Emily Plays Dotty
A “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: I became a Girl!” Gaiden
by
Rebecca Coleman

-2-
The Manchester Commons

The Manchester Commons was a three acre triangle plot of land that was located in the heart of the old downtown part of Manchester. The three acre plot of land contained, if you believe it or not the town's library, a private middle school, the school was this massive two story brick building with old fashion square windows and white columns and two white, wooden double doors. A concrete staircase led up to the double doors and an old, rusting iron fire-escape wrapped itself around the building. At the tip of the triangle one could find a water fountain. The fountain is called “Crump Fountain '' by all and was named after Thomas Crump, a man who had spent most of his life in the civil service. He had been the force behind the earlier development of Manchester from a tiny river front hamlet on the banks of the Yazoo River to a thriving county seat that stole the title of county seat away from neighboring Benton.

And of course, because this is the Southern United States. And by and large, some of the population of the region is still fighting and still reliving the American Civil War, somewhere in the middle of this triangle there was a huge, gray Confederate monument. On top of the monument, about twenty four feet from the ground one would spot two copper statues long turned to green. The first one was of a man holding out his open right hand while in his left hand he was gasping firmly in his grasp a rifled musket with a ten-inch bayonet attached to it. And in front of him is a woman, she is handing him a flag and a pole. The woman is holding by all accounts the Confederate Battle Flag. On the front one will find the following inscription.

1861-1865
As at Thermopylae, the greater glory was to the vanquished.
This monument is erected to the perpetuate memory of of the
noble courage, constancy, and self-sacrificing devotion of the
women of the Confederacy and the patriotism and heroic
valor of the Confederate Soldier and all who on land
or seat for the country and cause they loved so well.
By
The Jefferson Davis Chapter
United Daughters of the Confederacy
And the sons of the Confederate veterans and people
of Yazoo County. Dedicated July 8, 1909

If you were to stand at the base of the old, gray Confederate monument and look straight ahead one would see across the street a plain, wooden building that was painted green and looked like it was about to fall in. This was our town's VWF pot. And beside it one would find a green, decommissioned Sherman Tank, the tank was pointed toward the monument with the nuzzle of the gun pointed squarely at the two figures on top. Beside the VWF post one would find a small shop that sold mostly junk.

Beside that one would find a simple, gray, square building, this was the town's post office. Twice a week, sometimes maybe three times a week my Aunt Flora would send me into the gloomy looking building to check the mail.
And because Manchester lacked a proper Comic/Manga shop, and the local book store only carried a limited selection of manga and light novels, I was on a first name basis with all the clerks because I was always getting something in the mail. What can I say, Amazon is the premier online merchant. If you need it, they have it, and if you have an Amazon Prime account you can get it in a blink of an eye.

Beside the post office one would find a plain, red brick church house. The church house had two red, wooden double doors and was named Trinity Episcopal Church. Here the elite of the town gathered to do whatever the upper-middle class of a small southern town do on a Sabbath morning. I think they drink coffee, snack on donuts, and rehash old Bible stories. Then I think they gather to sing a lot of dreadful sounding songs, and eat a little bread and drink a little wine? I should know, after all, my older brother is going to an Episcopal priest in a few years. But I don't.

Anyway on this hot, humid June morning the normally quiet and void of people had taken on a carnival like atmosphere. Dozens and dozens of small groups of people had crowded into the area. Dozens of folding metal chairs and either red or blue coolers seemed to have been scattered about. Dozens of more people were standing over propane burners, and the smell of fish being fried filled the air. A dozen more were already chowing down the fish that had been fried. Dogs barked, cats meowed, a bedlam of noises and smells.

And in the middle of all this confusion was a large, children's wading pool that had been spray painted a neon pink color and stuck to the side were letters that spelled out the name 'Emily' I blushed a little. I mean I felt the blush spreading from one cheek to to the other. I could even feel my ears starting to turn red. As normal for me I'd decided to wear a short, pink, pleated skirt, and white teeshirt, and a powder blue hoodie zipped all the way up. The hoodie was for warmth and also convenience because the skirt did not have pockets! Also because I did not feel like hauling around my leather purse that morning. Instead I decided to carry my black carry-on bag that I'd decorated in a fit of teenage madness with a lot of pins I brought from Gothic Topic. Kind of a local store that was a knock off of Hot Topic.

Did I mention that I was totally confused? I'd been given no solid directions. The woman had only taken my forum and told me to show up at ten o' clock because the main event started at eleven o' clock and according to my plastic, pink, wrist watch it was ten o' clock on the dot though it seemed things were already well underway. Then I noticed a group of women all dressed to the nines in flimsy dresses and flat shoes, all the women had their hair pulled back in tight, high ponytails and all seemed to be wearing woven straw hats and had their eyes hidden behind thick, dark sunglasses. All had their lips painted a bright red and all wore bright red nail polish. All had plastic cups in their hands.

