without overlapping another pair's territory. A sucker's long body was attached to an over sized head with huge dark eyes and a tube-like mouth. They appeared to breathe and eat out of the same tube, so sometimes you could hear them coming if they breathed heavily. Suckers' shiny black skin, which looked more like slick oily hide, completely covered them and they traveled by flying, but their small muscular wings seemed to only work well in lower altitudes. It was uncommon to see a sucker flying above the treetops. Nocturnal creatures, suckers burrowed deep into the earth or found hollow logs or trees to sleep in during the day.

Daytime presented the best opportunity to eliminate the dangerous creatures, although it wasn't easy. A group of local hunters worked diligently to figure out how to kill suckers. Not only do they have to be located, but their hides provided a brutally tough protective barrier. They curled up with their wings and faces tucked under them, as those parts seemed most vulnerable. Even external explosives did not harm them nor even wake them. A face-to-face encounter at night made it possible to shoot at their tubes or wings, but suckers moved carefully and quickly in the dark. Hunters risked their lives seeking them out at night.

Calliope carried a sharpened filet knife to cut the cactus. She didn't think to bring any other weapon, as her shooting skills weren't very accurate. She typically operated defensively, realizing her gifts didn’t lie in apprehending and killing the enemy. She knew, however, that if she stayed in the ditch until dawn, she didn't stand a chance of catching the cactus blooming. The bloom supplied one of the best treatments for little Henry's asthma. With the lack of old medicines, the boy relied on herbal remedies to help control his chronic attacks. Although the cactus amazingly thrived along the outer edges of the woods, they only bloomed once a year in July and while the stems of the cactus helped in creating the asthma tea, the dried flower exponentially increased its medicinal properties. Gratefully, each cactus bloomed at different times during the month, and the blooms could be dried and stored. At the moment, Calliope desperately needed to restock their supply of the dried flowers.

Lying in the water-filled ditch until dawn protected her from the suckers but defeated the purpose of her venturing out after dark. Slowly, Calliope squatted low in the ditch, prepared to slide right back down if necessary. She scoured the woods around her. Taking a quiet deep breath, she listened carefully. She hoped to hear the patter of small scurrying animals as those sounds only occurred when the suckers left the area to hunt elsewhere. But the woods radiated silence. Dead silence. After about fifteen minutes of squatting, Calliope started to stand when she saw the shiny glint of a pair of suckers circling a nearby oak tree. Not wanting to reveal her presence, Calliope used the opportunity to quietly slide back down into the ditch. Situating herself behind the root with her line of vision slightly above it, Calliope watched the suckers continue to circle the tree at varying heights. They seemed intent upon an animal up in the tree. Then Calliope caught sight of the possum, well at least the possum's eyes. Agile creatures, possums didn't live in trees but used them for protection, easily jumping from limb to limb and tree to tree. As long as the possum didn't misstep, the suckers wouldn't catch him tonight. It dawned on Calliope that this might be the ideal time to make her getaway. The suckers appeared thoroughly engrossed in the possum. If she moved quietly out of the other side of the ditch, she might still get her task completed and live to tell about it.

Ever so slowly, Calliope slid up the opposite side of the ditch, silently crawling backwards along the damp earth, watching the suckers closely as she progressed. Known more for their night vision than their hearing, her quiet escape didn't trigger an attack. Willing the possum to hold their attention, she stood and then carefully backed away from the ditch. Once she felt safely out of range, Calliope picked up speed and raced to the edge of the woods.

Beth’s Notes:

First of all, thanks for reading. As many of you know, there’s tremendous vulnerability in publishing online. I appreciate your time, comments and support.

I have to say I love Calliope from this first chapter. She’s one of my favorite characters, already demonstrating bravery, smarts and sacrifice for others. I can’t wait for you to get to know her better.

If you’re a botanist, I apologize. I really stretched it with the cereus cactus. Truth: it does only bloom in July each year between dusk and midnight, unless artificially enticed. By morning, the blooms start to wilt and by noon, they’re fully closed. Indigenous to South America and a dryer climate, putting it in humid South Carolina was definitely creative license. However, it can be used to relieve asthma symptoms. Finally, more creative license: it’s noted in Chapter 1 that the flowers on different plants may bloom at different times in July. For real life (as Bluey would say), flowers of plants located in the same area all bloom at the same time.

The suckers are entirely a figment of my imagination (unless you know something I don’t) as is the sleeping sickness pandemic. You’ll learn more about the pandemic and how the suckers arrived if you hang in there with me.

The ditch, which became something of a character to me, actually lives in a neighborhood about 30 minutes from my home. I discovered it walking with my husband and grandchildren a couple of years ago. I even took photos at the time. I wasn’t sure how I’d use the ditch, but I felt certain I’d use it in my writing at some point.

If you know me very well, you quickly realized that the setting is where I live. Not original, but it’s such an amazing place, I had to go with it. The woods surround my home and run along the road on which I live. Deer and possums can often be seen in the woods, but gratefully not the suckers. As the story progresses, you’ll discover more sites and locations that actually exist, although their condition may be drastically different in the story.

Many thanks to

David McIlroy

and

Simon K Jones

who both led me to step into this serial novel adventure sooner than planned. David offers so much for writers seeking to publish on Substack, and I was an ARC reader for his upcoming novel, The Substitute. Don’t miss it’s publication in November.

Simon’s serial novel, Tales from the Triverse, should not be overlooked, especially if you’re into science fiction and police procedure. I find it utterly intriguing with it’s three worlds. Simon also introduced me to Scrivener, allowing me better control and organization over my writing, research and other projects.

Hope to see you next week for Chapter 2 where you’ll meet more characters, human and otherwise.

Curious about details of this serial novel or my writing process? Feel free to comment or dm me. I enjoy chatting with other writers and readers.

©Elizabeth Hempton 2024