Enter Lady Laura the Cup Saver

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Erin? What's going on in there? What are your kids doing downstairs eating pop tarts and watching TV? Shouldn't they be in school? What is going on with you? Are you sick or something?"

Erin thought maybe she had dozed off because she couldn't remember hearing Laura come into the house much less upstairs to her door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Erin! Open the door; you're scaring me!"

Laura must have been knocking for some time to get so upset. Erin felt bad about upsetting Laura.  She tried to answer but again her mouth could not make any sound. She settled for scraping her hands around on the floor as noisily as possibly. Her arms were pretty flexible and so luckily they managed to move some of the things lying around, most of which were papers from her abandoned manuscript. She also managed to shove three coat hangers, one of her son's discarded toy cars and a shoe. The shoe was loud enough to be heard in the hallway.

"Erin? I heard you; I know you're in there. What's happened to you? Your boys have turned the first floor of the house into a scene from Lord of the Flies.  You aren't having some kind of nervous breakdown or something?  Are you?"

Erin got a firm grip on the shoe at last and stomped it against the floor once very loudly.


Laura was quiet for a moment and then she said, "Stomp once for yes, twice for no. Are you hurt in there?"

Erin considered that.  Was she hurt?  She wasn't really sure.  Certainly she was not herself. 

Stomp, she answered.

"Okay...  do you want me to break in and help you?"

Stomp, she answered again, this time instantly and with as much force as she could muster.

"Okay...  I...  well, I'll try to break in then."  Laura sounded nervous but very soon Erin heard shuffling from the hallway and then running and finally...  BOOM!  Wood trim pieces snapped off the door frame, the lock gave way and Laura came busting through the door, a 5'3" flurry of energy.  She moved fast into the room, her red hair flying back with the wind, her normally mysterious blue eyes fierce and determined, until she crashed noisily against Erin's dresser.

She had barely stopped for a second when she turned to scan the room.  Erin could see Laura's eyes go from determined to confused as she took in the rumpled bed linens and the mess of papers on the floor.  At first she did not seem to be able to focus on Erin.  But finally Laura realized what she was seeing:  Erin, upside down, transformed into a giant teacup, and waving one brown leather shoe around like a flag of surrender.

"What the fuck?" was all Laura managed to say.