I was sure those red, plastic cups held nothing than a good measure of “School Boy” that to say a popular cocktail that was one part gin, one part orange juice, one part lime juice, sugar, with three or four bottles of Gentleman Southern added in for good measure. The cocktail was then poured into a red cup that had been packed to the top with crushed iced. I stood to the side of this gathering and waited and prayed for one of them to notice me.

“Oh!” One of the women said. Her voice slurred a little, I think the drink was taking hold of her. “Ladies, I thought our lovely volunteer is here.” She said smiling.

“About time! I was afraid she would have gotten cold feet or something. Though I'm sure my daughter would have stepped up and volunteered. You know she going to head of the cheerleaders this year. And next autumn she going to heading toward Ole Miss. Just like her two older sisters and just like her mother. You know our family, for the last few generations has always gone to Ole Miss. It's required you know that any properly raised southern woman go there to get her degree. If she wishes to find a proper husband that all.” One of the women said as she sipped her drink.

“I believe, that young lady is the same young lady that was crowned 'Pecan Princess' at the first annual Pecan Fete.” The woman said, smiling like a cat who had just snatched the song bird from it's cage. “I think she beat out your daughter for the title and the five hundred dollar prize. A shame really, that your daughter missed out on being crowned this town's first ever 'Pecan Princess' it would have well with her other titles.” A woman to her right side as she sipped her drink.

The woman in question said nothing but only walked away from her group of friends. A tense silence fell quickly over the group, a silence that was only broken when one of the women walked up to me and slowly removed her sunglasses.

“Oh.” She said, smirking a little. “We have strawberry blonde hair girls.” She said, shaking her head. “No wonder so many of our local merchants were lining up to donate. This little vixen has enchanted their hearts. Guard your son's girls,” The woman forced a little laugh. “That or they needed a quick, and handy tax write off or a tax credit!”

“Or they really wanted to save homeless puppies? And find them forever homes?” I countered.

The woman said nothing but raised her glass and started to drink a little more of her drink. She then turned her full attention toward me and grinned a very wicked grin.

“You really have no idea what you're getting into do you honey?” She said, smiling a little as she circled around me. “Well of course you don't, this is the first time this little stunt has ever been performed here. Normally it's one of the Benton girls who get roped into doing this stunt. Those poor little hayseeds.” She said smiling as she reached over and lightly touched my shoulder.

I felt a sudden chill pass over me.

“Come on girly, we need to get you changed into your adorable costume.” She said as she lowered her brown lense sunglasses and gave me a leveled look.

The moment I looked into the woman's eyes was the moment I felt like somebody had straight punched me right in the gut and for good measure had performed a judo chop right across my neck. Her eyes were blue, but fringed with a ring of gray, they were cold, like you could feel the coldness in them. Those eyes I thought belonged to a demoness and not a human.

“Changed?” I said blushing a little as I brushed off the woman's hand from my shoulder.

“Of course. Into your Princess Dotty costume.” The woman said, smiling. And with that she reached down and took me by the hand, she then pulled me toward a collection of tents that had been set up at the edge of the field. “Oh, did you bring some shampoo, soap and towels?” She asked as she looked at me over with a wicked little grin.

I shook my head.

“Oh poor dear.” Her voice was slick as owl shit. “I guess, I'll need to send one of my helpers across the street to the 'Super 10' and fetch you some shampoo, soap, and some towels.” She said, shaking her head. “Did you at least bring a spare bra and some extra panties?”

I shook my head.

“I see..” The woman paused. “Then just go commando under your costume.”

I nodded my head and turned toward the woman.

“So what is the costume?” I asked.

The woman smiled and nodded toward the tent that was going to double as a make-shift changing room. “It's in the tent. Now go ahead and get changed. The quicker you get changed the quicker we can get the ball rolling. And the quicker we get this ball rolling the more money we can make! And the more money we make the more puppies you can save!”

And so with that being said I walked into the tent and there upon the floor I noticed what appeared to a black and white dotted dress. That had the appearance of a cheap Halloween costume that came from the racks of a knock off Halloween store. Laying on top of the dress was a headband that had black, white and dotted dog ears glued to it.

“Are you sure this is going to fit me!” I yelled out as turned around the woman who at this point had taken a position in front of the tent turned her head and nodded.

“It should. If not, try to wiggle into it the best you can.”
“..”

“Why did I sign up for this again?” I said as I hung my head down and shook it from one side to the other.

“To help puppies!”

And well with that being said I started to wiggle the best I could into the costume. After all, in the end all this was to help feed puppies, cover the vet bills for those who could not afford to care for their four legged fur babies. And help puppies find forever homes. So while I felt like a total fool as I slipped the costume on. I had to keep reminding myself that all this was to help feed puppies!