For my new Invisible Friends, Twirl is the story of a star-crossed ballerina named Vivi and her handsome cowboy named Wade, who have stumbled into a international ballet scandal and a old Texas legend that might possibly lead to riches! To catch up in the archives, go to the Never Ending Stories Tab at the top of this site.

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Vivi’s fists curled into balls as she stared at her father. “Give me my laptop.”

Simpering, Mrs. Angelson slid into the room behind her father as he smirked.  “Vivienne, you disappoint me.  I thought you were finally taking your dancing seriously.  And now love letters?  Over e-mail?”  He snorted.  “How trite.”

“Give me the laptop.”  Vivi’s green eyes flickered dangerously.  “Now.”

Vladimir, as she now thought of him, raised a dark bushy eyebrow.  “Bossy, aren’t we?  I think you’d do well, Vivienne, to learn that you don’t give the orders.  I do.”  Without another word, he threw the laptop to the ground and smashed his heel into it.  With a sickening crunch, plastic keys and metallic chips scattered as his foot slammed into the laptop over and over again.  The screen shattered, the base broke in half and smoke curled from the remaining parts, a pitiful white flag.

Tears stung Vivi’s eyes, but she forced them back.  Instinctively, she knew he wanted her to scream or shout.  He wanted her to cry, to rage, to beg.  She would not give him that.

If he wanted a fight, she would fight.

“I know it seems cruel, Vivi,” Mrs. Angelson cooed, barely able to suppress her mirth, “But it’s of utmost importance that your full concentration remains on the new routine.  I mean, after all, the competition is”–

“Shut up.”  Vivi’s voice was calm, but deadly cold.  She met Vladimir’s gaze.  “I know who you are.  Who you really are.”

Vladimir’s dark eyes flickered, just barely.  “I’m your father, Vivi.  I’m the man who has raised you, cared for you…and this is how you repay me?  Insolence, rebellion?”

Vivi bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood.  “I know who you are, Vladimir.  I know about your past, your affair with Mrs. Angelson.”  She glared at her longtime teacher, her eyes narrowing.  “I know you’re nothing more than a sad, washed up drug addict with an even sadder mistress.  I mean, honestly.  What kind of real man needs a 17-year-old girl to make a name for himself?”

Vladimir snapped, his eyes rolling to the back of his skull as he screamed with rage.  “You brat!  I’ve got more talent than you have in your little toe!  I need no one!  Vladimir Markov needs no one!  I am the best dancer of all time!”

“Really?” Vivi smiled tightly.  “Then there’s no reason for me to dance in this competition.  In fact, there’s no reason for me to stay here.  After all, you’re not my real father.  So move.  I’m leaving.”  Glaring at him, she yanked her still packed suitcase from under the bed.

“But Vivi,” Mrs. Angelson protested.  “We’ve worked so hard.  You can’t just”–

“Shut up!” her father roared, throwing up a hand to silence his mistress.  Eying Vivi, he crossed his arms.  “You’re not leaving.”

“Really?” Vivi smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.  “And who’s going to stop me?  One little call to the police, and you’re done.  I mean, there’s a lot that can hold you.  Child abuse, spousal abuse, fraud…murder.” Vladimir stepped back, his goatee trembling.

“Oh yes,” Vivi continued, her voice soft and harsh.  “You know, people still talk about the poor man you murdered.  And his 16-year-old daughter.  You know, I do believe one can still prosecute on 17-year-old statutory rape cases…”  Vladimir drew in a ragged breath.  Vivi smiled.  “Of course, I haven’t attended law school.  Though that is an idea,” she mused.  “I’d make a terrific lawyer.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Vladimir burst out.  “You’re a 17-year-old girl.  Who would believe you?”

“Plenty of people.”  Vivi hoisted up her suitcase.  “Now, if you excuse me….”

“Vivi?” her mother called across the apartment.  “Vivi, are you home?”

Vladimir’s eyes flashed and a sick smile twisted his features.  Rushing out of the room, he returned with Vivi’s mother gripped in a headlock.  Her eyes were white with fear, with tiny whimpers that made Vivi’s toes curl pouring from her throat.  Vladimir pressed a thick knife to her mother’s neck.  She cried out and he pressed harder, tightening his grip around her shoulders. A tiny trickle of blood slithered across the gleaming blade.

“Vivienne, you don’t seem so brave now,” Vladimir purred, triumphant.  “Go ahead, leave.  Call the police.  Tell them everything.”

Vivi gripped the handle of her suitcase.  “Let her go.”

“Of course I will.”  Vladimir simpered, snaking his arm even tighter around Vivi’s mother’s neck.  She whimpered, tears welling up in her terrified eyes.  “On one condition.”  His black eyes bore into Vivi.  “Your mother will go free if you do as we discussed and dance in the competition.”

“She’ll go free unharmed?” Vivi asked.

“Unharmed.”  Her father’s bushy eyebrows twitched.

“And after the competition, we’re free to leave,” Vivi demanded.  “You’ll never contact us again.  The whole we don’t tell, you don’t talk to us thing.”

