The Delivery.
Having faced many terrors from the wild windswept moors of Southern Wales, Chillingham Castle, England's most haunted fortress to the terrifying Entity of Berkeley Square I was used to the strange and bizarre. However, now I was face to face with something I had read about but never seen up close. It was reputed to have killed and injured many of its victims. Many had suffered for years during its reign and even to this day stories of shock and horror are told of it.
Here it was, right here on the table in my parlour. It had appeared this morning with no warning and it just laid there. Still and menacing.
It was a cold and misty English morning in October. The frost still threatened the leaves falling from the trees covering the grass and path in the orchard. The UPS van driver walked up the twisting cottage path with the delivery under his arm. Neither he or I understood the significant of the long narrow parcel. I signed along the line quickly in an effort to close the door to the swirling fog drifting into my hall. A shiver ran down my spine as I finally closed the door and put the packet down. To wake me up at this early hour I put the kettle on and made a cup of Earl grey tea I would never finish drinking.
Upon opening the parcel, beautifully wrapped with brown paper and tissue, the first discovery was an envelope titled “Instructions Please follow carefully”. Intriguing? Instructions to what?
The envelope was duly opened and the Instructions enclosed were laid out next to the open packet. I rustled through the tissue to find an item of clothing. It looked more like a machine than clothing but I was beginning to understand how and why this was one of the most loved and hated fashion accessory dating back millennia. I placed it reverently back on to the table. The black satin corset lay there, not just any corset but hand crafted and made to 1889 designs. The laces interweaved along the back looking like a spring set to close an uncomfortable trap.
Instructions? I had dressed myself for most of my life and had never needed to have two pages of instructions to follow, however, perhaps that showed how far in our past we had left these garments. My video had instructions, my washing machine had instructions, but underwear? OK I sat down trembling slightly, the cup jingling in its saucer. “So start at the beginning” I thought as I read the detailed directions. “Unlace the back fully and place around your waist. Tighten slowly by pulling the laces”. I want to wear it not dance with it. I ignored the instructions and picked it up. I was impressed at the weight and rigidity of the cloth. I wrapped it around my waist and tried to close the awkward front fastening, the type I was sure I had last seen in a DIY store. They were in no danger of closing as the two edges stopped about three inches from each other. I grasped each side and pulled them together. No. No good at all, this thing was too small, it was never going to fit. I laid it back on the table and sipped my tea.
It was not going to get the better of me.
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