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 Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:20 pm
Michael smiled sadly and approached the crib, leaning on the edge. He put his chin on his arms.
"He's no more a monster than we are. He only looks scary," he said, "He's actually a very nice man."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:31 pm
Alex didn't believe it. How could something that looked so scary be nice? He shivered. "But can you make him leave?" he asked. "Please. I'll be good. I'm sorry I yelled. I'm sorry. I don't want the monster here anymore." He covered his head again.
"Are we really dead?" he asked, softly.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:40 pm
Michael ignored the comments about making Dari leave and instead addressed the more pressing question. He stroked Alexander's hair.
"Yes," he said, "I'm sorry." He let the boy absorb the information a while longer before speaking again. "I died over a hundred years ago. You perished in a fire more than ninety years ago. Time is strange to us. It doesn't pass as it should. Thoughts aren't always clear."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:45 pm
"That's why everyone runs away," Alexander nodded in understanding and sniffed. "Why aren't we in heaven?" He couldn't remember dying. He remembered the door... He remembered his mother calling for him. "Momma was looking for me. ...So I stayed. But she's gone?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:49 pm
Michael nodded.
"She went on ahead because she thought you'd be there too," he said with a smile. "She's passed on. Do you remember the darkness, and the light?" That beautiful, glimmering shaft of light with is warmth and beckoning. Some people ignored it. Some of them stayed here.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:56 pm
"I..." Alex hesitated. "No," he admitted. "I remember Momma. I was scared. And I heard her. But I don't know where from. I don't..." He peeled back the blanket. "I don't remember."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:58 pm
"Good," Michael said, still smiling, now more broadly for the boy's benefit, "It's better to not remember. But there was a light. There always is. You spent ninety years lost in the moment you turned away. I know how that feels." He touched the boy's face.
"Would you like to go to her now? Your Papa will be there too, and Chester."
He had seen shapes and silhouettes in the white light of others. He was firm in his belief, although it was not one he shared with anyone.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 10:13 pm
"Did you have a light?" Alex asked, looking up at Michael. What had caused him to turn away? And why did he say always? Oh. Right. He said he helped people like them. Ghosts. "Can Winser come?" he asked.
"Michael, I'm scared."
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:19 am
"I did, but I was too angry to follow it," Michael admitted. He shook his head softly then. "No, Winser can't come with you."
He crouched then to the boy's height and wrapped his arms around him.
"It's going to be alright. I promise."
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:58 am
"Will you take care of Winser for me?" Alexander asked. He wrapped his arms around Michael and shivered. "Can you come with me?" he asked then.
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:06 am
"Of course I will," Michael replied, smiling warmly to the boy. He then offered him another hug. "I can't, but you won't need me. Here. Are you ready?"
He gently peeled himself away from the boy and sat on his knees so as to not stoop over him. He took one tiny hand in his and closed his eyes.
"What I need you to do is think about Momma and Papa and Chester, and how much you want to see them again. I want you to imagine a place where you'll be together again."
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:19 am
Alex tried. He closed his eyes, then they snapped open and he wrapped his arms around Michael tightly. "I'm gonna miss you!" he said. He pulled away slightly and held Michael's hand.
"Momma, papa and Chester."
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:30 am
Michael chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll always be in your heart, and you'll always be in mine." He held the boy tight and kissed his temple, and then released him.
He could feel it when it opened up. It wasn't a proper feeling like warmth or cool or joy, it was just a feeling. He opened his eyes to see a bright white light standing near the corner of the room, glimmering and opalescent. It wasn't for him. He didn't get that warm, comfortable feeling. It didn't draw him in. This was Alexander's light.
"Look," he said softly.
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:54 am
Alexander looked. His eyes widened. "Momma!" He went towards it immediately. The warmth, the happiness of being with his parents again. He looked back briefly in thanks, before looking back to the light. He reached for his mother's hand.
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2016 11:59 am
Michael smiled and nodded. Go on!
As soon as Alexander stepped through, the whiteness enveloped him and faded. He was gone.
It was an hour before Michael appeared to the others again. He had already put Winser in the car where the others weren't likely to find him, and he had taken Maia's colored page from the lockbox. It was still late at night, so he appeared to find them sleeping.
"Tobias," he said.
Toby startled awake even at such a gentle, even voice and tried to blink the sleep away.
"Mm?"
Michael laid the colored page on Maia's chest.
"It's finished. He's gone." Then he disappeared before the tears began again.
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