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.Emma's Burden	By : keithcompany Category: S through Z > Twilight Zone Views: 1314 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight Zone, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Emma's Burden
- 1
"Hello?"
It's a dark space we're seeing. A few random elements have light from an unknown source glinting off of them. We can't identify shit, but the outlines give shape and density. It's a crowded space, stuff piled on stuff, stacked by stuff and several more stuff lined up in a row.
"Hello?" A door opens and a female form is outlined by a dim light from the hall. "Is anyone there?"
She moves cautiously into the space, hands out to keep from bumping into things. "Can anyone hear me? Oh!" At her exclamation, we see her face in profile, looking to our right. The camera pans over. There's a frosted window. A light behind it allows us to see the outline of a man standing in front of it.
"Oh, thank heavens," she says, moving towards him. "I had to go to the bathroom, but I got lost when I came out. Do you know the way back to the lobby? I think we're backstage, right?"
She gets close and suddenly realizes she's looking at a toy soldier. One that stands six feet tall. She flinches away from him, then smiles. "I guess you only see daylight when they do the Nutcracker, huh?"
Behind the soldier's elbow, she sees a switch. She throws it and the lights come on. We see her clearly, a young redheaded woman in a business-appropriate suit.
The space is full of props of various sizes and scales. "But are there any other doors?" she asks in a soft voice. She looks in all directions. "Hey. Where's the door I came in?"
She turns to the soldier.  The wall behind him is smooth and blank. There's no light switch and no window.  She reaches out to run her hand along the smooth surface.  "What's going on here?"
The camera spins swiftly to the left.  Rod Serling stands among the props.  In front of him is an HO scale replica of the White House.  To his left stands a Statue of Liberty, the torch coming up even with his eyes.  To his right a Raggedy Ann doll hangs from the rafters.  R-Ann is about 8 feet tall.
"Imagine if you will.  Emma Burden is a financial analyst helping restore an aging theatre.  She's left the presentation and she's become lost, somewhere backstage.  Now she's in a prop storeroom she can't get out of.
"But being lost shouldn't concern her, nor being trapped.  Because, you see, everything that's stored is stored by somebody.  She should worry about who owns this collection of odd-sized props and backgrounds and settings.
"And when they're going to come take something out of the collection.  We know this because we, at least, know where she is.  She's lost…in the Twilight Zone."
(Opening credits)
Emma moves around the room, pulling things away from the walls, looking for a way out. She handles a drum the size of a doghouse, a dog food dish the size of a drive-through menu column, Mount Rushmore, a church with a steeple that's no taller than her waist. "There has to be a way out," she says, slightly exasperated.
She continues on.   Ink pens and pencils five to seven feet long, a pair of skis and a ski mountain that's as tall as the skis are long, a teapot that's warm to the touch. This discovery wigs her out a little bit.
Emma's more frantic as she passes the clear spot where she's sure the door used to be. A nail in the wall has a chain of Christmas tree lights, all shaped like tiny toilets. A skull she could hide in. A leather wallet with Roy Rogers' face painted on it big enough to be a futon.
Finally she just steps back from the wall and screams wordlessly, then repeats: "There has to be a way out." She's much more frantic, now, and tears at her hair. The camera circles her as she twists back and forth, hands to her temples, eyes starting to glaze over.
Emma's respiration increases, panting, quick and shallow breaths.
Then the lights go out. There's silence, broken by a creaking sound. Light returns, but this time as a thin sliver that slowly widens, as the creaking gets louder. It should look and sound like someone opening the top of a chest or a toy box.
The light reveals Emma passed out on the floor. One leg is folded over a giant crayon. A roller skate key is next to her elbow, it's the size of leg of lamb.
"There should be something in here," an old man's voice says.
"I really appreciate this," a younger woman's voice replies. "Oh! That's perfect!"
The gigantic shadow of a hand (or the shadow of a gigantic hand) appears and moves towards Emma's still form.
--------------
We see the inside of a room in a basement. Cleaning supplies and a furnace are in view. A man dressed as a train conductor lifts Emma up out of a wooden box. Emma's about 16 inches tall, dangling lifelessly from one hand.
