My writing/publishing journal

[Vinayaka]

Outside of religion, most of us have a life. Mine is writing. Since I finally got the well done hard copies a month ago, I've given away about 20 copies, and sold another 10 or so. A friend (owner of GoDark bags, a company that specialises in allowing people to not be traced) suggested I post more writing on line. I hope it's not against the rules here. If it is, mods, just delete it. Here's the first page. The formatting doesn't carry over well, I see. Comments are welcome. So is to ignore it.

The Release of Syne’s Ghost

Real cousin narrated a Hallowe’en story of the demise of Mr. Syne by some past mystery, and ever since, that house had been haunted, presumably by Mr. Syne’s ghost. There was innuendo of murder but no confirmation. No Real spoke much about it. I supposed they were either frightened or courteous. There were rural community rules that one should not speak of ghosts, and some descendants of Syne’s family were still around, waiting to be insulted or reminded of sadder days. Everyone dodged trouble of a disruptive kind. The Imaginary brothers didn’t recognize such rules.

At the weekly organizational meeting I yapped about it. The brothers’ ears perked up and a flowing tongue wagged, “Better than watching baseball, digging holes to China or playing with gasoline. Better than this pretend hogwash around here. We should have a look-see wander-gander about it.”

“What does River have in mind?” I asked innocently, ever suspicious of their attempts to lead me to where no boy ought to go. Unfortunately, their rate of success was insufferably high.

Feather replied instead, “Find out if the story is true, then rid the house of the ghost obviously, Idiot.”

I never took to either him or River calling me an idiot, but if they had a sound idea for a way to end our sluggish boredom, I was all enthusiastic like some dog for a belly rub, as long as it didn’t mean Real trouble. “The Syne house is five miles from here.”

“Which direction?” asked River.

I stared at him - for his brother calling me an idiot and him asking ludicrous questions. “Why does that matter at all?”

“The sun, Moron.”

“What about the sun?”

“Feather and I can’t navigate far without it. If there’s scrambling to do when we meet with this ghost, we need to be running in the general direction of home, else the three of us might get separated forever. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”

 

[ChristineM]

I have trouble ready more than a paragraph or two but that held me for the page... Good stuff.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have trouble ready more than a paragraph or two but that held me for the page... Good stuff.

Thanks ... to be continued

 

[Vinayaka]

“No, I suppose not. Then again, a couple more kids of your kind might mosey along. Maybe they’d treat me with more respect.”

“Don’t threaten us, Hungry!” yelled Feather, “or we might be hightailin’ it anyway. But I tell you this, Hungry. You ain’t ever gonna find anybody as interesting as River and me. Is he, River?”

I interjected, too familiar with the upcoming rant, “Probably not. What’s the big proposal?”

River was the ponderer, Feather the emotional one, with few brains and a raging mouth.

River paused before talking. “You have time constraints, right? We can’t let Reals know you’re gone, or it’ll be a fuss when they find out. They might think Hungry is dead, or a runaway. Kid who fell in a well in the forest beneath the willow. You gobble grub at 8, then 12, then 6. You have to be home those times. How fast can you run five miles?”

“He’s fast for a while,” said Feather. “Then he slows down.”

Since they could float, hover, or ride the wind, each had far greater pace than me. No need for nourishment either, lucky guys. “I can steal sister’s bike. Then maybe an hour. Maybe less. Lots of time so long as nobody notices.”

“Now that could be the main snag,” said River. “If something happens that shouldn’t happen, we don’t want to be caught. It would be brainier to go across fields, avoiding roads and gravel. Reals travel on roads. Not this road much, but still someone could get a whole lot suspicious if they see you hangin’ around five miles from home. They’ll think Hungry is a thief or a hobo or a sneak.”

 

[Vinayaka]

Feather added, “Old man Allman wouldn’t know his money is gone for two weeks.”

“Old man Allman has money?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

Riv glared at his brother. “You weren’t supposed to say anything, Dummy.”

