Science Fiction

Charmed: Part 5 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 5

When Jake and Jessica got to the walkway outside the old growth forest, they were at a complete loss. They lost all footprints and indication of direction they got when they entered the leaf strewn forest. Now they saw two equal options on a rugged path lined by a six foot wall.

Cinnamon fluttered, hovered, and turned her head to look one way and then the other.

Jake looked at the wall and wondered what was behind it.

Jessica was still wondering how goblins could be so scary and so hilarious at the same time. Clowns,hween wal 1 she supposed. She knew some people were afraid of clowns.

“Wait here,” Cinnamon said. “I have to check to find the right way. Oh, and don’t go over the wall.” She flew off, almost faster than their eyes could follow; certainly faster than they could frame a question.

“I was wondering, what’s with the wall. Is it there to keep people out or keep something in?” After the goblins, he could not help the spooky voice.

Jessica shook her head. “After what we have seen this night, I don’t think any teenage spooky voice will ever scare me again.”

“So what is over there?” Jake walked a little way down the path. “Hey, it looks like a gate. Cool.” He was looking through the bars of the gate.

“What?” Jessica went reluctantly. “Cinnamon said don’t go in there.”

“No, she said don’t climb over the wall.” He checked. The gate squeaked, but it was not locked. “She didn’t say we can’t go through the gate.” He grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled her in. “Cool,” he said again.

hween wall gate“It’s a graveyard.” Jessica resisted.

“But who could be buried here? Aren’t you at all curious?”

“Not really,” Jessica said, but she followed him in about three rows. The names seemed normal enough, but Jake took her hand again and ran her up a path to the top of a small rise. From there, they looked out over a cemetery that seemed endless.

“Woah.” Jake mouthed the word. “Who are all these people.” The graves continued, easily seen under a bright, harvest moon, until it became a gray line in the distance and finally turned black on the horizon.

“I don’t like this,” Jessica said, and she tugged to go back.

“Look.” Jake noticed something three graves in. It was a cutlass, and not entirely rusted as he expected. He picked it up and turned to show Jessica when there was a rumbling at his feet.

“John the Butcher Roberts” Jessica read the headstone before she grabbed on to Jake to steady hween pirate 1herself. It felt like a miniature earthquake. Then a head popped up from the grave, a dead head, definitely a pirate, and he saw the cutlass.

“Ah, ha. So that’s where I left it. Hand it here, mate, and I’ll kill ya quick.”

Jake and Jessica ran. There were pirates rising in every direction, and the gate was cut off by zombies. They tried for the wall, but there were skeletons dancing there. They started to weave around the headstones, but the pirates were waking up.

Jessica stumbled when the ground shook again beneath her feet. Jake tried to help her up, but fell beside her. Two gravestones rose up by their heads. One said, Jacob, Jake Simon. the other said Jessica Cobb. Jessica screamed as the ground beneath them began to open into great, six-foot holes. The only reprieve they got from the pirates was when they were distracted by the oncoming Mohawk war party. Then came their salvation. A great roar echoed from the gate.

“Supper!” A slimy, ugly ogre burst into the graveyard, drooling and ready to chow down on the dead. The skeletons and zombies guarding the gate all screamed and ran for their lives. One of the pirates pointed and hollered a warning.

hween skeletons 2“Avast ye swabs. It’s Pusshead.” The pirates and indians all scattered, and Pusshead roared right past the couple in pursuit.

Jake and Jessica helped each other out of their respective graves and ran for the gate. Jake held tight to the cutlass, not knowing when he might need it. Jessica cared about nothing but getting the wall between her and the zombies. She slammed the gate with a vengeance once they were out and huffing and puffing.

“That was really stupid,” Jessica said.

“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “But I got us a weapon.” He swung it a couple of times which prompted Jessica to holler.

“Watch it.”

Jake did not argue. He loosened his belt so he could slip the blade in by his side. Jessica watched, so neither saw the figure approach.

“Excuse me. Pardon me,” the man said. Jake and Jessica looked up, gasped, and took a step back. They saw a ghost, a real ghost. They could see through the man, though he seemed solid enough fromhween a thackery 1 the waist up, if translucent. From his knickers down he became more transparent until his feet were utterly invisible. Then again, he floated a couple of feet off the ground, so he might not need the feet.

“I am sorry to bother you, but have either of you seen my wife? Abigail Barrett by name. We were traveling by coach from Boston to Brattleboro where I was invited to practice law, when we were waylaid by robbers in the wilds of New Hampshire. Bullets were fired. My wife slumped into my shoulder, and I thought there was blood on her forehead. I leapt out to give the robbers what for, but the next thing I knew, I was lost in the forest and I can’t seem to find the coach.”

Jake was too stunned to talk, but Jessica felt enchanted by the story. “My name is Jessica Cobb, and this is Jake, Jacob Simon.”

“Of course, we haven’t been properly introduced. I am Thackery James Barrett, Esquire. Harvard, class of eighteen twelve. You seem like good New England stock. Surely I am near my destination.”

“I am sorry,” Jessica said. “I know the road to Brattleboro, but I don’t know how to get there from here.”

“Alas, I spoke to a young lady just a short time past. She was most polite, but could tell me nothing at all.”

hween a thackery 2“Elizabeth?” Jake raised his voice. “My sister.”

“Yes, I believe that was her name. The fellow she was with seemed most unsavory.”

“She was kidnapped. Do you know where she is?”

The ghost spun once around. “I am afraid I cannot say. These woods have me confused. Thus I have wandered for some time today. Do you know where the road to Brattleboro might be?”

“Thackery.” Jake and Jessica turned their heads at the sound of Cinnamon’s voice, but they saw a beautiful woman instead of the fairy. She looked perhaps to be in her mid to late twenties, dressed in a long, flowing, fitted gown, and walked slowly up the path.

“Most beautiful lady. Have we met before?”

“Indeed we have,” Cinnamon said, as Jake and Jessica realized the woman had to be Cinnamon hween big cinnamondespite the appearance. “And you must go in that direction until you find the pine trees. Then you will know you are close.”

“My thanks. I pray I may return your kindness some day,” the ghost said, and headed off into the woods.

“Cinnamon?” Jessica asked, to be sure. Jake just stared. The fairy appeared inhumanly beautiful in her big form, with a perfect tan on perfect skin, eyes that sparkled with life, and full lips that showed the slightest bit of a sly smile. In an instant, the woman vanished and the fairy came back, fluttering her wings to stay aloft.

“This is the right direction,” she said. “You went into the graveyard,” she pointed and scolded Jake. “Thackery probably did run into Eliza-BETH, but he has very limited memory retention. The only thing he is able to really remember is his last thoughts, his thoughts for wanting to find his wife, Abigail. Shall we go?”

Jake and Jessica did not know what to say, until Jessica whispered. “She does flit from subject to Hween Cinnamon 2subject. I bet she doesn’t dwell on things either.”

“I don’t,” Cinnamon heard. “It’s a fairy thing.” She settled again on Jessica’s shoulder, though Jessica felt a bit wary about having a full grown woman on her shoulder. Jake said nothing, still taken by that vision of loveliness. He would need a bit more time before his tongue unfroze.

************************

Charmed is the main posting for the month of October and will continue tomorrow and then Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday until the 31st … On the 31st , I say to you all, Happy Halloween, you know, clowns and zombies.

hween clown zombie

Charmed: Part 4 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 4

Elizabeth and Mister Putterwig walked toward the light. They had been walking for some time through an old growth forest of oak, maple, elm and birch. The forest floor had some bushes,. brambles, thorn and briars, and plenty of fallen lumber, from twigs to whole trees, but mostly it was covered in generations of fallen leaves. It was impossible to walk without crunching every step.

