~* Rubina Chinchada & the Enchanted Dresser *~
Sunday, October 31st, 6:30 a.m.
"Rubina Chinchada. Only you would drag me out here at the crack of dawn on Halloween to go dumpster diving," Mona said to her roommate as they slowly cruised in Rubina's red 4Runner through a central Phoenix neighborhood.
"We're not dumpster diving, we're frontster diving," Rubina clarified, taking a sip from her peppermint mocha while paused at a stop sign. "There's a difference. This is stuff for bulk trash. People set out their junk so prolific artists like me can rescue it."
Mona rolled her eyes. "Well, let's get it over with," she snapped. "I need to be at the airport by 10. Hey, lookie over there - it's a table with three legs! Seems like a winner to me! Go get it so we can go home already."
Rubina didn't pay attention - she was too consumed with the thought of recycled art projects. "Ooooooo, look at that dresser!" Rubina squealed, swerving the 4Runner up on the sidewalk. In all her 23-years, she had never spotted such trash-to-treasure gold. On the edge of a manicured lawn, sat an antique wood vanity dresser, complete with a tri-fold mirror, all of it trimmed in carved rose vines. For an obsessive, experienced craftaholic like herself, this was the Holy Grail.
"The surface is even unfinished, I don't even need to prime it," Rubina whispered as she slammed the door and immediately began the inspection - and admiration - of the incredible find.
Yawning, Mona scratched her head of frizzy blonde curls. She clenched her sweater under her chin, and reluctantly shuffled behind in her corduroy slippers. "You promised I wouldn't have to get out of the car. Dang, it's freezing. Can you speed it up?"
Rubina spun around to confront her friend. "Can you please stop being a blocker, for like, five minutes, and come see this with me?" Rubina swooped her arms in front of the dresser to showcase it to her pal. "Isn't it beautiful? These carved roses are just screaming to be covered in red paint and glitter. She swirled her fingers along the border of the mirrors. "And I could cover all of this in the vintage costume jewelry that my Nana gave me."
"Do you have to paint on everything? I'm still mad about my toilet seat lid, I hope you know. That dresser is perfect as is," Mona stated. "Maybe it’s not even meant for bulk trash." She anchored her fists on her hips when she spotted what looked like the owner of the property tending to a cactus garden on the side of the house.
"You seriously want to throw this out?" she hollered.
"It's trash, but if you want it, take it - but don't you dare bring it back," the grandma replied. "No matter what."
Mona and Rubina exchanged concerned glances at the ominous reply. Mona's teeth began to chatter from the sharp chill in the air, as she hunched over and opened a drawer with one finger. "This thing is creepy. Rubina, check it. It has a logo from a coffin company." Mona backed away. "Ew. What if it was dug up from the cemetery or something?"
"No way", Rubina thought. She had to see for herself. Sure enough. Inside the top drawer was an embossed logo: "Monarch Coffin Company."
Rubina cocked up an eyebrow, swooped her bobbed black hair behind her ears, and kneeled in front of the dresser. It still smelled strong like pine. "Did this dresser used to be a coffin?" she asked loud enough for the homeowner to hear. When she didn’t receive an answer she stood up and turned around to ask again.
Rubina and Mona watched, stunned, as the old woman hurriedly locked the entryway gate and retreated inside her home. Mona shuttered when the door slammed.
"I don’t want this thing in our house, Rubina," she said. "I’m not kidding. Let's go."
Rubina rolled up the sleeves of her denim jacket with the embroidered skulls, and with all her might, pushed the dresser off the lawn onto the sidewalk. "Help me load it, it's way heavy,” Rubina said, ignoring her friend's orders. "I’ll give this baby a royal makeover. Just wait, you'll love it. Plus, it's for my room, not yours."
Midnight.
Rubina face planted on her bed, every cell of her body and spirit frustrated. She had just devoted the last 12 hours trying to embellish that stupid dresser, and nothing went as planned.
Earlier, Rubina dropped Mona off at the airport, and then made a pit stop at the craft store where she dropped $90 on new paints, varnish, glitter, crystals, and three types of super strength adhesives. She planned to turn off the porch light. There would be no time for trick-or-treaters tonight!
But that joy turned to annoyance. With the dresser in her bedroom, Rubina lined her work area with newspaper. She painted the dresser black, the carved roses red, and the leaves green. As fast as she could apply the acrylics, they seemed to evaporate, like water on wax paper. Rubina never cried over a craft project gone bad, but right now - she wanted to.