“But how in heck would you two know Mr. Allman has hidden money?”

River stared, “Let’s just say we do other things when you ain’t around and leave it at that.”

I wanted to pry loose Feather’s mouth someday, but he and River were inseparable and River wouldn’t go for it. He protected his younger brother loyally.

“Enough about Allman. Let’s get back to Syne. You can hide yourself in the ditch, Man,” said Feather, as if it were obvious.

“That’s true,” I agreed, “but there are places that are open. Let’s see. There are ... (I counted on my fingers.) six places to sneak by. This ain’t gonna be simple at all.”

“Don’t do it then!” blurted Feather. “Be scared! Stay by this tree! Tie yourself to it with a rope, Hungry. Be a boring child! Rot like a carrot.”

“No, I want to do it. But maybe there’s an easier way. Maybe I could go east a mile, and go up that way. Less houses. West is the highway. Way more houses, not to mention cars.”

We looked at River, the brains of the trio. “Drop the bike idea. That’s being lazy. Go half a mile west, then straight north. There are only three roads to cross, and no houses. You may have to jog but in the grand picture it’ll be safer. Only bears, maybe a badger.”

“When?” asked Feather impatiently. His lack of patience shone like a sunbeam on the tree.

“This afternoon,” said River. “Why wait? Unless this chicken boned mosquito here has something better to do like be somewhere with those loser Reals. Sometimes I think he enjoys their company better than ours, Feather.”

 

[Vinayaka]

I had to deliberate, an activity I despised. It was just past ten in the morning cause our meetings started at ten sharp or whenever I showed up. Those two seemed to know when that’d be. That’s why I didn’t know how they knew about Allman’s money. I could go have lunch sooner. Reals were heading to town and I’d be expected to play tag-along, but usually if I whined I could get out of it. Nobody noticed if I went off to the barnyard by myself. “I think it’ll work. Let’s meet again at five after twelve. Then I’ll know for sure. It’s always best to weigh it some before going into something like this with a full jug of baking soda, vinegar, gasoline, and stolen carrots.”

“And stolen beer, but it’s a good plan,” said Feather. “We’ll be waitin’. Do come and tell us if you change your mind. We might find something else to do, like go over to ...”

River cut him off rudely, “Shut up about that.”

Sure enough, Mom was off to town with my siblings, and Dad was on the tractor. At ten past twelve I shot my rear back to the not-so-secret secret treehouse.

“What took you so darned long?” asked Feather.

“Five minutes is long?” I asked.

“That depends,” said River. “It’s a long time to hold your breath but a short time to sleep.”

That surprised me. “Was somebody here holding his breath?”

“Yup,” whispered River so Feather couldn’t hear. “He does that when something is about to happen. One day it’ll finish him, I suspect. I never do it.”

“Good to know,” I said, nonchalantly. “You guys are ready?”

“We’re ready. We’re ready. Ready as Eddy,” they sang together.

“Who’s Eddy?” I asked.

Riv answered, “Somebody we made up one day when you were playing with matches.”

“Let’s be off,” I said. “We have to go west. I’m not sure but there should be a fence line with bush most of the way. We’re half a mile from road in either direction so when a car goes by, I can lie in the grass and they won’t notice me.”

River pointed at my shirt. “Go change that. You have a darker one? You should blend in.”

 

[Vinayaka]

“There’s no road to cross for two miles,” added Feather, “but there’s hills along it. We will have to listen for cars. If one comes, lie low, head down. River and me will watch to see if they notice you. They won’t see us I bet.”

As if I didn’t know that. These guys gave me no credit. Some days I longed to be more like them. Etheric, but still having shape, if wavy. But I was stuck in dense matter and had to bear it. The first two miles were dusty but easy jogging. Williams was summer-fallowing his field on the east half of his place but the bush on the half mile line provided cover. As we reached the first road River shifted ahead, then came back and pronounced, “All clear. On the other side there’s a stretch of open crop. You’re gonna have to run. Next road is a mile further. Should be two, but it isn’t. Don’t ask me why.”

