Dearest Penguin People.
Here’s the latest installment of Max and Sebastian. We left off with Max admitted to the hospital after an awkward elevator ride…
If you missed the beginning…please start here…
A quick thank you to P.Q. Rubin for the tipsy penguin up top :)
CHAPTER FIVE
Max stomped her feet. She didn’t like this one bit. “You didn’t tell me you were married.”
“It never came up.”
“You knew she was here?”
“Of course, I knew. I check on her every now and then.” Sebastian began drifting in circles. “It helps to see her face.”
“I’m going to barf.”
Sebastian smiled. “Do what you want. There’s something about Bunny that makes me want to be more than the sum of all this.” He lifted his arms in a swirl of gray fog.
“Wait, your wife’s name is Bunny?”
“Just a little pet name I gave her.”
“Was it because she wiggled her nose?”
He smirked. “Not her nose.”
“Eww.”
Max glared at him. “So, why hang out with me if you’ve got Nurse Fluffy Tail?”
“Because, my little tyrant, you need me.”
“Like a hole in the head.”
He sank into the floor until he was eye-level with Max. Undaunted, she stared back.
Should he tell her? Every ghost and creepy crawly knew. She couldn’t go anywhere without one of those nasty creatures giving her a salivating sniff. It was his unique talent of being very unpleasant that kept them away.
“You have exceptional qualities,” he said.
Her eyes gleamed behind her glasses. “Name one.”
He looked at this strange, dark angel, her every movement a symphony drawn in amethyst and sapphire. If grays fluttered around as frumpy moths, then Max was the unknowing firefly.
“What would you say if I told you that you are positively radiant right now?”
“I’d say you’re an idiot.”
“You light up the room.”
“So, I’m a glow worm now.” Sparks flew from her eyes.
“Yes, a big mushy worm.”
“Well, you’re a big, dark storm cloud.”
Sebastian floated backwards. “Since when can you see my aura?”
“After I fainted. It’s no big deal. It’s not like you’re a devil.”
“Huh.” What else hadn’t she told him? “You’re right,” he said, “I’m not a devil. That would be above my pay grade. I’m more of a bargain basement demon.”
“And I’m bait, seeing as how I’m a worm.”
“No, you’re the prize.” Sebastian started to drift around the room again.
Max kicked her feet against the bed rail. Clang, clang, clang.
“That’s really annoying.”
“Really?” Clang, clang, clang.
Then she stopped. “Sebastian?”
“Yes?”
“When I die, can I stay with you? We’ll be best ghost friends.”
He stopped drifting. His eyes dimmed, becoming deep wells in his face. “No.”
“No?” She shrank into the bed.
“Go to The Gray when it calls you. You’ll sleep and when you’re ready, you’ll come back.”
“What if it doesn’t call me?”
“It has to,” he said.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He stared out the window, his form a smoky imprint against the glass. “There’s a darkness beyond The Gray. Spirits there don’t sleep. Instead, they wander, and they think. And then, they think some more.”
“What do they think about?”
“Mostly about how they want to sleep.”
“That stinks. Do they come back, too?”
“They do, in one form or another, and not in the best of moods.”
“You’ve been there.”
Sebastian faded into the wall, only his eyes peering out. “I have.”
The wall rippled. His voice drifted in and out, almost too low to hear. “Think of it this way. Life is a merry-go-round. You get on it when you’re born, you make mistakes, you die, you get off. Perhaps you feel bad about what you did. But when you come back the memories are gone, and you start over and make the same mistakes. It just goes on and on.”
“That’s stupid. I won’t do that.”
He was quiet for a moment. When he spoke it was to the floor. “Some ghosts fight it. They stay behind thinking this world is better than what comes next and others…,” he trailed off, his words hanging in the air.
“Others what?”
“And others like me, we have something we need to finish.”
“And have you?” Max asked. “Did you finish what you need to do?”
“I’m still working on it.”
He reappeared and stared out the window. A dark fog was rolling in, coating the window with an oily sheen. “You see this?”
“See what?”
Something hissed in the darkness gathering outside the window. “Shut the blinds,” he said.
“Forget the blinds. Tell me how I can stay.”
The darkness grew claws. It tapped on the glass.
“Sebastian?”
He ran mist laden fingers through his hair. “Look, it’s a bad idea. Ghosts are weak. They need to feed on the souls of others to keep from falling apart. But it’s never enough.”
Shadows leaked from Max’s eyes, twisting into a dark crown on her head. “You’re still here. What are you eating?”
A hint of unpleasantness creased his lips.
“You know what?” Max said. “I don’t care. It’s not your fault the world sucks.”
The tapping grew louder. Sebastian leaned into the window, eyes piercing the gloom. He opened his mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth. The darkness retreated. He turned to face Max, no teeth in sight. “There’s one other option,” he said. “But I don’t recommend it.”
“What?”
“Go backwards on the merry-go-round.”
Then he paused, head turning slowly toward the door. He drifted between Max and the hallway, bands of black ice billowing off him in waves, coating the floor and walls.
Max pulled her feet onto the bed. “What is it?” she whispered.
He looked at her. “Do you hear that?”
If you have the inclination…
Or…
How did he do the tipsy penguin? So cool!
"The darkness grew claws" - 🔥🔥🔥
Oh, I almost forgot, the tipsy penguin, thanks to P.Q. Rubin! 😁
So cute running around!