Elizabeth did not mind the crunch. She snapped a few twigs on purpose. She also liked the fact that they were headed toward the light. She was not afraid in the dark when she was with Mister Putterwig. He was a grown-up, and she trusted him to protect her. But light was better. The woods were kind of spooky.hween forest 4

Greely Putterwig was much more cautious. If it was a fairy circle filled with all sorts of people and creatures celebrating Halloween, they might be in trouble. He did not think it was the dance because he did not hear the music, the enchanted kind that made poor humans dance until they dropped. But if it wasn’t a Halloween celebration, well, the alternative was probably worse. “Confounded curiosity,” Mister Putterwig swore, and he hushed Elizabeth as much as he could when they reached a point where he could look out through the branches

A bonfire in a big clearing lit up the night, and there were dancers of a sort. They were goblins, and a couple of trolls. Mister Putterwig found his hand automatically drawn to cover Elizabeth’s mouth. The dancers looked frightening, with horns and tails and snake-like eyes over tusks and very wide mouths with very sharp teeth. There were noses and ears of all shapes and sizes, and they had claws instead of hands and sometimes instead of feet. They wore rags and had skulls and human looking bones of fingers and toes for necklaces and bracelets that sounded click and clack in a kind of rhythm under the moonlight. Worst of all were the grunts, howls and shrieks that filled the air and obscured whatever ghastly music was being made on such odd instruments and drums. Indeed, the music was mostly drums, and someone older than Elizabeth might have wondered where they got the skins for drumheads.

hween bonfire 2Elizabeth did not think that. When she wriggled her mouth free, she said, “They look like they are having fun.”

Mister Putterwig looked down at the little girl, astounded by her innocence. “All the same, it would be best if we moved on quietly so we don’t disturb them.”

Elizabeth nodded. She trusted. And together they took three whole steps before they found themselves surrounded by three goblins and a troll.

“Greely Putterwig,” the goblin with the red eyes spoke with a haunting voice guaranteed to send chills down the nearest spine.

“Marrow, Worms, and Maggot.” Mister Putterwig named the three goblins like they were old friends. “And Big Tooth.” He named the troll. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”hween forest 8

“What have you got here?” Marrow leaned down in Elizabeth’s face, but she was holding tight to Mister Putterwig’s hand and had her eyes closed. “A little human girl. Bet she’s tasty.”

“She isn’t yours. I got her fair and square. She is my friend, mine alone, and belongs to me, so back off,” Mister Putterwig growled.

Elizabeth ventured a look to see if Mister Putterwig was indeed her friend, but she saw the goblins and the troll and shrieked. She threw her arms around Putterwig’s middle and buried her face in his belly. He put his arms around her and did finally smile, and cooed that she shouldn’t be afraid and everything would be alright.

“What do you mean she is yours?” Worms asked.

“Where can we get one of those?” Maggot complained.

hween elizabeth 2“Fairy food?” Big Tooth suggested, and Marrow’s eyes got big.

“Do you know the penalty for stealing human children?” Marrow shouted.

“I don’t care,” Mister Putterwig responded with a sharp look and a haughty stare. “You touch one hair on her head and Lady Alice will know, and it won’t be from me telling her, either.”

“Boys,” Marrow took a step back. “I think we best leave this one alone.” They all began to step back. Marrow saluted.   “See ya around,” he said, and the goblins and troll went back to the dance.

Marrow took them all the way to the back of the bonfire and whispered so Putterwig would not hear with his good hobgoblin ears. What Marrow did not know was Jake, Jessica and Cinnamon were right at the edge of the trees, listening.

“We can blackmail old Putterwig and get him to let us use his portal to the human world. There are lots of children out on Halloween night. We can scare them to death, and then we can feast.

“I want to eat so much I have to throw up to make room for more,” Worms said out loud as he began to drool.hween goblin 2

“I claim the throw up,” Maggot yelled, and the other three gave him a disgusted look.

“Quiet.” Marrow slapped Worms in the forehead for talking too loud.

“Hey!”

“As for you,” Marrow grabbed Maggot’s earlobe and pulled so his head had to follow.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”

Marrow let go and Maggot’s head clunked into Worm’s head. There was a definite hollow sounding Pop! when they hit.

Jake and Jessica, who were terrified by the sight of the goblins, now had to keep themselves from giggling. Cinnamon floated up from Jessica’s shoulder and sprinkled the two with some dust. Jake and Jessica found their feet lifted off the ground.

hween cinnamon 7“Walkies,” Cinnamon whispered, and Jake and Jessica found they could walk perfectly well in mid-air. Of course, they made no crunching sounds in the air.

“Wait a minute,” They heard Big Tooth rumble. “I smell fairy.”