"Now, this isn't exactly the dolly she left behind, but it may-"
"She's perfect." He hands Emma over to a young mother. She takes the dolly-sized woman into her two arms. "It'll last her until we get home, where she left China Sal."
"Well, good, then," the conductor says and waves the woman off. She scurries out of the basement, up the stairs and through a train station. She goes out the door and we see a train platform with people boarding the waiting train.
A small girl sits on a bench, trying hard not to cry. The mother hands Emma over. The girl doesn't smile, but she stops nearly-crying. She holds Emma up by the armpits and looks her over.
Emma starts to come to. Her head lifts, her eyes open and she's face-to-face with a giant girl dangling her over a pretty decent drop to the platform floor.
"Hi," the girl says, still hesitant. "What's your name?"
"What do you want to call her?" Mommy asks.
"I'm Emma," Emma says.
"Emma," the girl repeats. Mommy looks confused and surprised.
"That's an odd name, Clystra. Where did you get it?"
"She said it's her name," Clystra says. She shrugs. "I think it fits."
"Well, we have to run along, now. Bring…Emma, and hurry up."
"Yes, Mommy. Emma, we're going to get on the train, now." She throws Emma over her shoulder and scurries along behind Mommy.
----------
The next scene is in the dining car. Emma sits on the table next to Clystra's plate. Mom sits across the tiny table from her daughter.
Clystra is speaking. "Emma says it's not as dangerous as people think, and it's mostly an old wives' tale."
"Dear," Mommy sighs, "stop saying 'Emma said.' You know she doesn't really say these things."
"Better agree, Clystra," Emma says. "If adults can't hear me, she'll never believe you."
"Emma says," Clystra tells her mother, "that I should play along with your delusions so that you don't think I'm the one that's delusional."
"I never said that!" Emma protests.
"But it's what you meant, right?" Clystra asks her. Mommy stares at the two of them.
"Then tell Emma," Mommy says, a little tightly, "That if it's the doll that causes." She reaches for Emma. "One of us to be delusional, the best thing to do-"   She pauses. "Oh, no!"
She's looking at her hand. "My ring! The stone's fallen out!" She starts to look around frantically. So do Emma and Clystra. "When could that have happened?"
"Found it!" Emma shouts. She reaches under the edge of Mommy's dinner plat and pulls out the rock. She hands it up to Mommy. There's a moment, silent, where no one moves.
Clystra speaks very softly. "Emma says she found it, Mommy." Mommy opens her hand and Emma places the diamond in it very gently.
"Tell her it's a beautiful stone and I'm glad she didn't lose it," Emma tells Clystra.
"She says it's a beautiful stone and she's glad she could find it before you started crying."
"How old ARE you?" Emma asks Clystra.
"Then please," Mommy says, "thank Emma… I'm sorry." She turns to face the 'dolly.' "Thank you very much, Emma. I'm glad I have my stone, too."
She puts it into her pocketbook and places it carefully into her purse.
"You're very welcome," Emma says, Clystra repeats it. After a moment of silence, Clystra asks Mommy, "Do you believe in her now?"
"I'll give her the benefit of the doubt," Mommy says slowly. Emma smiles.
They finish their meals. Clystra offers some food to Emma.
"I'm not hungry," she says, surprised by that admission. "Maybe I am a dolly."
Clystra tells Mommy, "Emma says I should get two desserts. One for her and one for me."
"Did not," Emma and Mommy say together. Clystra's eyes get wide at the harmonized response.
---------
There are scenes of them reading in a private sleeper on the train, and getting ready for bed and Emma laying down with Clystra in the upper bunk.
Then it cuts to a city street. Mommy is talking. "Your Aunt Della is going to live with Grandma, we're going to put a mortgage on the house to fix it up a bit and give them some living money."
"What's a more gauge?" Clystra asks.
"Oh, I got this one," Emma says.
"Emma says she'll explain it to me," Clystra tells Mommy.
"Alright. Just sit quietly in Mr. Chaddick's office, alright?"
