GHOST SITTER
(Part 2)
"So then the
two of you went home," said Jake, still writing.
"Are
you kiddin'? With a whole day left to kill? No way! We went to Show Biz Pizza,
then to the mall, then the arcade, then to the movies..."
"Okay,
well, let's skip that and just discuss what happened when you got home."
"Okay..."
"Let's go drive
around some more!"
"Josh, man, I really
want to, but I am totally beat as it is. Besides, tomorrow's Monday and we've
both gotta be at the daycare early in the morning. We'll go someplace else next
weekend, I swear." The two sat in Robin's Suzuki Sidekick in front of
Josh's house, arguing, as usual, about
whether or not to stay out longer.
"You promise?"
"Didn't I
swear?"
"Okay, so let's go
to Coney Island next Saturday."
"Coney Island is in
New York, Josh."
"Hmmm...then we
better leave on Friday..."
"You must be drunk,
man," chuckled Robin, getting out of the car.
"Don't you ever say
anything besides that?" he asked, climbing out the other side.
"Only with other
people."
"Why just with other
people?"
"'Cause you're
always drunk and they're not!" she smirked.
"Man, shut up!" he said, grinning and frogging her
shoulder.
"Don't make me hurt
you," she replied, her grin mirroring his.
"Oh, like I'm
real-ly scared." Robin cocked a
fist back at him threateningly and he yelled in terror, dropping to the ground.
As the two of them began
giggling about Josh's hasty retreat, the front door of his house opened and
David Cord, his father, stuck his head out. Robin's fist dropped and she
shrugged at him, pretending to be confused.
"Joshua, what're you doing?! You're gonna wake up the whole
neighborhood!" he said.
"She tried ta hit
me, David!"
"Ah, ya probably
deserved it," he grinned, rubbing his salt-and-pepper colored hair
sleepily.
"Thanks a lot,
David," grumbled Josh, getting up.
"How was he?"
asked David, turning to Robin.
"The picture of
innocence," she replied, glancing heavenward and pretending to pray.
"Yeah, right,"
said the other two simultaneously.
Robin laughed in
agreement. "By the way, he wants
to go to Coney Island next weekend..." she added.
"Yeah, can I?"
begged Josh.
"I already explained
the amount of land we'd have to cover just to get to the eastern regions of the
US from Texas, but he's hooked."
David sighed.
"Joshua, you can't go to Coney Island. It's too far. Coney Island is out
where your mother is."
"You guys are really
putting a damper on this trip." sighed Josh. "We drive up there, stay
with Mom, go to Coney Island for the day and come back."
David and Robin looked at
each other and shook their heads.
"I'll see you at
daycare tomorrow, Josh," she said, turning to leave.
"See ya tomorrow,
Robin," laughed David.
"Wha-at, we could do
it! It's not that far, is it?" protested Josh, as his father shipped him
inside. "Da-viiid!"
"So
you went inside and then what happened?" asked Jake.
"Well,
I was only in for a few seconds when
the doorbell rang. I went to go open it, 'cause I knew it was her and she
scared the crap outta me!" said Josh.
Jake
chuckled a little to himself as Josh continued.
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
David came running to the
door and looked out. "Joshua, what's the matter? What is it?"
"It's Robin! Can't
you see her? I'm lookin' right at her! She's like a window!"
David rushed out on the
porch, passing straight through her without even noticing. Josh and Robin both
dropped their jaws in surprise. "Joshua, no one is out here. What are you
talking about?"
Josh looked at her and
she looked back with a confused shrug. "Y'mean you don't see her? You just
went right through her!"
"The only thing I
see out here is Robin's car." said David. He stared at it thoughtfully,
then said, "She doesn't know anybody else around here, does she?"
"Nobody but us,
David," sighed Josh. "Right, Robin?"
"As far as I
know," she replied. "Josh..."
"See, don't y'hear
her? She just said..."
"Joshua, stop it.