Cinnamon simply said, “Runnies!”

~~~*~~~

“Come along,” Mister Putterwig said with his haughty nose still up in the air. He took Elizabeth’s hand this time without her reaching for his, and they walked for a time is silence. They reached the edge of the woods where a path skirted the trees. Across the path was a big stone wall and that seemed a curiosity to Elizabeth. She had to ask when they came to a gate.

“What is on the other side of the wall?”

Mister Putterwig took her to the gate where they could peek in. “It is a place you don’t want to go. It’s the infinite graveyard, and this being Halloween, it is the one night of the year when the dead rise from their hween wall gategraves.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth saw the grave stones and moved to Mister Putterwig’s other side so she had him between her and the wall.

“Now don’t worry. They can’t go beyond the wall. We are perfectly safe on this side.” And he smiled again as he took her down the walk to the fens.

************************

Charmed is a story offered in eleven parts over this October, 2023, leading up to Halloween. The posts go up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through the 31st  … So on the 31st, I say to you all Happy Halloween, you know, skeletons that go click-clack in the night.

hween skeletons

Charmed: Part 3 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 3

Jake soon realized he was getting nowhere by yelling. Jessica took his hand and calmed him down enough to look at the footprints where he had not yet stomped. Jake recognized Elizabeth’s prints by her little foot and short stride. The other prints were barefoot, flat footed and too big.

“Mister Putterwig?” Jake asked. The prints did not look right because they did not look exactly human.

Jessica shrugged. “Where are we?” She squeezed Jake’s hand, and her question caused Jake to finally look around and wonder the same thing.

“I felt something when we came through the door,” Jake said. He dropped Jessica’s hand, stood, and fingered a pine branch to be sure it was real.

“I did too. An odd tingling sensation.” Jessica only looked at himhween forest 2

“Me too,” Jake agreed. He went to look again at the footprints. He avoided Jessica’s eyes.

“I don’t see any way back the way we came,” Jessica walked all of the way around one of the trees.

“This is the way we need to go,” Jake said, and he pointed in the direction the footprints pointed.

“But the way back has to be around here,” Jessica protested. “We can’t wander off. We’ll just get ourselves lost and never find this place again.”

“I’m not leaving this place, wherever we are, until I get Elizabeth back.”

Jessica felt scared about wandering off into the dark woods, but her words spoke of something else. “Are you sure? You didn’t seem too concerned about Elizabeth before.”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing. You said she ruined your life. I just thought you were only concerned about Jake.”

“What made you think that?”

“Well, you sit right next to me in Civics and you won’t even talk to me,” Jessica said, a complete change of subject.

“Well, you won’t talk to me either.”

“I’ve tried, but you don’t respond.”

hween forest 3“Well, I can’t talk to you.” Jake turned a little red. “I’ve tried, too.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t think of what to say, and my life is so dull and boring.”

“Oh.” Jessica lost some steam on hearing the truth. “I don’t think your life is dull and boring. I think taking care of a seven-year-old is special, and you do a great job.”

“I didn’t do such a great job today,” Jake confessed. His voice was also calmer, but his upset remained.

“We will find her together,” Jessica offered, and reached out to touch his hand again.

“Good,” a woman’s voice said. It startled Jake and Jessica. They backed away from each other like two young people caught by their parents, “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Who said that?” Jake raised his voice and spun around.

“Was it a bird?” Jessica pointed toward the top of a tree where the branches shook.

“Don’t be silly,” the voice said. “Birdies can’t talk in words you would understand.” Something fluttered down from the branches to face them, and at first it made them think it might be a bird after all, or a giant talking insect. It turned out to be a little woman with wings, a fairy, and Jake stared and smiled. Jessica fell over and seemed to have trouble closing her mouth.

“Elizabeth, my little sister dressed like a fairy for Halloween,” Jake said, completely enchanted by the mere appearance of a real fairy. He put his hand up slowly to touch and see if the fairy was real, but the fairy backed off and would not let him touch her.

“Yes, I heard you calling. Elizabeth. Eliza-BETH. It was very loud. Too loud for sleeping.”hween cinnamon 4

“I’m sorry about that.”

“We’re sorry,” Jessica corrected Jake as she began to get over her astonishment.

“Oh, Jessica. Elizabeth would love to meet a real, live fairy.” Jake looked down, and gave Jessica a hand to help her to her feet.

“Do you know the way through the forest?” Jessica asked and spoke to Jake, though she never took her eyes off the hovering fairy. “I wouldn’t mind going after Elizabeth if we had something like a guide.”

The fairy fluttered down to face Jessica. “There are ways through the trees, and then there are ways. I’m not saying which way is best.”

“Maybe you could show us the way Elizabeth went,” Jake suggested.

She zipped over to face Jake. “I don’t know the way Elizabeth went.” Jake looked defeated. “But she went with Greely Putterwig, and I know where he lives.” Jake brightened. “Maybe we could go to Greely’s nasty house and ask.”

“So, you will go with us?” Jessica asked

“Well.” The fairy looked at them both and put one hand up to tap a finger against her cheek. “Human people don’t belong here. I suppose Lady Alice would not want you to get lost in the woods and yelling. Then nobody would get any sleep.”

hween forest 1“So you’ll come?” Jake asked.

“My sister Pumpkin used to travel with human people and she had great adventures.” The fairy appeared to smile. “Okay,” she said. “Where are we going?”

“To Greely Putterwig’s house,” Jessica said.

“But we can’t get there from here,” the fairy said firmly.

“I’m Jake,” Jake said and pointed again. “The footprints go this way. Maybe they wil take us to a place where we can get to Putterwig’s house.”

“Okay,” the fairy said happily. “I’m Cinnamon.”

“What a lovely name. I’m Jessica.”

“Hi Jessica. Can I ride on your shoulder?”

Jessica stopped. “Will it hurt?”

“Only if you get too bumpy. I might have to hold on to your hair.”

“Okay,” Jessica imitated the fairy and then squinted in case it did hurt. The fairy settled down without a bump, and she was very light so Jessica hardly felt her. “That’s not so bad.” She started to follow Jake and Cinnamon grabbed to the strands of Jessica’s hair that stuck out from beneath her cap.

“Woah. Pumpkin never said it was this bumpy.”

Jessica grinned at her thought. “I just think you want to ride on my shoulder so you don’t have to use your own legs, or wings as the case may be.”hween cinnamon 1

Cinnamon nodded, though Jessica could not exactly see her. “That, and to hide in your hair and shut my eyes when we run into spookies. Too bad you don’t have more hair.”   Jessica removed her ballcap. She actually had a full head of rather thick hair. Cinnamon sounded delighted, scooted closer to Jessica’s ear to get covered and promptly spent the next few minutes playing peek-a-boo like Jessica’s hair was a kind of curtain.

They heard a scream up ahead. It sounded like Elizabeth, and Jake began to yell again. “Elizabeth! Eliza-BETH!” When there was no answer, he stopped yelling, but he turned them in the direction of the scream.

Cinnamon asked. “Can I take my fingers out of my ears now?”

“Yes,” Jessica said, but her peripheral vision showed Cinnamon still plugged up. Jessica had to reach around very carefully with her finger and dislodge one of Cinnamon’s arms to unplug the ear. “Yes,” Jessica repeated with a smile. She noticed that the fairy felt like flesh and blood and not at all like something ephemeral.

“Good,” Cinnamon grabbed a chunk of hair to steady herself. “You know, there are all sorts of monsters, nasties and spookies that can make screaming like that.”

Jake stopped for a second to check the footprints. “I figured that, but it sounded like Elizabeth, and we don’t have anything else to go on.”

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Charmed is either a very small book or a long story offered in eleven parts over this October, 2023, leading up to Halloween. The posts go up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  If you miss a post, or want to go back to the beginning, they are easy enough to find. Just click on the archives and select October 2023. Charmed is the main posting for the month … So on the 31st I say to you all, Happy Halloween, you know, bats and spooky thingshween bats 2

hween bats 1

Charmed: Part 2 of 11, A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing)

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 2

Elizabeth Simon, all of seven-years-old, finished at 315 Bleeker Street, but when she went to the sidewalk, she saw her brother occupied with some big kids. She did not interrupt. She decided to go to the next house as she had been taught. She liked the house. It was dark and spooky, the way she thought Halloween was supposed to be. The unkempt yard cast all sorts of odd shadows across the walk, and the rickety porch squeaked under her steps. She even found a big spider web in the corner next to the post, up near the roof.Hween putterwig house 1

The old man sat in the rocker, watching. Elizabeth saw him from the front walk, so he did not startle her. “Child,” he said. “What do you want?”

“Trick or treat,” Elizabeth said her line, held out her shopping bag, and smiled a warm smile.

“Trick or treat? Trick or treat is it? What a quaint custom.” Mister Putterwig glanced ever so briefly at the young people out on the street and he thought he could easily make the little girl disappear. “I can do a trick, and I have a treat, both,” he said, and put out his hand. It held the biggest, most chocolaty, gooey mess Elizabeth had ever seen. “But only good little girls can have some,” he warned.