"Mr. Chaddick won't hear a peep out of Emma," Clystra smiles. They enter the door of a bank.
The next scene is in the bank manager's office. The manager is one of those special Twilight Zone functionaries. He's obsequious and helpful, while still giving you the feeling he's judging your every move. Useful, but creepy. Subservient but with a superior attitude.
Mommy sits on the opposite side of the desk. Clystra has a chair beside her, but is paying all her attention on Emma, who talks very quietly to the girl.
He's explaining the contract just before Mommy signs it. "…and at 2% interest, your monthly payment comes to $1,024.33."
"Oh." Mommy seems surprised.
"Say what?" Emma swings around towards the desk.
"That's a bit more than we were expecting," Mommy protests. "Quite a bit more."
"Well, we did make clear that the estimate was only an estimate," he says. He sounds sorry that he has to acquaint the poor woman with the facts of life, but he still slides the pen across to her.
"Hang on," Emma says, stepping to the chair's armrest. "Something's wrong."
"Mommy, Emma says there's something wrong with the contract," Clystra announces. She helps Emma step up onto the desk.
"Ah heh," the manager smiles, a little off his game. "I'm sure your dolly is imagining things."
"She has a MBA from Harverd," Clystra points out.
"Oh, does she?" Banker nods, looking towards Mommy. "Ma'am, I'm willing to…accommodate your daughter to a certain point. And I can understand that she's bored by the proceedings, but…"
"Yes, of course," Mommy says. She takes the contract and slips it across the desk. And holds it where Emma can see it clearly. "What's the problem?"
"Madam!" Banker protests.
"Aha!" Emma says, kneeling to tap a line in the contract. "This is a one-time fee. He's adding it as part of the monthly charges."
"She says…" Clystra screws her face up in concentration. Emma speaks slowly and Clystra parrots it. "Line… four…teen.. shouldn't be… a monthly…charge."
"Madam, I assure you that our staff has looked this contract over several times." Banker takes it back and looks down at line 14. "No, see, this is the… Oh. Oh, my."
----------
Cut immediately to a hotel room. Emma stands on the nightstand between two beds. Clystra is on the phone. "And EMMA did the math in her HEAD! And they bought us lunch while they fixed the pepperwork and I had a chicken sandwich-"
Mommy, on the other bed, warns Clystra, "That's enough dear, it's long distance. Tell Daddy goodnight."
"Goodnight!" Then she hangs up and climbs into bed. Emma jumps over and they cuddle for a bit. Mommy reads for a while. When she puts the book down later, Clystra is asleep but Emma is watching Mommy.
Mommy leans forwards a bit. "Thank you, Emma. Really. But… But now you're more than a little scary. You know?"
Emma holds up a hand, one finger in a 'wait one' gesture. She climbs down and scurries over to Mommy's purse. She comes back with a quarter. Her hands hold the coin to block most of the motto.
Mommy leans down to read that 'TRVST' is all she lets show.
"Trust, huh? And what would you tell me if you were an EVIL dolly come to life?"
Emma eases her hands so they cover everything but the word GOD. Mommy gives a small gasp. Then a smile. "So… You're saying if you were evil, you wouldn't hesitate to claim you were working for God."
Emma nods. They smile at each other for a moment. Then Emma returns the quarter and climbs back up into bed with Clystra.
----------
They return home, bursting through the door into a stylish, well-to-do apartment. A man's reading the paper on the sofa. He starts to stand.
Clystra shouts, "Hi, Daddy!" Then she puts Emma on a chair, says "Rightbackgottago!" and runs into a bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
Mommy enters, carrying two suitcases. She puts them down to take Daddy into a hug. They kiss, then look down. "So this is Emma, I take it? The dolly whose head is full of math instead of fluff?"
"Do NOT tease the dolly," Mommy says.
"I wasn't going to when Clystra is around," he promises, nodding towards the bathroom.
"No. Do NOT tease the doll. Ever." There's steel in Mommy's tone. "Emma saved us $635 a month, every month, for the next thirty years."
"Oh." He looks confused. "You mean, Clystra… Or you… caught a mistake…"
"Nope," Emma says with a big smile.