“It’s because of the river,” I said. “Early surveyors got everything mixed up cause of the river.”

“Is that how my brother got his name?” asked Feather.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I answered. River smiled. He relished the secrets we kept from Feather.

“Oh,” replied Feather, as if it no longer mattered at all. I admired his resiliency and propensity to accept things, despite his emotional nature. Too undeveloped to reflect about it maybe.

“Go. Run fast!” yelled River. “Straight over two fences and one road. I sure hope Syne hangs out there during the daytime, not just at night. Do you think he will be there?”

“I think that if he exists, he will. If he doesn’t exist, he won’t. The only other place he might be is by the graveyard provided he got buried there. That stony nostalgia filled place is only half a

 

[Vinayaka]

mile from here but there will be other ghosts there, so I don’t know how we could tell who is who. At his house there is only one possibility. As far as I know, no disembodied spirit would attach himself to another man’s house for no reason. There has to be a reason.”

“What’s a disembodied spirit?” asked Feather.

“Big word for a ghost,” said River. “Hungry thinks he’s clever some days. And about the graveyard. I’d ask them who they were by introducing myself. I’d say, ‘Hello, I’m River. What’s your name?’ and they’d most likely respond truthfully. Wouldn’t be a reason to lie, would there?”

We passed the road safely and headed for the next one. “No, I suppose not. Just how much do you know about ghosts, River?”

“A lot more than you, that’s for sure.”

“How?”

“Ain’t tellin’. Reals make too much fuss about it when it’s normal from over here. I will share one thing.”

“Please do,” I begged.

“Carl, once he was a ghost, spent some time in that graveyard. I stayed with him. Eventually he moved on, because I convinced him.”

River often stimulated contemplation. Feather, never. “You mean from the Imaginary side?”

“Now that’s a matter of perspective. We may be Imaginary to you. But to us we’re as Real as that money in Allman’s place, which by the way is right over there now.” He pointed to the east.

 

[Vinayaka]

With no trouble the three of us were soon near the adventure destination. The faded tan siding on the old Syne house stood out. I’d ridden past in a car before but never approached close on foot.

River spoke, “Maybe Mr. Duggan can burn it down after we clear him out. Syne’s been putting survival thoughts into Duggan’s head, I imagine. The house is useless and he should burn it down.”

“What are survival thoughts?” I inquired, curiously.

“Things like, ‘There’s good lumber in there. Maybe a fellow could use it someday.’ Brick too.”

“You mean ghosts can put thoughts in Real heads?”

“Why not?” asked River. “The Real can put Real thoughts in Real heads. And Imaginary can put thoughts in Real heads.”

“That I doubt,” I said, curtly. He was prone to exaggeration.

“I’m scared!” yelled Feather, “What if Syne is there and not happy, or insane or nutty, or capable of killing?”

I looked at his whiter than normal face. “Me too, Feather,” I said. “I’ve never entered a haunted house before.”

“See?” grinned River, pompously. “Feather just put a thought in your head – a thought of fear. You owe me an apology.”

“Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You insulted my intelligence,” said River. “Let’s vote!”

Whenever disagreement happened, any one of us could call it to a vote. With three of us it was never a tie, and somebody felt sore after. Habitually, that guy was me. This vote was a foregone conclusion.

“Ha ha,” laughed Feather. “Smarty-Pants got fooled by Feather, the one you guys think is a dimwit.”

 

[Vinayaka]

“Fine,” I said. “River, I am truly sorry I distrusted you. Anybody can put thoughts anywhere, I guess.”

“Apology accepted. And hustle across this road into the trees west of the house. Come at it from the north.”

“Why the north?” I asked. “I suppose River has some kind of mystical nonsense explanation for that.”

He groaned, “Because then you’re concealed from anyone on the road. Anybody driving by won’t see you. Don’t complicate things, Hungry. I keep it simple but some days you don’t get it.”