Elizabeth’s hand hesitated. “I try to be good.”

“Wisely spoken,” old man Putterwig conceded. “Try it.”

She did, and when the old man held out his other hand to take her hand, there was nothing more she wanted in the whole world than to go with this kindly old man. When they entered the house and came out among the pine trees, Elizabeth had a question.

“Where are we going?”

“To a land of wonders and enchantment and magic, and keep walking.” Mister Putterwig looked back.

“The land of the fairies?” Elizabeth sounded excited.

“I suppose there are some around,” Mister Putterwig made another concession. “But once you eat fairy food, you become captive to the little ones, or in this case, to me  Now, you have to do whatever I tell you.”

hween greely 6“Oh, yes. But I don’t mind because you are such a nice man.”

Mister Putterwig’s face turned red and then purple. “First of all, I am not nice. I am grumpy and, um, mean. I can be very mean. And second of all, I am not a man.”

Elizabeth stopped and looked up into the man’s eyes. He contorted his face with a big toothy grin and squinted his beady little eyes. Elizabeth shrieked and looked away. “There, see?” Mister Putterwig sounded proud, like he proved his point. “I told you I could be mean.”

“No, that isn’t it,” Elizabeth said. “You looked like a clown face and I’m scared of clowns.”

“Oh,” Mister Putterwig deflated before he looked up, sharply. They heard Jake call,. “Eliza-BETH.” Mister Putterwig barely got his hand over Elizabeth’s mouth in time.

“Don’t answer him. Come on. Hurry.” They began to walk again and picked up their pace. It was a few minutes before they slowed again and Mister Putterwig had a question.

“So, do you have a name?”

“Elizabeth. Elizabeth Simon.”

“Well, Elizabeth-Elizabeth Simon, my name is Greely Putterwig, and I am a Hobgoblin.”

“I’m a fairy,” Elizabeth responded, happily.hween elizabeth 1

“What?” Mister Putterwig eyed her closely.

“My costume. Don’t I look like a fairy?”

“Not too much,” Mister Putterwig said, and seemed relieved. “You’re a bit big.”

“But I got wings and everything.”

“I see that. Turn around.” Elizabeth turned and Mister Putterwig adjusted her wings to set them more squarely on her back. “That’s better. Now you look more fairy-like”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, and reached for Mister Putterwig’s hand, who took her little hand and almost smiled.

They started to walk again. The pine forest did not seem too dark where the trees did not grow too close together.   Plenty of room remained overhead for starlight to find the forest floor. Elizabeth saw some snow on the firs and she could not help voicing her thoughts. “Do you know any Christmas Carols?”

Mister Putterwig stopped and looked angry for a moment, but one look into Elizabeth’s innocent face and he decided to think about it. A hoot owl sounded out not too far from where they stood. He started them walking again and sang, “Oh, you better watch out.” He stopped there, and Elizabeth giggled.

“That’s not it. It goes, “Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I’m tellin’ you why…”

“Stop, stop. Stop!” Mister Putterwig waved his big hands back and forth, shook his head, and snarled. Elizabeth stopped, worried that she got it wrong. “You can cry and pout if you want to. Go ahead and cry. And Pouting is an old family tradition, my family I mean. “Oh, you better watch out” is the only part I sing. There’s reasons for that we don’t need to go into just now.”

hadj ghouls 4Elizabeth tried to nod and agree, but all she could do was scream. An eight foot ogre stood directly in their path. He was ugly, tusky, full of boils and puss and with more sharp teeth than anyone would consider reasonable. He had long arms and short legs, all the size of tree trunks, and apparently carried a separate tree of some sort, his club, in one huge, gnarly hand. He also had a spark of intelligence in his eyes which said this creature is fully capable of chasing you and eating you, though to be fair, the spark of intelligence was a very small one.

“Eliza-BETH!” The sound came from a long way off, much further than before

“Jake!” Elizabeth shouted back. She recognized the voice.

Mister Putterwig looked back and said, “Quiet. I said don’t answer him. Now, run.” They ran and Mister Putterwig mumbled. “Leave it to Pusshead to ruin everything.”

Elizabeth was glad to run from the ogre. She was a bit upset when the ogre spoke over her head.

“What are we running from?”

Elizabeth screamed again, and stumbled. Old Mister Putterwig scooped her up and ran at a spritely pace. In fact, even carrying the little girl, the old man ran fast enough to lose the ogre somewhere in the deeper forest.

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Charmed is a long story offered in eleven posts over this October, 2023 leading up to Halloween. The posts go up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  If you miss a post, or want to go back to the beginning, they are easy enough to find. Just click on the archives and select October 2023. Charmed is the main posting for the month … So on the 31st I say to you all Happy Halloween, you know, witches flying across the face of the moon and stuff.

hween a witch moon

Charmed: A Disney-Like Halloween Story (Without the Singing) Part 1 of 11

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Chapter 1

Every town in America has one house on one street where no one dares to go. In Bridges, New Hampshire, that house was 317 Bleeker Street where old man Putterwig lived alone in the dark. The grass in the yard stayed brown and never quite got cut. The gate in the picket fence let out an excruciating squeak when opened. The paint, dingy and faded on the old wooden slats and shingles, looked chipped here and there in uncountable places. The floorboards in the long wooden front porch creaked with every step. And when the wind picked up, the walls in that old house had enough cracks and holes to make the whole house moan, an ethereal, unearthly sound.

Now and then Mister Putterwig could be seen on that porch, sitting in an old rocker, taking in the life that hween greely 9passed before his eyes. No one ever saw him leave that house, but no one wanted to look. The adults all said they felt sorry for old Mister Putterwig, widower that he was, but when he was out front watching, they hurried passed the house, afraid of the glare in the man’s squinting yellow eyes. The kids knew better. There was something more than just odd about Greely Putterwig.

Bleeker street was a good, solid neighborhood full of fine middle class citizens, with plenty of kids to fill the schools. Jake Simon, a high school junior, lived there with his parents and his seven-year-old surprise little sister, Elizabeth, whom he had to watch every day after school because mom and dad both worked. Jake wanted to play soccer. He wanted to join the Sci-Fi club at school. He imagined all sorts of thing he might have done if Elizabeth never came along and ruined his life. When Jake thought like that, he would say to himself, “What life?” and he would sit down at the game console and tell Elizabeth to go to her room. It all would have been so much easier if Elizabeth was a brat instead of the kind, loving and purely innocent child she was. Dad said Elizabeth got her good nature from her mother. Mom blamed Dad. All Jake said was she didn’t get it from him.

Jake imagined most of the time that things might have been different if he was really good at something. His childhood friend, Robert Block, the one they all called Blockhead, made the football team. Tommy had money, that is, Thomas Kincaid Junior, the one who had not been seen without sunglasses in several years. Mike Lee was a nerd who could not only win every video game, but he could fix the console if it should break. Jake had no special skills, talents, or abilities. He was average, normal, middle of the road, in the middle of the class, or as he described himself, boring. No wonder Jessica Cobb was not interested in him.

hween school busIt was late in October, the leaves showered the streets and lawns. and the air got almost crisp enough to frost, when Jake picked up the mail and found a note from Vanessa Smith inviting him to a Halloween party. Jake was thrilled because Vanessa and Jessica were good friends so he felt sure Jessica would be there. He fixed himself some food, dreamed about Jessica, and waited for Elizabeth to come home on the school bus. Someone knocked on the door.

Sunglasses Tommy and Mike the nerd were there, and they brought their magic decks. They wanted a three-way game. Jake got taken out first.

“My deck’s too big. It needs work,” Jake said. While he watched, he casually mentioned the invitation. Mike and Tommy immediately had to spoil it by saying they got invited too.

“Everyone got invited. The whole junior class,” Tommy said.hween mike nerd 1

“I’m going as a nerd,” Mike said.

“Thomas Kincaid Junior, mister Cool,” Tommy shook his long hair and hween tommy 1adjusted his shades. “What are you going as?”

Type casting, Jake thought, and he decided to stick with the theme. “A babysitter,” he said, as he heard Elizabeth come in the back door.

Tommy and Mike packed up and headed for the front door and Tommy’s car. Tommy’s parents had the money to buy him a car, even if it was an economical model.

“Mister Donut?” Tommy asked and offered. They all knew the answer. Jake had Elizabeth, and as they left, Elizabeth came into the living room and switched on the television.

Jake turned with a touch of anger in his voice. “Don’t you have homework?”

“Not in the second grade,” Elizabeth said, as she found the cartoon channel.

“You know that will rot your brain,” Jake said, and instantly thought of several good comebacks. Are you speaking from experience? Is that what happened to you? Or even the proverbial, “Like you should know.” Elizabeth said none of those things. She looked up with an innocent, trusting face.

“It is only cartoons. Would that be all right?”

Jake regularly disliked himself. He did have homework and took himself up to his room.