"No," Mommy says. "It was all Emma."
Daddy thanks Emma, his tone making it clear that he's just playing along.
"And don't play cards with her." Mommy is still serious. She picks up a suitcase, Daddy takes the other, and they move towards the bedroom. "That little woman is a cribbage SHARK!"
"What, you owe Clystra money?" he asks, jokingly.
"I'm into the dolly for $43," Mommy says.   Emma drops to the rug and ambles after them.
"Well, maybe I can win it back for you," he jokes. "Let's see how she does with poker."
They enter the bedroom and put clothes in drawers or in clothes hampers. Clystra walks in, Emma on her hip. "Emma wants to know if you know the rules for Texas Hold 'Em?"
"What's a Texas?" he asks.
"Nothing you want to get involved in," Mommy warns him.
------------
Mom walks down a busy street, holding Clystra's hand. Clystra carries Emma, who watches the city go by.
"Ooh!" Emma says, pointing across the street. "Ice cream! I'll buy."
"Emma says she wants to spend her poker money on ice cream for the two of us," Clystra reports. Mom stops. "She has plenty," Clystra says.
"I love your father but he IS a slow learner," Mommy says absently. She looks across the street, then down a couple of doors.
"Well," Mom says, considering. "We can get ice cream or we can go into this doll store and get her a new outfit." She pauses dramatically. "And new underwear."
"Laundry!" Emma quips.
"She'll go by your recommendations, Mommy," Clystra says. They walk along a little bit.
"Now, this dressmaker? She's supposed to be something of a witch." Mommy glances down at the dolly. "Maybe she can tell us why Emma's here."
"And what Emma is," Emma adds. Clystra nods.
They enter a vintage-looking shop. Lots of dolls on shelves and under glass. Shipping trunks of doll clothes. A little tea table in the corner. Mommy and Clystra take seats there, Emma is stood up on the table. Her hair is coifed much as it was the day she arrived here (not unruly after several nights in bed), and her dress is unrumpled.
She looks much better than the witch does. She comes out with a tray holding tea and fixings. Her hair is askew, her dress dingy and she wears shoes that don't match.
She pours tea and makes sure everyone's comfortable. "Now, let's see your dolly." She reaches for Emma, who takes a step back. Witch/Shopkeeper pauses. "Oh, you're interesting."
Witch reaches around to a pile of junk and roots through it. She comes up with a magnifying glass. The glass has been painted black. She holds that up and looks through the lens at Emma.
"Oh, dear."
"What?" Clystra asks. "Is she okay? Can she eat ice cream?"
"Hush," Mommy says.
"I dunno," Emma says, "they seem like good questions to me."
"You're in the wrong place, dear." She turns to Clystra. "Your dolly is in the wrong world. That means two worlds are out of balance."
"Are you going to send her home?" Mommy asks.
"But do you HAVE to?" Clystra asks immediately.
"More importantly, will it hurt?" Emma asks.
"The universe will set about adjusting the balance," the witch says. "Somehow, some way, it will make things right." She smiles at the three of them, then. "Now, did someone say underwear?"
"Um, can you make it so we understand her?" Mommy asks.
"You'll understand her when you need to."
"Then that's okay, then," Emma says. "Now, do you just have panties or can I get some lingerie."
"What's lungery?" Clystra asks.
"It's like Texas," Mommy says absently. "Just something else to get your Daddy in trouble."
----------------
In Clystra's bedroom, Emma is helping Clystra sort her other dolls. "And Feesta is friends with Poleh but jealous of Grunder who's sister is Jeffa who's BEST friends with Feesta but only when Ammrat is asleep because-"
"And where do I fit in?" Emma asks, dragging Ammrat to the end of the line.
"There's… There's no one like you, Emma. You're my extraspecialgood favorite."
"Aw," Emma says, running over to hug Clystra. "And you're my extra special good friend, Clystra. You're the best owner I've ever never had."
They hug again.
Daddy pokes his head in to say it's time to go to bed. They both protest but they both get under the covers and cuddle.
