The Curse: a short story by Brent A. Johnson

            One day, a six-year-old boy named Joey overheard his mommy talking on the phone to a friend.

            “I can’t come out this weekend because it’s that time of the month,” she said, “and you know how bad the curse can be.”

            Joey worried about the kind of curse his mommy might have and wondered what happened to her at that time of the month. Recently, Joey had learned how to read, so he decided to check the calendar. His mommy hadn’t written anything on the calendar, but the calendar did say that there would a full moon that weekend.

            “Full moon? Curse?” shuddered Joey. “Oh no! I think Mommy’s a werewolf!”

            That weekend, Joey would run away whenever his mommy came near him. She wondered why he was avoiding her. Eventually, she cornered him.

            “Honey, what’s wrong?” she asked.

            “Stay away from me!” Joey shouted. “You’re not safe right now!”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “I know you’re a werewolf!”

            She gave him a confused look, not sure if he was serious or if he was just playing some silly game.

            “Werewolf? Where did you get that idea?”

            Joey explained about overhearing her phone call and seeing on the calendar that there was a full moon. Then his mommy just started laughing.

            “No. No. No. I’m not really cursed. That’s just a nickname for something women go through each month.”

            “What do women go through each month?” asked Joey.

            His mommy hesitated before answering, “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

            “But if you can’t even go out, it must be bad!”

            “It’s okay,” she insisted. “We women tend to make it sound worse than it is.”

            “If you don’t tell me what happens, I’ll know you’re hiding something from me,” huffed Joey. “Maybe you really are cursed and you just don’t want to tell me!”

            Then Joey’s mommy realized he wasn’t going to let this go. He was really freaked out about this, and the only way to calm him down was to tell him the truth.

            “Okay,” she resigned. “I’ll tell you the facts of life.”

            In order for Joey to understand what women go through every month, his mommy also decided to explain the birds and the bees to him. She didn’t just give him a vague idea; she gave him all the graphic details, leaving nothing out. By the time she was done explaining, Joey was even more horrified than when he thought she was a werewolf.