~~~*~~~

hween porch 2

When Halloween rolled around, Jake found he could not go to Vanessa’s party anyway. Mom had cooking and cleaning to catch up on and Dad would not be home until later. Jake had to take Elizabeth out so she could trick or treat. He really resented her for that.

They planned to follow Jake’s old route which wound around the neighborhood in a way where they did not miss any houses and did not have to backtrack. The well designed plan put Bleeker Street first on the list.

The one hundred block, mostly businesses and buildings, had a group of apartments set back from the road. Jake always found the apartments to be slim pickings. They did not go there.

The two hundred block was where the houses began, and Jake took Elizabeth to the first couple of hween porch 1doors. After that, he stayed on the sidewalk and let her go alone, now that she knew what to do. They came to the three hundred block.

Elizabeth went up to 315 when Tommy’s car roared to a halt out front. Mike rode shotgun. Jessica and Serena Smith squeezed in the back with Blockhead who wore an old football jersey in keeping with the type casting costumes.

“Lookin’ for you, dude.” Tommy sported a new pair of shades.

“Nice costume,” Jake let the sarcasm flow. Mike at least looked like he ironed his white nerd shirt. Jessica and Serena made an attempt. Jessica had on a plaid shirt and jeans that fit her well, but over the shirt she had the orange vest of a hunter. She even wore a ball cap with a gun of some kind as the logo. Serena, the glam-girl, was supposed to be a zombie, albeit a cute one that was not too rotten.

“I was going to say, what are you supposed to be?” Serena asked.

“Babysitter,” Jake answered with a straight face. “I’m taking my little sister trick or treating.”

“You’re going to miss the party,” Blockhead had party on the brain. He slipped his arm over hween tommy's carSerena’s shoulder but she shrugged it off.

“I know,” Jake responded glumly. “I sometimes wish Elizabeth would just disappear. Then maybe I could have a life.” He looked straight at Jessica.

“You don’t mean that.” Jessica stared right back at him.

Jake looked to the side. “I don’t know what I mean anymore.”

“Hey dude.” Tommy got their attention and pointed. “Your sister is with old man Putterwig.”

“What? No.” Jake turned in time to see the old man take Elizabeth’s hand and walk inside the haunted house. “No!” Jake screamed and started to run. Jessica popped out of the car and ran right on his heels. The gate out front closed on the others who needed a moment to get it open again. When they reached the porch, the last touch of the sun dipped below the horizon and the front door slammed shut. Jake and Jessica managed to dive inside, but the rest got stuck outside of the locked door.

hween forest floor 1When Jake and Jessica leaped into the house, they became very confused. Instead of a downstairs hallway, they came down on pine needles and pine cones, enough to litter the ground beneath their feet, several inches thick. Somehow, they fell into an ancient pine forest. The last of the purple sunset faded and the stars came out bright and twinkling above their heads. They caught a glimpse of the doorway they came through, but before Jake or Jessica could react, the door shrank and disappeared altogether with a loud Snap!

“What the —?”Jessica mumbled. Jake had something more pressing on his mind.

“Elizabeth!” he shouted. “Eiliza-BETH!”

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Charmed is a story offered in eleven chapters over this October, 2023, leading up to Halloween. The posts will be put up on the blog on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,  in October. If you miss a post, or want to go back to the beginning, they are easy enough to find. Just click on the archives and select October 2023. Charmed will be fully posted this month … So come the 31st I say to you all Happy Halloween, you know, Boo!

hween a ghost

Ghosts 17

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Mya was the first to arrive at the scene of the accident.  She ran the whole way and did not get tired in the least. She never ran in her life before, her foot being the way it was.  Now, maybe she could make up for lost time, or at least she never before had such a reason to run.  She grinned at her own thoughts.

She stopped just before she got to the gate and noticed something she had not expected.  The young man and the suicide bomber were sitting side by side on the curb, talking quietly.  She could not hear what they were saying, and she did not intrude, knowing that would be rude, so she did what she could.  She said a little prayer that somehow, they might find a way out of the pit they had thrown themselves into—that they might find a solution to the mess they had made of their lives.  Her heart went out to them, but she could do no more.

Mya looked down and saw that her high heels had become flats, and she felt grateful, knowing that she would have to climb up the grassy knoll that held the park bench.  She stepped up to the gate and smiled.  Not that long ago, she would have had to stand on tiptoes, and even then, it would have been hard to open that big, heavy iron gate.  Now, she simply reached out, and it seemed an easy thing to do.  As she stepped on to the grass, she became filled with joy and gently closed the gate tight behind her.

She noticed right away that the park bench got taken.  The minister sat there with his newspaper neatly folded beside him, and she almost clapped to see the burly man beside him.  The man’s arm looked fully restored, and most of his face looked whole as well.  “Thank you, thank you.”  She lifted that prayer as well.  Clearly, the minister still had some work to do, and just maybe he could add another name to that book of his in heaven.  She thought it was good that everyone had someone, and she had Nathan, except right at the moment she did not have him.  She nearly doubled up for want of him, and she cried out.

“Nathan!”  When she heard no response she almost collapsed.  She screamed, “Nathan!”  It came out as loud as she could, and she heard an answering call.

“Mya!  Mya!”  He had come in the other gate and he ran to her.  He ran!  Mya jumped and started to run as well, but she did not get far before they were wrapped up in each other’s arms and he kissed her everywhere on her face, on her forehead, eyelids, cheeks, ears, on the tip of her little nose, and he did not neglect her lips, and she kissed him right back before she finally pressed her head into his chest and shoulder.  They both cried, but there were no more sad tears left in them.  These were tears of pure joy.  They had found each other and they held each other so tight it seemed almost as if they were trying to absorb each other into the depths of their souls.

“I am so happy.  I am so happy.”  Mya kept repeating her words into his chest, and he also kept repeating the same phrase.

“I love you.  I love you.”

After a while, Nathan took a step back in order to look into Mya’s eyes where there was no hiding that special smile that showed everywhere on her face.  Nathan returned her smile as they wrapped up in each other’s arms and kissed for a very, very long time.  When the earth began to tremble beneath their feet, they thought it only the natural result of what they were feeling.  When that trembling increased, though, they thought they had better look.  A hole opened up on the green between this world and someplace else, and they separated to stand side by side and watch in wonder, though they never quit holding hands.

Neither knew where that other place might be, though they both knew very well.  All they could see was a brilliant light, pure and holy so it made them tremble, but warm and inviting so they knew they were welcome.  As usual, Mya was the first to speak.

“Perpetual light,” she named it, but it sounded like a question so Nathan responded.

“It is.”

“Do you know how much I love you?”  Mya asked.

“I do.  And how much I love you?”

“I do.”  Mya and Nathan squeezed each other’s hands.  “But I was thinking, now that I know what love is, do you know how much I love the one who first loved us?”

“Exactly.”  Nathan affirmed her feelings and confirmed his own.  “With all your mind and all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.”

“That is the first commandment.”  Mya looked up at Nathan once more to seek Nathan’s assurance, just in case she had gotten it wrong.

He nodded for her and that brought out her most radiant smile, and they turned and walked into that perpetual light, side by side and hand in hand, forever.

END

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MONDAY

We begin right away with Charmed, an old Disney-like Halloween story without the music. A little girl is kidnapped by a hobgoblin and her brother and his girlfriend have to get her back. Don’t miss it. Starting Monday.  Until then, Happy Reading.

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Ghosts 16

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Nathan found himself in a funeral home.  He did not have to guess what was going on nor for whom the festivities were.  Since Nathan got cremated, they had no need for a graveside ceremony.  He listened from the door as the minister up front droned on in the funeral service.  The man talked about the love of God, but he hardly understood what he was talking about.  Still, he did get one thing right: that God loves us and he is merciful and giving, and right then and there Nathan changed his tune from accusing God of setting him up to thanking God for Mya.  He felt he could hardly thank God enough.

This man also talked of perpetual light.  Nathan could vouch for the light.  He saw the angel and the old woman who knew all about loving God.  Nathan knew that love was the key.  He remembered the phrase about faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love, he thought to himself.  And again, he knew that was true.

After the formal service, they had a receiving line where everyone who attended, most of whom were church members or childhood friends of Stephen or Susan, could pay their condolences.  Nathan got in the back of the line and he thought of everything he wanted to say.

He never knew what love really was until he met Mya.  His mother had been bitter from her childhood days in the war.  His wife found him convenient for a time, and he thought he loved her, but now he realized he really did not.  He just grabbed at what he saw as a kind face that would feed back to him what he needed to hear.  When she realized he would never be president of the company, she dumped him.  But for a minister?  Well.  He shrugged it off.

He thought he should apologize to Lisa.  He never told his daughter about love.  He never taught her because it was something he did not understand himself.  That seemed a terribly sad thing both for him and his daughter, but he supposed it could not be helped.  Even sadder was watching her perpetuate the cycle of the lack of love.  She drove her husband away, scum that he was.  Nathan had no doubts about that.  And then she proceeded to pass the same dysfunction on to her two children.