“Hang on a minute,” whispered Feather, “I hear a car.”

Feather had the best hearing of the three of us but he was often fooled by tractors, the wind, birds, or his imagination. Hummingbirds were his nemesis. River and I always heeded his warnings though, because 10% of the time it would be a vehicle. Even around home we were a shy trio and would dive into the ditch to hide if we sensed a car approaching. I learned to love tall grass and hate mosquitoes.

In about 20 seconds River and I heard it too - getting louder. “Behind this line of trees!” said Feather. I lay low while they stood to watch the car go past, another advantage to being what they were. Feather waved at it to rub his invisibility in. We waited together for another few minutes before making a mad dash across the road to the bushes. The uninhabited house stood alone on a slight hill, once the site of an overworked pioneer family. I imagined other buildings - a garden, and children playing happily. Old houses have a mood and this one had much of it – eerie, sinister, and alive with remnants of something dreadful.

 

[Vinayaka]

“Me and Feather will go first,” declared River. “We’ll see if he’s there and what he might want.” They left while I waited impatiently. I stepped deeper into the woods as a truck rumbled by.

Feather returned first, as excited as a hungry cat in a mouse nest, unable to talk coherently. I suspected the legend was true. River hovered along soon enough. “He wants to see you!” he declared.

“Why me?” I asked, unsure of what I’d gotten myself into.

“Feather and me are too much like him. He thought we were other ghosts. He wants to see a Real, at least one Real. You’re a Real, no?”

I shuddered. “I suppose I am.” Secretly I was hopeful my friends could deal with it without me. “Did he communicate this?” I asked.

“What do you think? Would I be saying this if he wasn’t there and we found nothing? Some days you’re unbelievable. Doubt and Dumb flow out your ears and nostrils. You have as much confidence as a turtle has speed. If I say he was there, he was there. Ask Feather.”

No point asking Feather. “What specifically did he request I do?”

“You have to go inside down to the basement and behind the staircase and wait. He’s in the basement during the day and comes out and roams around at night. He wants to see you without you being able to see him. He’s worried about that. But once he gives you a signal you can depart. Then he said he’ll clarify things to me and Feather, although by the looks of Feather, he will stay back with you and I’ll be left with the dirty work. But hey I’m used to it, being around two underboiled chickens all the time.”

The truth of his chicken accusation hit me. I wanted to run straight south five miles. “I changed my mind, River. I want to go home.”

 

[Vinayaka]

“You can’t. Syne said he’s been waiting 38 years for someone to come around that could converse with him. Darn good thing you brought Feather and me here or it coulda been forever. You don’t want the pathetic old guy hanging out here forever, do you? He needs something and maybe we can help him. How’d you like to just stay home for 38 years? Not once leave the house. No baseball. No school. No town. No river. No friends. Only the boring dice game.”

“Clearly I wouldn’t like that.”

“Then Hungry is gonna move that dense body and dense head of his over there, inside the door, around the corner and down those creaky steps and squat behind them. Else his mission here is a total disaster. You will be a total failure and I’d quit. Nobody likes hanging with losers.”

“Nobody,” agreed Feather who had recaptured the little breath he had.

River only ever threatened to quit being my friend if the situation was of utmost magnitude. Syne must have begged or threatened. “Okay,” I said, “But you two have to come with me.”

“Nope,” was River’s curt reply.

“No way!” screamed Feather.

I had a difficult lose-lose choice. Run home and risk losing two remarkable friends, or capture courage on the wind and go in that wretched place. Originally it was my idea - yet another one that only later I realized was awful, like the time I thought telling sister the truth about her appalling haircut. Honesty can get a boy bruised. Not always the best policy, like Mom preached. Fifty yards away lay a ghost inhabited house. Which would it be - caution or recklessness?

 

[Vinayaka]

“Wait here,” I whispered from a dry mouth, fear capturing my saliva. “I’ll be back.”

