"Thunderbird"

My posts follow the stories of many different story-lines involving several women in the Book Woman Club. If you are new to the club, or need to refresh your memory about the Thunderbird story-line.......you may want to read the following posts - 5-14-11, 7-8-11, 8-13-11, 5-26-12, 11-19-12 and 6-1-15. Enjoy!

It was like swimming with a concrete block tied to your leg...this waking.  Each time she tried to reach consciousness, Thunderbird felt herself pulled back under the heavy darkness.  She fought to find the light; her eyelids too heavy to open, her head expanding with each painful rhythmic throb, her nose trying to reach the air through a stale and cloying sweetness....was it Channel #5?  She remembered the soft leather of a generous car seat, the turning of a key, a fist hitting her upside her head....Thunderbird's eyes flew open.

The room was dark, the moonlight that filtered in through lace curtains created shadows on the walls around her.  She lay in the shade of a big four posted bed, a filmy canopy of mold-scented gauze surrounded her like a shroud.  "Where am I?", Thunderbird's mind circled dizzily for an answer.  "Glory "Amen" Johnson", came the answer.  "Glory....hit me!"  Thunderbird tried to sit up, but fell back as a wave of nausea hit her. She groaned, her hand cautiously rising to feel the lump that sat on the side of her head.  "She hit me!" Thunderbird closed her eyes, breathing deeply to fight back the vomit that splashed in her stomach.  What the hell was going on?

She opened her eyes again, taking in the peeling and torn floral wall paper, the hanging yellowed ceiling plaster,  a thread-bare Victorian couch.  An open closet door showcased ceiling to floor dresses, coats, hats, shoes.  A wave of nausea hit her again, as Thunderbird's hand traveled from the lump on her head to the scratchy lace collar choking her neck.  "What the....?"  She threw back the heavy, mildewed quilt that covered her, and stared in bewilderment at the high necked - full-length flannel night dress that engulfed her from neck to ankles.   "Where the hell are my clothes???"  Thunderbird rose from the bed, attempting to swing her legs over the side.  A thick black chain jerked her back, her legs forced open wide in an arch of pain!

"What? What?"  WHAT?????