Susan, just like her mother, got harder and crustier every day.  Her two perfect children were perfect because they did not dare step out of line.  Yet Nathan had learned something about human nature in the last day or two.  Human nature stayed very resilient.  God made it so.  Nathan imagined in the years to come one or both of those children would become true rebels.  He only hoped and sent up a little prayer that it would not be the self-destructive kind of rebellion that lead to everyone’s heartbreak and an early grave.  He hoped something good might come out of it, like a new view of life and a real chance at love.

Stephen, on the other hand, had married a wonderful girl.  Too bad he was such a pin head.  He would lose her, Nathan had no doubt, and with her his great-grand.  She seemed the only child of his issue that maybe had a chance for real life.  God, how he wished he could be there to watch her and help her grow along the way.  He wished he could be there now since now he knew what love was.

The line shuffled forward slowly and Nathan came to realize there were more people there than he imagined there would be.  He had supposed that it would be a very small affair.  Most of his old friends were already dead; well, just about all of them, and the few survivors were in far-away places, mostly below the Mason Dixon line in retirement communities or nursing homes.

Nathan jumped, just because he could.  He turned twenty-something years old and he felt so glad he would never see the inside of one of those nursing homes.  Maybe that suicide bomber did him a favor, and he grinned and thanked God again for yet another thing.  He felt the love of God very strongly at that moment, and he loved God right back just as strongly as he could.  God is good.  He kept thinking that, and he wondered if that might be something he could tell Lisa.

Lisa, I am all right.  God is good.  Don’t worry about me.  I have met the most wonderful girl, make that woman, and I am going to be with her, God willing, and happy forever.  To be sure, God gave her to me and she is everything I ever dreamed of.  She is twenty-something, but so am I now; but you know, even if she were seven, I think I would become seven just so I could be with her.

He paused.  With that thought, he watched the last of his reluctance slip away.  It did not matter if they were both seven or both eighty-four.  He just loved her.  He just wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him, and that was that.

Lisa, I know I will be very happy; and he did know it.  I pray that you will be happy, too.  He could only pray for his daughter.

Then Nathan hit on a thought.  It was not the goodness of God that was Lisa’s problem, but her trust.  She was unable to trust God, or anyone else for that matter.  She had an incessant need to be in control, to never let anything be out of control, to be in charge to be sure things stayed in control, the way that she wanted them to be.

Lisa, he wanted to say, there is so much in life, in this world that we cannot understand when we are in the middle of it.  There is so much we cannot control, my own demise being exhibit “A.”  You can’t be in charge of death, or the weather, or the way other people think and feel.  At some point, you just have to let go and let God, as the Baptists say.  At some point, you just have to trust in a God that is even greater than I can imagine, and I am standing on the cusp of running into him.  At some point, and honestly it is at all points in life, you can only do so much and then you have to trust God to work things out; and, you know?  If you will just give God a chance to be in charge, if you will just let God be in control, you may be surprised, like me, when he works things out in a way that is more wonderful and incredible than you can ever dream or imagine. Please, Lisa, just give God a chance.

Nathan thought all of these things and more, but then he came to stand before his daughter.  He felt flabbergasted when she reached out and shook his hand.  She squinted at him for a moment as if trying to place him and even asked, “Do I know you?”

Nathan startled her by kissing her on the cheek.  “Just in this,” he said.  “That God loves you and wants the best for you if you will let him give it to you, and your father loves you, too, and he will always love you even if he never told you so.”  Then he rushed down the line without speaking to anyone else until he came to Stephen’s daughter, little Emily.  He kissed her smack on the forehead.  “Be good and live a good life.”  He told her.  “And always remember that God loves you and your great-grandfather loves you too.”

“Grandpa Nathan?”  Little Emily looked up at him and he winked and ran out of there as fast as he could.  He knew where Mya would be and he did not want to be late.

Ghosts 15

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

As the mist faded, Mya felt utterly lost and alone.  The fact that she found herself in a graveyard did not help one bit.  When she looked down, she saw it was the grave of her own grandfather.  They left a space beside him for her grandmother when she died, but Mya knew Grandma still lived because so far, the space remained untouched.  So why am I here?  She asked herself.  She could not see anyone around.  It was a slow walk in those heels to get to the top of the little hill, but she made it without mishap.  She looked all around and saw herself not far from a canopy tent.  Chairs had been set up there, and a little grave with the coffin waiting to be lowered to its final resting place.  Mya knew whose grave it was before she saw the stone that would be set up.  It was her own, and she tried to cry.  She felt she should cry for herself, but she could not cry.  She felt much too happy about Nathan.

Nathan!  That thought ran through her head like a shot.  She had to get back to him, but just then cars began to pull up on the narrow, one-way gravel drive.  People got out and came to the graveside.  Mya recognized a couple of her childhood friends, her best friends, her only friends.  As a child with a crippled foot, she did not have many friends, and that did bring a tear to her eye.

Then she saw her mother and she ran to her and stumbled once because of the heels.  That caused her to think before acting, and in the end, she decided to accompany her mother from a little distance.  Again, she cried a little, because she wanted a hug so badly.

She stood a step back and watched the others come.  Her relatives sat in the chairs.  The others stood, making nearly a full circle around her little grave.  Then the priest came and he talked about the love of God.  She knew that was true, absolutely, and she lifted up her heart to the almighty in thanksgiving for Nathan.  She realized then what Nathan had already figured out in the bathroom; that this whole thing was a set-up from the beginning.  God knew all along that she and Nathan belonged together, but they never would have met if she had not missed the school bus, and they never would have even been close unless they died.

“Thank you,” she cried out to God.  “Thank you.”  And she felt then and there that she truly loved God even as he loved her, and she felt warm and unafraid and never alone.  Still, she understood that for those gathered around the grave, these were hard words to hear.  If only she could tell them.  If only she could assure them of God’s love; but then she knew that they would learn some day, even as she had, and she prayed for every one of them that sat and stood there.

She heard the priest talk about perpetual light, and she thought of the angel who glowed so brightly she could hardly look at him, and again she felt the love of God flow through her, and she reciprocated and loved God all the more, and then all at once she understood something she had not quite understood before.

The priest gave the benediction and Mya drew near to her mother, and she spoke, even knowing that her mother could not hear her.  “Mother,” she said.  “I know what love is.  Mother.  Do you understand?  You did a wonderful job.  You have nothing to be sad about.  I know what love is, Mother.  God is love.  I am all grown up now, Mother, and God has given me the most wonderful man in the whole world to love.  And I do love him, Mother, with all of my heart, but first I loved you, only I did not understand what that was.”  Mya paused and reached out toward her mother’s face, but she did not touch.  All the same she saw her mother turn briefly to look in her direction.  “First with you, and now with Nathan, I know what love is, Mother.  God is love.”  And Mya watched while Sam, Mother’s friend, came up and placed his hand gently on her mother’s shoulder.

“Sam.”  Mother reached up and patted that hand and then kept her hand there as if not wanting him to go away.  “She would have made a beautiful woman,” Mother said.  “I can almost see her all grown up and all filled out.”  Mother tilted her head to the side a little the way Mya did once, and though she did not look at Mya, she spoke this way: “I see her in a purple sundress and lavender heels to match, and she is lovely.  No, she is beautiful.”

“I am so sorry.”  Sam said as Mya leaned forward and kissed her mother on the cheek.  Mother paused and put her hand to her cheek and then began to weep as Sam helped her back to her feet.  Mya watched while Sam escorted her to the waiting limo, and Mya finally cried for her mother.  She knew her mother was only twenty-seven and Sam was not much older.  She hoped and prayed that they would be good for each other and she hoped and prayed that her mother would never forget about love.

“You did I good job, Mother.”  Mya repeated herself.  “I know what love is.”  Then the cars pulled off and Mya thought to run.  She pulled her heels off to run faster because she knew where Nathan would be and she felt if she did not see him soon, she would burst for the love of him.