I snuck to the house’s north side and listened intently, praying maybe Syne would look out the window and let me go with a signal from there. No mystic luck.

The cracked door beckoned as if welcoming a guest. I snuck in, looked south through another cracked webby window, up the filthy stairs in front of me, and shifted to the right. The stairs to the basement were around the corner and directly under the stairs to the upstairs, but in the opposite direction. As I crept, the partially open basement door appeared. I gazed down into the darkness. His basement had no windows and I had no flashlight. Only the light from upstairs filtered down but I knew eventually my eyes would adjust to that shadowy pit. One rung was broken completely and I wasn’t confident of the old wood’s strength so I made my way timidly. The place smelled musty from years of water seeping in through the old concrete. A dilapidated stained table lay at the foot of the stair. I imagined blood even though the stains were green. What these situations do to a terrified boy’s mind! I proceeded cautiously, testing each rung with my weight until finally the dirt floor hit my runner. Besides the table, the place was bare, even desolate, as if no person had stood there in decades. I obeyed River’s instructions and slid behind the staircase as if I was playing a trick on a Real brother coming down a Real staircase. It was a ghostly silence – not for long.

“Slam!” went the upstairs door. I gasped, nearly choking on the musty air. There were two possibilities - that was his signal, or a Real person had seen me enter the house and was there to play nasty scary tricks on me. I could recall no wind earlier so I strongly suspected it was him and slid out from my hiding spot to sneak back up. Sneaking in a vacant house seems illogical but for Syne, I did it. On the first step I felt a cold breeze on my cheek, and could smell something like moldy cheese. It was definitely him, one mysterious layer away from whispering at me the way River did. I changed gears and leapt up those steps two at a time to the outside door, jammed shut by his ghostly force. On the north side, a glassless window drew me. I clambered through it and scampered back to the bushes.

 

[Vinayaka]

“Was he there?” asked River.

“What do you think?” I retaliated. “You think you can see him or sense him but I can’t? What’s wrong with you?”

“Calm down, Hungry. I was just asking. Now I can go find out what he needs, if that’s okay with you, Big Boy.”

I disliked most of River’s names for me but since he rarely used one more than once, there was no use having a scene. “Sure, but don’t waste time. We need to be getting back straight away. It’ll be slower going home.”

“I don’t figure it’ll take long. Earlier he was to the point. Guy knows what he wants – straight up. He’s had 38 years of thinkin’ time on it.”

“Go already,” quivered Feather, impatiently. Once more River left us but returned more quickly than the first time.

“Syne wants to kill someone.”

“Who?” interrupted Feather.

“Someone,” repeated River.

“Not me, I hope. Who does he want to kill, Riv? Does he want to kill Hungry?”

“Nobody in particular, Feather. That’s not what he meant. He figures there should be balance. Someone killed him, so in order for him to move on, he needs to kill someone. He thinks that will free him from this wretched place. Since he’s not sure who killed him, he doesn’t care anymore. He thinks it might have been his wife, a drunken stranger from the highway, his brother, or Duggan’s father. But he said he stopped caring 20 years back. So now he wants to feel some justice, not get even directly. Then he said he can make a move. We need to help him next time there’s a full moon.”

 

[Vinayaka]

“Where will he go?” asked Feather.

“How the heck would I know? Does a cloud tell you where it’s going? Do you look at people driving by in cars and ask where they’re going? Why would it matter? If he can move on that’s enough, isn’t it?”

I was rarely surprised at River’s words or actions, but he seemed harsher than usual. “How do we help? Please don’t tell me we have to find someone and get him in there and kill him? Obviously, that’s where I draw the line.”

“What line? A fishing line?” asked Feather. River and I ignored him due to the seriousness of our state of affairs.

“Oh, that’s what he meant all right. I could see it in his eyes. They had revenge written all over them. But I think we can trick him. He can’t see clearly and he’s old. He might not be able to discern the difference between Real, Imaginary, and Ghost. If we make something look Real and talk like it’s Real, he might fall for the trick.”

