~Soon Angels~a Halloween tale~{part three}

By WordWulf, 16th Oct 2011 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/2mnbi5kr/
Posted in Wikinut>Writing>Short Stories

~there’s a stranger in the room~& stranger than the stranger~this feeling my body~my body ain’t mine~I just need a chance~been trying to make it~I don’t think I wanna get over on anyone~or to the other side~unless I have to~

~Soon Angels~

Judy slapped his face. "I don't like you. If you can't behave yourself, just go away." She sat back down, held her face in her hands, and wept.

"Now don' get carried away." Henry moved as if to put a hand on her shoulder.

Judy took a deep breath and raised her head. The look she gave Henry would have stopped his hand all by itself. "Don't you dare touch me!" she warned.

Henry touched his face where she had slapped him. "Women!" he said and turned to leave the room.

"Wait!" Judy cried. "Do you know what's going on here? Can you help me?"

Henry glanced back and gave her a wink. He walked through the wall next to the door and returned immediately through the wall behind the chair where Judy was sitting. "Boo!" he said playfully into Judy's ear.

She jumped from the chair and turned to face him, arms akimbo. "That's about enough!" she cried, close to tears. "If you can't behave yourself or help me, you'd better just leave."

"You're dead, lady," Henry said, exasperated. "I was jus' tryin' to show ya some o' the cool stuff we can do."

"We?" Judy hung the word in the air between them.

"Yeah, we," Henry said, "We bein' ghosts."

"But I felt your hand," Judy argued, "When I first saw you, I... I felt your skin when we shook hands."

"Yeah, well," Henry snickered at her, "I been in 'nis bizness a while an' I got control over some o' the things mos' ghosts don' know nothin' about. Yer a perty woman an' I didn't 'magine you'd wanna haul off an' slap me one or I wouldna puffed up my skin." Henry took a poke at Judy's breast and her first reaction was to strike out at him. "Go ahead an' gimme yer bes' shot!" Henry taunted as her hand passed through his face.

"Oh God." Judy sat back in her chair.

"You 'n me is inbetweeners," Henry explained. "I been a inbetweener for a long time. I like it but mos' folks don't."

"If that's my choice," Judy looked at him askance, "To be like you or dead, I think I'd prefer to just be dead."

Henry stuck out his bottom lip. "Now that ain' a nice thing to say to a child. You ain' gon' get across talkin' to me like that!"

"Across?" Judy asked.

"Yeah," Henry answered, "Across. See, dead is dead. Ya can't go back an' be alive. Ya have to help someone or somethin' like that, do somethin' nice. Then mebbe ya get to go to the other place. I ain' never been there so don' go an' ast me 'bout it."

"So you're here to help me?" Judy inquired.

"Nah," Henry licked his lips. "I came to see the kids downstairs, mebbe do some Halloweenin' tomorrow. Then I felt you dyin' an' came up to have a look-see. I'm good at feelin' stuff like that. I wouldna come up if I knew you was outa yer body."

"You're not a very nice boy, are you?" Judy asked.

Henry stomped a foot. "I ain' no boy an' you ain' no girl. We is ghosts; that's all there is to it."

Judy leaned back into the chair. "What am I supposed to do, Henry?" she asked. "And if I'm a ghost like you, why can't I choose to feel or not feel? Why can't I control the tactile sense like you can. I don't believe I'm the same as you."

"You'll learn the tricks. We can feel each other if we want," Henry explained. "Else we can..." Judy shivered as he strode across the room and walked himself right through her and the chair.

"Ya shouldna lef' yer body."

"I didn't do that on purpose."

"Don' matter," Henry twinkled his eyes at her. "Looky here, girl, alls I know is this. Yer body got away an' now yer stuck, jus' like me. I like bein' stuck an' you don' seem like yer gonna take to it very well. Tomorrow's Halloween. That's like, my main gig as the cool cats say. I was hopin' to hook up with them kids downstairs but now I ain' so sure. I gotta feelin' yer gonna mess stuff up for me."

Judy studied Henry for a moment. "You don't really know what's going on with me, do you?"

"I met some like you before," Henry replied. "I got away from 'em quick as I could and that's jus' 'bout what I'm fixin' to do right now."

"Hold on a minute." Judy willed herself to touch his arm and was as surprised as Henry when she actually did. "Oh!" she squeaked.

"Yer catchin' right on," Henry allowed.

"It's a lot," Judy said through a sob. "It's a lot to get used to. I mean, I'll never see my parents again. I'll never..."

"Quit it!" Henry interrupted. "You'll get over all that stuff. Lots o' folks do. I ain' never seen mine since I died a long long time ago. It don' bother me one l'il ol' bit!"

"I think you're lonely," Judy observed. "Under those freckles and that smart aleck attitude there's a lonely little boy."

"I ain' neither," Henry insisted. "I'm gonna do this Halloween thing here. It's too late to change my mind. I was hopin' mebbe you'd help me. It'd take yer mind offa bein' a dead person."

"And I suppose this is your way of talking me into it?" Judy said, deadpan.

"I'm doin' it," Henry said. "You go ahead an' do whatever ya want. Wander 'round up here bein' a dead woman if that's what ya want. I got stuff to do."

Judy touched his arm again. "I'll make you a deal, Henry. I'll go with you to see the children downstairs. I'll help you if I can. If it's too much for me, I'll..."

"Good 'nough!" Henry butted in. "Let's get shakin' bacon!"

Judy followed Henry from the room. She stopped abruptly, realizing she had forgotten her things. She went back into the room and attempted to take the portable book shelf from the window sill. Her hand passed through the shelf, books and all. She willed herself to feel but couldn't get a grip on her possessions no matter how hard she concentrated. She sat down in the chair, sadder than ever.

"Whatsa matter witchu now?" Henry was back.

"I came back to get my things but I can't make myself feel them. It will break my Mom and Dad's hearts if they have to move all my belongings."

"I thought you were followin' me," Henry accused. "I got all the way down and there you weren't."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Judy asked. "I can't will myself to grasp my things."

"You ain' got no things," Henry said slowly as if Judy couldn't hear him. "You are dead an' ain' gonna feel nothin' like that no more. You can touch other ghosts 'less they don' wantchu to. You don' live here no more. You are dead. You might's well get used to the idea, ain' nothin' ya can do 'bout it."

Judy rose from the chair, resigned anew to her fate. "I'll follow you."

Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
© artwork & words conceived by & property of Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
Soon Angels was first published in “U” Magazine

~Tom {WordWulf} Sterner~
~Soon Angels~a Halloween tale~{part one}
~Soon Angels~a Halloween tale~{part two}
~For Madmen Only~
~Rune~

Meet the author

WordWulf
Tom Sterner lives in Redding, California and Arvada, Colorado with wife Kathy. He has been published in numerous magazines and on the internet, including Howling Dog Press/Omega, Skyline Literary Review, The Storyteller, and Flashquake. His interne...(more)