This is serious. If she doesn't know anybody besides us in this neighborhood,
then she might be in trouble." He paused to look around once more, then
said, "We better call the police."
Robin and Josh traded
surprised glances as David walked past them into the house.
"Josh, I..."
Robin began, but Josh turned and walked to his room, throwing his hands up in
the air as if to shake the whole thing off. He slammed the door angrily, not
understanding why David didn't believe him. Hadn't he seen her? He had, after
all, gone straight through her. I'm
dreaming, he thought, I'm just
dreaming. I'll open the door and she won't be there.
Josh opened his door
again and Robin tumbled backwards on the floor in front of him, as if she'd
been leaning on the door. He looked at her unsympathetically.
"Alright, get
out," he said. "You're not real, you're just a figment of my
overactive imagination or something."
"Josh, don't be a
chucklehead," sighed Robin, holding her head. She got up, walked around
him and sat down on the bed, gingerly holding her forehead.
"You called me a
chucklehead?"
"That should prove
it's me, shouldn't it?"
"Yeah, but I
could've imagined you calling me that," said Josh.
"Would I still call
you an obnoxious midget wimp if it wasn't me?"
Josh thought for a
moment, then said, "Probably not. If I was imagining you, you probably
wouldn't be as cold blooded." He sat down next to her on the bed, then
said, "What's with your head?"
"I hit it on the
door trying to come in, o-kay?" she mumbled.
"I didn't hear you
hit," he replied.
"Well, I felt me
hit."
"Did David see
you?"
"He didn't see me
outside, so why should he see me now?"
Josh shrugged, then
changed the subject. "Look, you're not even making a dent on the bed! That's cool!"
"Oh yeah, that's
just the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," she said
sarcastically.
"What did happen to
you?" he asked, looking her over.
"I dunno!" she
shrugged. "One second I'm ringing
your doorbell about to give you back that Chinese yo-yo you won at Funtime
Pizza, the next I'm like you said, a window."
"Well, how did it
happen?"
"If I knew, would I
be sitting here confused with you?"
Josh shrugged. "Oh,
man!" he gasped suddenly.
"What?"
"Now we can't go to
Coney Island!"
"Willya get off the
Coney Island thing already?" Robin yelled. "I could be lying on the
street dead now, for all we know!"
"Huh?"
"Josh, has it
occurred to you that maybe somebody might have just killed me or something? I
mean, most people don't just turn into ghosts for no reason."
Josh looked at her.
"Man, I hadn't thought of that."
"Me neither, 'til
now. But what else would explain something like this? Maybe I got hit from
behind or something and I'm just...dead."
"Wouldn't you
remember?"
"I don't know. I
mean, I think I remember everything, but I don't remember getting killed."
They sat silent for a moment, then Josh stuck his arm outward, reaching for her
shoulder. His hand went straight through it and they leaned back from each
other.
"Totally weird,
dude," Josh breathed.
"Don't do that,
man," she said. "It was weird enough when your dad ran through
me."
"I still don't get
how you ran into the door, but dropped the yo-yo." said Josh. "If you're really a ghost, you'd
go through everything, wouldn't you?"
"Apparently
not," said Robin, rubbing her head wryly. "I mean, I can still sit on
things, but I can't hold them."
"Try touching me and
see if I can feel it," said Josh. Robin reached out and put a hand on his
head.
"Can you feel
that?" she asked. "I can sorta feel your hair."
"Yeah, but I can't
feel your hand at all."
Robin tried to tousle his
hair with no success. "Well, I guess you luck out in one way."
"What?"
"I can't hit you
back from when you frogged me earlier." They both laughed, then grew quiet
again. "If I really was attacked, though," she began again. "I
must be around your place somewhere."
"Yeah," said
Josh dully. "The police are gonna be here any minute looking for
you."
"Yeah," echoed
Robin. They were silent again, then Josh said,
"I hope you're not
really dead, Rob."
"Me, too, kid,"
she replied wearily.