The Newly Exposed Skin
In keeping with our annual tradition, this week’s stichomancy prompt fodder is taken exclusively from holiday songs. Unlike previous years, we’re going to work them into our ongoing chain story. Enjoy!
- where the treetops glisten
- fire is so delightful
- Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up
- underneath his beard so snowy white
- think of all the fellas that I haven’t kissed
Tune in next time part 138 Click Here for Earlier Installments
The newly exposed skin of my chest was bright pink, the color deepening to red as I watched. If there were any important details of the tattoo done in red hues they would be practically invisible.
Getting a good look at the tattoo was awkward. It was going to either be upside down or, if I could find a mirror, backwards. The spa was filled with mirrors, so I gave that a try. I was still pessimistic about understanding the message, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a code that I recognized. Tessa had inked the original da Vinci style, in mirrorscript, so the reflection was plainly legible to me. The nefarious spa attendants were actually at a disadvantage with their photograph!
It did take a few minutes to recall how to decipher the code she used. Soon I could tell that the message was a set of directions, almost like a pirate’s treasure map. “Go to where the treetops glisten, and remind the headmistress that fire is so delightful precisely because it is so dangerous. You must hurry. Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up!”
I put my shirt back on, again. There could only be one place that the tattoo meant, and it wasn’t in Pittsburghistan. On my way out of the spa I nearly tripped over two people laying on the floor. One was an old man with a beard like a wizard’s, and the other was my sister Freya. (For a second, I mistook her for Thor. But last I knew he was prisoner aboard a zeppelin.)
They blinked up at me in surprise. The old man cracked a semi-toothless grin.
My question about what she was up to never got uttered. I spotted the man’s tattoo underneath his beard so snowy white, Freya’s lipstick all around it. (Another clue that this was indeed Freya — it wasn’t Thor’s shade.)
I rolled my eyes. Freya shrugged. “Dear brother, think of all the fellas that I haven’t kissed.”
bonus points for using them in order (and bonus bonus points for throwing in an extra snippet)