Ghosts 14

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

When the morning came, Nathan woke first.  He did not think anything special and did not immediately remember the past couple of days, being in his own bed and in his own place.  He did wonder, though, who this immensely comfortable female creature was that was snuggled so tight against him.  He heard her let out a little sigh or sound of utter contentment and it prompted him to look down.  She had the most radiant, raven hair that came back easily to his hand and that revealed a face that appeared absolutely stunning, with high, thin brows and rosy cheeks, long dark lashes which somehow he knew covered big, beautiful brown eyes.  She had a little nose and sweet little ears and wonderfully luscious thick lips, but not too thick, he thought.  Then he looked further and let his hand run down her back.  She was young and masterfully made, slim in all the right places and well-toned, and all her curves were perfect in every way, and she had the most utterly gorgeous bumps.  He sat up like a rocket.  Mya opened her eyes slowly at first.  Nathan hopped out of bed and grabbed the clothes he had set on the back of the chair.

“So, is it that bad?”  He heard Mya ask, but he had already shut himself in the bathroom to try and get his racing heart to calm down.  He could not prevent his eyes from looking in the mirror.  He looked, to his own eyes, to be about twenty-four, or anyway, not over twenty-five.  He looked at the back of his hand and there were no spots or wrinkles, and not even a hint of such things.  The skin seemed firm, but with the elasticity of youth.  And he had abs, and a perfect hairless chest, and he could not help lifting his arm and making a muscle; but then, all that time, he wondered if Mya would like it.  He could not stop thinking about her.  She was perfect.  She was too perfect.

There came a knock on the door.  “So, was it that bad?”  Mya asked through the doorway.

“No.”  He shouted back.  “It was that good.”  It was too good.  It frightened him, and what he felt frightened him even more.  He was not going to be able to hold out very long.  If he thought of Mya as beautiful, absolutely attractive, and sexy at eighteen, that could hardly describe what he thought now that she turned twenty-two.  Anyway, she certainly appeared over twenty-one.  “I’ll be right out, and it was perfect, only I think we need to get dressed.”  Nathan put his ear to the door for fear that he might hear her start crying again.  He breathed because of the silence, and then he dressed in his slacks and polo shirt.  He did not even realize that the suit had gone.  Then he had a thought and promptly accused God.  “You knew this from the beginning.  You set this up.  How could you?”  He did not expect an answer, but he felt now that him being eighty-four and her being seven should no longer be an obstacle.  In fact, it took a second for him to remember how old he had been and how old she had been.

There was another knock.  “Are you coming out?”  Mya started getting impatient.

“Hold on,” he said.  He looked in the mirror again.  He looked twenty-four and felt twenty-four, and he was thinking like a twenty-four-year-old and could hardly help it considering what waited for him in the other room.  Then he realized that he was acting like a twenty-four-year-old as well, locked in the bathroom, scared out of his wits by the beauty of the woman.

He opened the door.  She sat on the edge of the bed, mercifully dressed in a purple sundress with white flowers.  Mya stood right up and he saw that the dress looked quite short, and she stood in high heels.  Along with everything else, he did not feel surprised that she had incredible legs, and those heels.  He bit his lower lip and noticed she bit hers and looked at him with big eyes filled with trepidation.

“You look spectacular,” he said in complete honesty except for thinking that the word spectacular might not be good enough so he added the word, “Awesome.”

Mya reached out and grabbed him by the arm.  Only his head had been sticking out the door.  She pulled him all of the way into the room and said, “Wow!” and rather loudly, and she made him turn around once so she could get the full view.  “That does it, I don’t care what you say.  You are my boyfriend and I am your girlfriend whether you like it or not. If I so much as catch another girl looking at you I’ll poke her eyes out.”  Her mouth stayed open that whole time and Nathan had to reach out and tap it closed.

“Scratch,” Nathan said.  “Women scratch each other’s eyes out.”

“That too.”  Mya said with that irresistible smile and she stepped up, right into his arms.  What could he do but hold her?  She certainly did not mind.  He noticed that barefoot, Mya topped out at his chin, but in those heels her eyes came up to where he could kiss both eyelids without bending in the least.  He did that and watched her flush.  She pulled in closer, if that was possible, and raised her lips.  He met her halfway, and he thought all sorts of terrible, wonderful thoughts when he remembered her again as a child.  He broke it off, broke free and turned his back like when he turned to the sink.   He knew the issue of their ages was a sham.  He had no excuse there.  It seemed on that score they were designed for each other, and judging by her reaction to him, he imagined on looks they were equally designed for each other, and he knew in terms of compatibility, they were also designed for each other.  He was already reading how she felt about things.  It was how he felt.  And he understood the way she thought because that too was how he thought.  Yet there was one other thing, a small thing perhaps, but very important.

“No.”  He shook his head sharply in denial.  “It’s just.  I can’t.”  He paused because even he knew that was not true.  He could so very, very easily.  “I just want you to be happy, that’s all.”  He did not say anything about his own feelings of inadequacy.  He hurt his mother when he married a Baptist.  He failed to make Mildred happy.  He failed with Lisa.  He hurt and failed with every woman who ever loved him, and likely ever person who loved him.  He would rather die than hurt Mya.  He did not say these things, but it was in his voice.  When he said “I just want you to be happy,” he might as well have added, “And I don’t believe that I am able to do that.”

Mya sat on the edge of the bed and sniffed just once.  “But that is all I want, too,” she responded.  “I mean, I just want you to be happy.”  She sounded utterly sincere before her voice took on the sound of determination.  “And I feel if the only way I can make you happy is to go away, then I will go away.”  She sounded sniffly again with those last words, and then Nathan heard her crying, but softly, as if she was trying to hide it.

Nathan spun around to face her.  “No.  Don’t do that. That isn’t what I meant.”  He lifted Mya from the bed so she could stand and face him, and he held tight to both of her hands while she sniffed back the tears and looked into his eyes.  “I don’t ever want you to leave me.  I would die if you left.”  He got serious.  He felt afraid to be with her, certainly in that way, but he knew he could not live without her.  “Please stay.”  Nathan pleaded and he almost got to his knees to say it, and then he really looked at her and he saw the slow spread of Mya’s lips until she grinned at him like the Cheshire Cat.  Nathan pulled back a little to look sternly in Mya’s eyes.

“I was hoping you would say that.”  She spoke through her grin.  “I really, really wanted you to say that.”

“Why you…”  Nathan had to think for a second to come up with just the right word to get his revenge.  “Why you woman.”  He concluded and with that word, he surrendered.

Mya stepped up a little and put her arms up on his shoulders, clasping her hands around the back of his neck while he dropped his hands to her slim waist and slowly found them encircling the small of her back.

“You’re a Pinocchio, sort of,” Nathan said, now grinning as broadly as Mya.  Mya laughed just a little, and it was no child’s giggle but a wonderful, warm and tender genuinely grown-up laugh.  And she nodded.

And all this time they remained locked in eye contact.  Then all at once the smiles vanished and Mya’s lips parted ever so slightly and they drew into each other just as tight as they could and they kissed.  Mya kissed him, not like a little girl might kiss her grandfather or even as a daughter might kiss her father, but as a woman who was absolutely and completely in love with this young man; and Nathan kissed her right back like a vital young man who remembered, no, knew for certain what it was like to be on fire for the woman he loved.  It felt perfect, and they might have remained that way forever if not for the tug.

The lips parted first so they could look into each other’s eyes and note that they both felt some sort of tug on their backs.  It came again, stronger than before, and became a steady pulling that wanted to separate them, pulling them in opposite directions, away from each other, and it grew in strength.  At first, they clung to each other and tried to hold on, but the pull became too strong to resist.  They held each other by the shoulders, then the elbows, then the hands as the room around them began to fade away to be replaced by a kind of gray fog.  They grasped hands in mid-air, their legs straight out behind them pulling ever so hard.  They struggled equally hard to hang on to each other, Nathan finally called her for the first time by name.