"Ah-ha, the varnish is probably decades old and seeped into the wood. I need a sander," Rubina concluded, bummed. She decided to leave the original wood finish, and add accents of crystals and glitter. That didn't work either.
In the hours that followed, Rubina tried every method possible to get anything to stick on the dresser. She even called the craft store to complain that the products were defective. By 10 p.m., she burst into tears. Why did she feel so gloomy? Over a crusty old piece of furniture? Goofy!
Finally, she called it a night. She picked up all her art supplies and set them neatly on top of the dresser. First thing in the morning, she’d get back to work. For now, she’d crash. She stared at the dresser and winked. "Tomorrow, I rule."
Just as she leaned over to click off the lamp, something whooshed by her head, causing her to duck. She heard a loud thunk above her head. She popped up and froze. Purple paint dripped down the wall, just above her headboard.
Frantic, she searched the bed for any kind of clue and found the busted bottle on the floor. How in the world could the bottle have flown all the way from the dresser, across the room, to above her bed? And with such force?
Rubina cleaned up the mess and did her best to fight off scary thoughts, even though her insides shivered. A piece of furniture can't haunt people, no way. She said a prayer, clicked off the light and snuggled under the blanket, wishing she had turned the heater on. Her room felt chillier than a skating rink in December.
She attempted to shut her eyes again, and this time she heard the paint bottles drop...one-by-one off the dresser, each one hitting the floor in perfect time. She felt as if someone were in her room, taunting her. Rubina wanted to jump up and run out, but her body lay heavy on her bed, 100% numb.
At that moment, she heard it: A sound that would likely haunt her forever.
Faint, but loud all the same - A woman weeping. In the room. At the... dresser?
"Oh crap, now I know why that lady wanted to ditch this dresser," Rubina thought. "It’s frickin’ haunted!" She squeezed her eyes tight. As each second passed, the cries grew louder, and more sorrowful, as if whatever was there wanted Rubina's attention.
Her heart raced, and her mind went into overdrive. She definitely should have left the light on. In fact, she should just get up right now and turn it on. She didn’t. Instead, she pretended to casually turn around in her bed, and yawn like normal. She hugged her pillow and slowly opened her eyes only enough to barely see through her lashes.
Rubina wished she hadn't done that.
A glowing woman floated just above the floor in front of the dresser; her long red hair flowing behind her. Thin and pale, she wore a white gown. Her head rested in her hands, she sobbed.
Rubina's gaze shot up to the ceiling, and she blinked hard. What the hell? Even worse, not only did she hear the lady crying, she also heard her own chest thumping. Rubina decided to once again sneak a peek - just to be sure she wasn’t crazy. If she saw this chick again, she'd jump up, scream at it, turn on the lights and bolt out of there. She summoned all her energy, and that of her ancestors, to give her the strength to pull it off. She didn't have a choice!
Rubina opened her eyes and looked.
This time the lady stood tall in front of the mirror and stroked her hair with Rubina's brush! The entity smiled back at her reflection. Rubina felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. The ghost had to be about the same age - early twenties, but she appeared sickly, her eyes sunken in and her face gaunt.
Rubina felt tears gushing down her own face. She quickly wiped them away, sniffled and looked again. This time, the ghost stared back. The gaze pierced through Rubina's body like an ice pick.
The spirit pointed her finger at Rubina. "It's mine...leave it be..." she commanded.
Rubina crawled like a spider to the corner of her bed. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" she whispered in a panicked tone, as she threw the blanket over her head. "This is not happening. I'm sorry I took the dresser. I won't glue anything on it. This is not happening!" She drew a deep breath and giggled. "You idiot. It's probably Mona. She came home, and is playing a trick. Of course!"
Every time Mona went to L.A. to visit her boyfriend, she always came home early because of a fight. Like clockwork. Rubina laughed nervously and flipped the sheets off her body to yell "Boo!" at Mona - only to find the crying ghost standing at the edge of her bed.
"Bury it..." the lady said leaning in. Rubina leapt up and flipped on the lamp at her nightstand.
"I don't want it, you can have it! Just get away from me, get out of my house, you freak! You're dead! It's Halloween, go haunt a graveyard or something!" Rubina felt the ghost back away. "Crossover!" Rubina shouted, trying to remember all the stuff she saw on A Haunting on the Discovery Channel. "I command you to go to the light!"
It must have worked, because the lady vanished.
Out of breath, Rubina snatched her blanket, ran out of the room, shut the door, and shoved a chair under the doorknob. Yah, yah, ghosts could walk through walls, but it just made her feel better. Rubina knew the spirit left, but she still flipped on every light in the house on, as well as the TV. Thank goodness for the comforting pleasure of VH-1's America’s Next Top Model marathon! She curled up on the couch, still shaken up, grabbed the phone and used her trembling fingers to stab in the numbers of Mona's cell.