Mrs. Angelson opened her mouth to protest, but Vivi’s father silenced her with one look.  “We wouldn’t dream of disturbing your future goals.”

Vivi sighed.  She looked down at her suitcase, at the shattered laptop across the floor.  Then she looked up at her mother’s wide eyes.  The trickle of blood was now a small stream, staining the top of her white collar.

“Let her go,” Vivi whispered.

“We have a deal?” Vladimir demanded.

Vivi’s green eyes blasted towards him.  “Yes.  Release her.  Now.”

Smirking, Vladimir let go of Vivi’s mother, kicking her forward onto the destroyed laptop.  Wiggling his fingers, he called, “We’ll let you two catch up.  Get your sleep, Vivienne, you’ll need it for rehearsal tomorrow!  I doubt Mrs. Angelson will go very easy on you.”   Cackling, the two slipped out of the room.  Before he shut the door, Vladimir paused.  “Oh, Vivienne?  If this cowboy of yours tries to ride in here and rescue you, he’ll not succeed.”  Sneering, Vladimir held up the bloodstained knife so it gleamed in the light.  Vivi snarled, resisting the urge to lunge toward him.

“Understand?”  Without waiting for an answer, Vladimir shut the door.

Trying to ignore the rage simmering inside her, Vivi helped her mother up.  “You ok, Mom?”

“Yes, I suppose.”  Vivi’s mother collapsed on the bed, clutching her throat.  She pulled her fingers away, staring at the blood.  “He’s never been that bad before.”

“Mom, I know everything about him.”  Unable to sit, Vivi paced along the side of the bed.  His smirk still filled her mind.  Gritting her teeth together, she shook her head.  “Susanne told me everything.  About the drugs, the affair, the murder…”

“Murder?” her mother gasped.  “What murder?”

Vivi filled her in on the details, noting her mother’s trembling fingers as she nibbled on her fingernails.  “What I  need to know, Mom, is why you stayed with him.  Why didn’t you take me and run?  Why did you let it get this far?”

Vivi’s mother shook her head.  “I’m so ashamed, Vivi.  I was just so scared.  I should have gone to the cops, or the press.  They would have believed me.  They would still believe me.  You have no idea how many times I dreamed of standing on stage at your recitals, screaming the truth.  But I was always so scared.  So scared….”  She burst into tears, her thin shoulders shaking.  Vivi wrapped an arm around her mother, leaning her head against her mother’s shoulder.

“It’s ok, Mom,” Vivi whispered, stroking her mom’s arm.  She didn’t even notice her own tears streaming down her cheeks.  “It’s ok.”

After Vivi’s mom had cried herself to sleep, Vivi pulled her cellphone out of her mother’s back jean pocket.  Crawling into her room’s closet, she closed the door and dialed Susanne’s number.

“I need you to call Wade for me and tell him not to come here,” she told Susanne in greeting.

“Why?”  Susanne’s voice was shocked.

Vivi recounted the evening’s events, ignoring Susanne’s curses.  “So if Wade comes here, Vladimir will kill him.  And I don’t doubt it.  He was seconds from slitting my mother’s throat.”

She could hear Susanne gnashing her teeth even over the phone.  “I’m surprised he hasn’t hurt you.”

“He can’t hurt me.  He needs me.”  Vivi’s voice was dry, unemotional.  “All I’ve got to do is make it through this competition.  Then I’ll slip out with you, go home and run away with Wade.”  She sighed.  “I just hope Margaret doesn’t find the clue before the competition.  That would really suck if we did all that searching for nothing.”

“Vivi, why don’t you let my dad go over and arrest him?” Susanne pleaded.  “Or send over some police protection?”

Vivi shook her head, then remembered Susanne couldn’t see her.  “After the competition,” she promised.  “Like the second I’m on stage, he can arrest him.  But he’s dangerous.  I want to make sure my mom can get away before I call the police on him.”  Her eyes filled with tears.  “After all, she’s the only parent I have.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Susanne asked, her voice softening.  “I know Wade would be here in moments.  He wouldn’t want you going through this alone.”

Vivi shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.  “I can’t,” she replied, her voice choking with sobs.  “I can’t take that risk.  I can’t…”

“Ok.”  Susanne sighed.  “I’ll call him.  And I’ll tell my dad to hold off until after the competition.  I’ll see you tomorrow, ok? Get some sleep.”

“Good night.”  Vivi hung up the phone.  Curling into a ball, she let the hot tears stream down her knees towards her toes.

If she had to go through hell to get back to Wade again, then that’s what she was going to do.

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We’ve got a new Creative Woman of the Pond and next week, the Midsummers Night Dream Ball!

If you’d like your creature to attend the Midsummer’s Night Dream Ball or for your child to be possibly selected as the Pond Ambassador, send the Blond Duck an e-mail through her site.  For critters, please include photos, name, age and personality traits.  For children, please include first name only, age, and why your child should be selected, and who their favorite stuffed animal/ pet is and why.

All entries must be turned in TOMORROW, as the ball will be held Aug. 11.