“Mya!”  And they parted, speeding up as Mya got pulled away, and she screamed her response.

“Nathan!”  It echoed in the gray mist.

************************

MONDAY Nest week, the end of the story. After Nathan and Mya are buried, the couple must face the light. Until then…

*

Ghosts 13

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

When they got to Nathan’s first floor condo, he knew the door would be locked so he went in through the door and brought Mya with him.  “I didn’t know we could do that.”  Mya said when they were inside.

“We did it at the theatre.”  Nathan pointed out.  How could she not have noticed?

Mya looked down.  “I had other things on my mind at the time.”  She answered his unasked question and then ran a finger through the dust on the little table by the door.  “Nice mess.”  She turned her little nose up.

“Welcome to my pad,” Nathan said.  He brought her into the kitchen where he turned on the light.

“Not too bad.”  She looked around the room.  “I could live here.”

“No.”  Nathan shook his head and she looked upset for a second to think that he might exclude her from some part of his life.  “You deserve better.”  He finished his thought and she smiled.  Then she turned serious and took his hands and made him sit down beside her.  She worried his hands a little as she spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier, you know, about the way this world has become.  I don’t want to be like that so I have to say this.”  She had to clear her throat and Nathan thought it sounded so cute.  “I’m sorry.  I was wrong.”

“No, no.”  Nathan started, but Mya slapped his hand softly.

“Quiet.  Stop treating me like a child.  Let me finish.”

“You’re right.  I’m sorry.  Go on.”

Mya cleared her throat again and paused.  She almost laughed when she saw the smile on Nathan’s face.  She cleared her throat in an exaggerated way and they both laughed before she lowered her eyes and began to worry his hands again.  “Anyway.”  She used his word and said it with the same inflection he used.  It almost got them laughing again.  “Anyway, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have kissed you and I shouldn’t have asked you to be my boyfriend.  Maybe I’m not old enough for that yet.”  She was being more than gracious.  She knew she was old enough on the inside, and he knew it, too.  She looked up at him because she seemed to be finished and she only waited for him to respond.

“First of all, you have no need to apologize for the kiss.”  He thought about it and got as careful as he could be in how he described it.  “It was very nice and I kissed you too, you know.”  Mya looked down.  Clearly, she thought the kiss was more than just very nice.  “And as far as being old enough, I know you are.”

“But.”

“Now you let me finish,” he said, and she quieted.

“I’ve been watching you very closely, and I have seen the changes you have gone through.  Somehow, you have been growing up and maturing on the inside faster than possible for a living person, but I know it is real.  I have seen how you have responded to people and situations, and I know the difference between a child and a teen and an adult.  In fact, I would say you are an adult now, already.  You are absolutely no seven-year-old trapped in a grown-up body.  If anything, I think your outside body has just been adjusting to keep up with your age on the inside.  You said you did not want to be a child forever, well, now you certainly won’t be.”  His eyes looked her up and down.  He was a man, and far younger than he used to be so he could not help it, but Mya caught the look and leaned forward to expose herself just so and spoke in a husky voice

“So, do you like what you see?”

She smiled and joked again, but Nathan growled, stood straight up and turned toward the sink to turn his back on her.  “Don’t do that.”  He spoke sharply, and she responded with a little anger, or perhaps some frustration.

“And what about you?  You were nothing but a pot-bellied bag of bones.  Your arms were so spindly I was afraid at first if I squeezed too hard the bones would just snap in two.  But now look at you.  You can’t be more than thirty, and you have real arms and muscles and a flat belly and a chest and… and I better not say anymore.  But you know what I mean.  You have shed far more years than I have gained.  Where have they gone?  You’re not old enough to be my father anymore, maybe not even if I was still seven.”

“That isn’t the point.”  Nathan turned toward her still angry, but he softened the instant he saw her and he realized that she genuinely struggled with all of this.  She knew what she felt, but she needed to know what he felt.  She needed to understand, and he could tell by the look in her big brown eyes that she would never force herself on him if he honestly felt that it simply was not right.

He spoke with all the tenderness in him and explained things once again as well as he could to this little girl.  “I remember being eighty-four.  It is a bit like a dream or maybe a story I once read, but I remember working all those years, and all the bad times and good, though maybe not so many bad, I think.  Still, even if it does not exactly feel like me anymore, I know it was me.  And you.  I remember you as a frightened little rabbit, just seven years old with a bad foot and a limp, begging for a ride home so you and your mother could visit your grandmother who was dying.  I remember you that way like it was yesterday because it was just yesterday.  Do you know what they call old men who take liberties, like do things with seven-year-old girls?  I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“But you just said I am far from seven, and you are becoming a very attractive young man.  Isn’t there somewhere we can meet in the middle?”

“No.  Stop it.  Not now, not tonight.  I don’t know.”  He turned again to face the sink.  “It is just how I think of you and me, fool that I am.  I’m sorry.”

Mya started to cry, and after a moment, Nathan sat down beside her and held her.  He could do that much.  He never wanted to hurt her.  It broke his heart to even think that he might be hurting her.  But what could he honestly do?  She wept, and held on to him for dear life, wracked with tears.  He cried right along with her.

At last, as always happens, the tears subsided for a bit and Nathan helped her to her feet.  He practically carried her to the guest room where he pulled down the covers.  “I think it would be best if you slept here tonight.”  He said as he glanced at the clock.  “It is almost eleven.”  He said.  “I don’t know about you but it is way past my bedtime.”  Mya laughed once through her teary eyes.  Of course, it was way past her bedtime too.

“Mother would be very upset to know I stayed up this late.”

“Mine too,” Nathan agreed and then he explained before Mya could ask.  “My daughter, Lisa.  She treats me more like she is my mother than my mother ever did.”  He sat Mya on the bed.  “And I am her wayward son,” he added with a touch of his finger to her little nose.  That made Mya smile, but it also caused her hand to go up and caress his cheek.  She grinned, almost appeared happy again as she brushed his unruly hair behind his ear.  “Now go to sleep,” he said and backed up to the doorway.  “You think about it,” he said.  “And pray about it,” he added.  “And I promise I will do the same.  Maybe in the morning we will be able to figure this out.”

Mya nodded.  “Good night.”

“Good night,” he said and turned toward his room.

“Good night.”  He heard Mya again, but he dared not answer her again.

Mya got out of her gown, not wanting to wrinkle it.  She had already decided to sleep without it but was kind enough to wait until Nathan left before she got undressed.  She found, then, that she could crawl under the covers, something she was not sure she could do, and she snuggled under the sheets and expected to get a good sleep.

Nathan also got undressed, but only because he felt he had worn the same suit for two days and that felt like long enough.  He left his boxers on, though, and crawled into bed.  He felt confused.  He felt more than confused.  He had fallen madly in love with the girl, and he knew it.  She was the most beautiful creature in his eyes that he had ever seen, and he lived a long time and saw a lot.  What was his problem?  God, what is my problem?  He almost said that out loud as he closed his eyes for sleep.  Then he had a thought, and apparently, Mya had the same thought at the same time.

The angel said they had two times a time between and a half time.  He translated that as a half a day, two nights and one day between   They had a half a day on the day of the accident, and then last night and the day.  What if this was their last night on this earth?  What if they were taken up in their sleep?  What if they were separated and never got to see each other again?  He was about to rise when he heard Mya at the door.  She came over quietly and pulled up the covers, and then she crawled in and pulled up against him.  She held on and laid her head in the crook of his shoulder.  His arm went around her of its own volition.  He could not help that, but he honestly thought it best if he pretended to be asleep.  All he knew was if he was going to be taken anywhere in the night he was going to do everything he could to take her with him, and she felt the same.