The girls talked until sunlight crept through the windows. Rubina hung up, and felt confident enough to push the dresser to the edge of her lawn for bulk trash collection. She cautiously entered her room, only to find the dresser's drawers open and the art supplies scattered across the room, emptied. What a mess. What a bitch of a ghost!
Rubina shoved the haunted piece outside, right to the edge of the curb, and dusted off her hands. A truck pulled up with two women, giddy at the sight of the dresser on the curb.
"Do you want that?" one of the hollered.
Rubina knew this might happen, and that's why she made a sign that said "termites". She taped on the sign for the women to see. "Sorry!" she yelled as they drove away. She knew the dresser would be crunched into tiny pieces by the end of the day, and that gave Rubina a sense of peace.
November 1st, 11 a.m., Monday.
Rubina awoke on the couch to the sound of her phone ringing. She fumbled for her cell and before she could say a word, Mona started in.
"Rubina! I’ve been trying to call you all morning! Did you check your email? Never mind - go save the dresser! Don’t let the bulk trash get it, we need to keep it!" she cried on the other end of the line.
"Are you on crack? I’m not touching that thing." Rubina replied, grumpy for being woken up from her much needed slumber.
"I’m in a cab on my way home, go get the dresser! I Googled Monarch Coffin Company, and called them. I told them about the dresser. There’s a juicy story behind it! I sent you an email, but go get the dresser before you read it. Trust me!"
Click.
Rubina let out a chuckle. She peered out the window, the dresser was still there, intact. No way would she bring it back in the house. She’d wait for Mona to come back first.
Rubina powered up her iBook and nervously tapped her foot while the new emails loaded. She clicked on Mona's message, and took a deep breath before reading it.
"Rubina - I talked to the owner's father at Monarch Coffin - he knows all about the dresser! It was made for a woman named Isabella Cruz, by her lover back in the 1930's. Her family was crazy rich, and they hated him because he was just a carpenter. He carved beautiful rose-trimmed pine coffins for him and for her. She wanted more than anything to be buried in it. But when she died from pneumonia, her parents ditched the coffin, and bought a fancy one. Her boyfriend went crazy and made a dresser out of her coffin for his bedroom. The tale is that she would come visit him every night as long as he had the dresser. No one knows what happened to the coffin, errr... dresser. Or him for that matter. It's been an urban legend ever since. Isabella is buried at St. Francis Cemetery - I think she is the ghost you saw!
Monarch wants to buy the dresser from us! Hopefully you will have saved it by now, if not, get your ass out there!"
What a whopper of a story! It all made sense, no wonder Isabella didn't want it to be painted. Poor thing! Rubina covered her mouth with her hand and ran outside to bring the dresser back in the house. But the moment she stepped through the door, she saw the rusty arms of the bulk trash garbage cruncher scoop it up.
"Wait! Please, wait!" she screamed to the machine's operator as she sprinted barefoot through the carport onto the driveway. The machine stopped and she breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned. Thank God, just in time!
Not quite.
The bars gripped the dresser like giant claws. Rubina held her breath.
CRUNCH!
Just like that - Isabella’s dresser had been flattened to a stack of firewood.
Noon."Isabella Cruz, my name is Rubina Chinchada, and this my best friend, Mona Garcia. I am so sorry that I yelled at you last night, I had no idea - I...I..I've never been visited by a ghost before, I freaked out a little, please forgive me. And I also want to apologize for trying to decorate your coffin with glitter. And that it got smashed by the bulk trash guy. I know your boyfriend worked very hard to make it and it has never received the recognition it deserves. And I'm sorry there wasn't a Dr. Phil around that could have helped your parents like him more. I know this isn't much, but I did mange to scoop up a few remnants from your beloved coffin. We've planted them here at your grave, along with some marigolds from my garden. Today is
Dia de los Muertos, and I hope the scent of the flowers help you find your way to this grave and that you will finally rest in peace."
Mona kissed a decorated sugar skull, and set it on top of Isabella Cruz's headstone. "Gosh, I hope this works," Mona said. She put her arm around her friend's shoulders.
"You OK?"
"Yah. I’m cool," Rubina replied. "But I think I want to stay away from bulk trash for a while."
Copyright © 2007, Kathy Cano-Murillo
***
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* All content/photos copyright, Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2006. For more artsy goodness, check out CraftyChica.com *
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