“Oh, good. I love tricks!” added Feather.

“Let’s get going,” I said. “We can develop a plan on the way home.” At that I started jogging. They followed, obviously.

“You have a dummy, like a sort of stuffed man?” asked River.

“I have Scary, the pretend batter I used in baseball,” I said. “Or I can make one. Don’t know where to get clothes though. People notice missing clothes.”

 

[Vinayaka]

River continued, “You have blood? I suspect seeing blood would help make him think he killed someone.”

“Course Hungry has blood!” said Feather indignantly, with his flavor of stupid.

“I say we sacrifice Feather. Let’s vote!” I shouted.

River laughed while Feather shook. The problem with Feather and sarcasm is we figured we might lose him down the gopher hole of fear, or up beyond a cloud called Confusion.

“I have ketchup. It’s red. That should work. Or red paint from when we painted the barn.”

River nodded. “Paint. He won’t know what it tastes like. He might know ketchup. Then we’d be in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” asked Feather.

“Rumor is if they get disturbed like a hornet being pestered, they can try to jump into another body and try to take it over. That won’t affect me and Feather, but Hungry could be in for a year of unwanted thoughts or manic crazy times trying to cough or spit him out. Maybe he should carry garlic in his pocket.”

“Mom doesn’t grow garlic,” I said.

“Then steal some from someone’s garden!” yelled Feather as if theft had no consequence or inherent dangers.

“I only know one garden near that has garlic, Feather, and I wouldn’t set foot within half a mile of that one.”

“Chicken, are you?”

“No. Have you met that dog? Not to mention the frightening woman there.”

 

[Vinayaka]

Feather’s tone changed. “Oh, that’s right. Me and River can’t get bit. But you can. I forget these things some days.” Then he got back to River’s trouble comment. “We wouldn’t all be in trouble, would we, River? Just Hungry.”

River stared at him. “No, we’d all be in trouble because we’re a trio. We stick together like friends should. At least I do. Feather has loyalty issues?”

“I do not!” declared Feather.

“The next full moon is in a week,” I said. “What else did he say?”

River hesitated. “You’re not gonna like it. I gave you a hint before but I don’t want to say. You may be unsuccessful, like drying clothes on a rainy day.”

Feather laughed, “Drying clothes on a rainy day. That’s dumb.”

“You have to tell me!” I insisted, ignoring the idiot one. “I will use Mom’s onions instead of garlic.”

“You won’t like it!” River insisted.

When River beat around the bush, I didn’t enjoy it. “I don’t care. Tell me, or I’ll quit.”

“Fine... He wants to use your body temporarily.”

He was correct. I didn’t like it. “But how?”

River kept hovering and whispered seriously. “Look, Hungry. I don’t know much about it either. I suppose you go in there and set up some sort of dummy, then take the hatchet, point to it, talk to him, and say, ‘Here’s the victim we promised.’ See if you can feel him. You can feel us, can’t you?”

“I certainly can,” I insisted, although I wasn’t sure if he believed me. They were a tad iffy in a lot of ways and quite susceptible to many farfetched ideas.

We were almost home - time to drop them off at their place and get back to Real life. Hopefully nobody had noticed or pondered about my whereabouts.

 

[Vinayaka]

That night I couldn’t sleep, circling the ideas from one cell to another between the ears. Flops and flips didn’t help. But by morning I had some conclusions. The paint steal was a no-brainer. Nothing else to paint except initials on trees and that was girly stuff. It was in the shed where Scary lay behind, in his open grave. He never had a proper funeral. He died from getting hit lots by my stray fastballs. A hatchet hung in the shop. I’d beg Mom to move to an empty granary for the duration of summer. Then sneaking out at eleven wasn’t even sneaking out, because I’d already be out. Fixing Scary would involve theft of my own clothes. Theft of other clothes would have Reals complaining whereas my own old clothes could only be complained about by me. Mom wouldn’t likely notice. She was too occupied to do inventory counts. One shirt and one old set of jeans would be sufficient. Straw and grass were everywhere - to give Scary bulk.