After some time, Emma's eyes open and she looks around. She doesn't see Clystra. She sits up, then climbs up to turn on the lamp.
The bed is empty except for the row of dolls. Emma walks slowly along the line asking "Did you guys see where she went?"
At the foot of the bed, there's a blue cloud, shimmering and wavering. As Emma gets close she hears Clystra's voice, muffled and from far away. She's screaming for Mommy, Daddy and Emma.
Emma instantly turns and runs, jumping off the bed. She grabs a slipper and runs out of the room.
Mommy and Daddy are curled up on the couch, snuggling. They look surprised as Emma runs out, slaps the floor with the slipper, and stares at them.
"What're you doing out here?" Daddy asks.
"That's Clystra's slipper!"
"Does this mean there's a problem with Clystra?" Emma gives Daddy two thumbs up and turns to run back to the bedroom.
She slips through the opening just as Daddy pushes it wide open. Emma runs to the cloud and points up.
Daddy kneels beside it, Mommy sits on the bed. They call out to their daughter. She screams but apparently can't hear them.
He reaches into the blue cloud.
"Wait," Mommy says.
"This is the balance," Daddy replies. "The universe took Clystra to balance the worlds." He tries to reach in but his hand won't enter the cloud. "I can't… I can't reach her."
"I think I can," Emma says. Both parents turn to stare at the dolly.
"I heard you," Daddy says softly.
"When we needed to," Mommy says, echoing the Witch.
"It's my world," Emma says. "I'll bet it'll let me through. You hold me and lower me in. I'll save her if I can."
Daddy scoops her up in an instant. Mommy says 'wait' once more. They look at each other.
"You, uh… You'll probably have to stay there," Mommy says.
"Restore the balance, yeah," Emma shrugs. "So, goodbye. It's been great. Really. I… I loved it here."
Clystra screams wordlessly.
"Okay,g'bye,gottagonow," Daddy says and lowers her into the cloud. She and his hand slip smoothly through.

Clystra stands inside a football stadium at night. She's leaning against the wall at the fifty yard line. Players and cheerleaders and staff all fight to get out of the field, fans scream and fight to get out of the seats.
The loudspeaker says that the cops have been called and to exit in an orderly fashion. Security guards aim guns at the giant girl. Cameramen try to get closer to her. Someone's got a bullhorn and shouting for the press to get back.
There's not a chance in Hell that Clystra can understand any of this. She just wants her parents or her dolly and cries for them, over and over and over.
Emma appears in the row of seats behind Clystra, sitting in Daddy's grasp. "Clystra!" she shouts. The girl turns around. "EMMA!"
A gun goes off and Clystra slaps a hand to her cheek and screeches. Emma strokes the hand, urging it down and forward. When it's close, she yells for Clystra to take Daddy's hand.
Clystra screams for her Daddy and grabs the hand. Emma jumps free and Daddy pulls. In an instant, Clystra's gone, the cloud is gone, and Emma is lost in the stampede of retreating fans.
She pauses at the top of the stairs. "Bye bye, Clystra," she says softly, then leaves.
The next scene is daylight. Emma is dressed in a different suit, slightly different hair style, carrying a briefcase. She crosses a plaza between large business skyscrapers.
There's a lift in her step. "Now THAT'S how a meeting should go," she says triumphantly. She crosses the street, passing a storefront where there are dolls on display. She slows for a second, tracing her hand along the glass.
None of the dolls need to resemble Clystra or Emma. It's not that poignant a pause.
She shakes her head sadly and turns to continue walking. "That's EXACTLY how a meeting should go," she repeats, almost a mantra.
She passes a bus stop. Rod Serling watches her go by, then turns to the camera. "Somewhere out there, a little girl cries from time to time. She misses her favorite dolly. And sometimes, the dolly misses her favorite little girl. It's sad, really.
"But we're going to consider it a happy ending. Because the universe is balanced. People are where they're supposed to be. And if that little girl cries, at least it's on her mommy's shoulder. She's not in a cage at the zoo, or under a tent in a circus, or being studied at Area 51.
"Any of which could have happened … in the Twilight Zone."
- 1
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.Emma's Burden