I’d use my borrowed money to buy a hot water bottle which we could wrap around Scary’s neck, after we loaded it with the fake blood. Stealing Mom’s hot water bottle was a poor idea.

I’d have to borrow the flashlight, not for the road but for the house. Moonlight would light the road. I’d ride sister’s bike, and scurry past any places with biter dogs. Those things had abnormal hearing and brutally sharp teeth. The sound of bike tires on gravel at night was to them like thunder was to me.

The excited brothers met me on the path to our office in the trees. “So what’s the plan, Man?” asked Feather.

“I didn’t sleep well,” I groaned.

“Neither did we,” said Feather. “It never bothers us but it bothers you. I don’t understand.”

River butted in. “That’s cause we never sleep, Idiot. Hungry here needs it. At least his body does or he thinks his body does. But if he never slept, it means he has a plan. Thinking’s what kept him awake. And there isn’t much else to think about right now is there? Too bad his body and his mind are connected like that. If things were better his body could sleep without his mind having to.”

 

[Vinayaka]

I proceeded to lay it out for them - without interruption for once. They listened intently. Then I made the mistake of saying, “Any questions?”

“What’s a borrowing account?” asked Feather.

“Mine is Dad’s loose change. He never notices a penny or a nickel at a time. It’s not like he’s gonna count 23 pennies, one quarter, 16 nickels, like that. When I get a job and make money of my own, I will repay him the whole lot of it.”

“How much have you borrowed so far?” asked River.

“Thirty-one dollars and two cents, but that’s over three years and includes the times he gave me more than I needed and I kept the change.”

Feather switched the topic. “Can we move to the granary too?”

“No,” I replied.

“Why not?”

“Because once I ask, a Real brother might want to join me, and you know how you guys are with them.”

River laughed, “Those guys are fools compared to us. If you’d let us, we’d tie them up with wit, doubts, and home-spun tales of horseradish, horseflies, and horse manure.”

“That’s your view but not theirs. They think I’m nuts to have Imaginary friends but plainly they’re jealous.”

“Don’t they have their own? There are lots of us to go around, I think. We live all over. Not me and Feather, but our kind.”

Our discussion was going off topic so I brought them back. “But what did you think of my plan?”

“What plan?” asked Feather.

 

[Vinayaka]

“The one about going to Syne’s place next full moon to release him. That one.”

“It’s good,” said Feather.

“We’ll take care of the pooches for you,” added River.

“How?” I asked. A legitimate question, as mine usually were.

“Trust me, Hungry. If I announce we can take care of them, we can.”

After that we didn’t discuss it much until the full moon day. As I suspected, a Real brother joined me in the granary but the night of the important release I got him to go back inside by blabbering about his ugliness and being annoying. “I’m not sleepy. I can sing if I want to. You’re scared. There will be lightning. Who’s your girlfriend? The dog hates you. I have two Imaginary friends. They can hear you. Are you as dumb as Peter said you were? Your report card makes it appear that way.” After an hour of constant yap, he packed up and went inside. Just in time.

The purchase of a hot water bottle turned out less complicated than I thought. Going to town with Mom was a cinch. “Can I come?” was never turned down. How hard is it to say those three words? The town’s other stores, besides the two she shopped at, were open for browsers. The drugstore had water bottles so I bought one and hid it under the front seat. As I placed it, I made out a surprise whisper.

“Why didn’t you invite us?” asked Feather, sadly.

“I’m sure we’d start talking on the way and I’d be accused of insanity. That’s all we need – another category to our menagerie. Real, Imaginary, and Ghost aren’t enough? We need Insane too?”

“But you’re not insane,” said River. “Why worry about something you’re not?”

“It’s not your or my opinion that counts, River. It’s that doctor’s opinion I imagine.”