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The Human world, which is only called "human" for we know the existence of a world that isn't human , and the Ghost world, beings that either were, or never were human ,are two very opposing places , as the names speak for themselves.
Many ghosts interfere with the believed peaceful structure of the human world, ravishing on misery in their designated cities, towns and areas.
Scratch, ever the outcast from life and what comes after life, is the ghost that haunts the town of Brighton. And yet, not really aiming to cause misery to not-so-bright citizens of it.
It is quite bitterly amusing , to dislike your own kind , prefer to isolate your own self than to engage, but if humans do it, then he can surely borrow their misanthropic ways, mindset and morals.
Scratch was bound to spend his afterlife in Brighton, the town that disinterested , not only the very few visitors on the road, stopping perhaps to gaze upon the not-very-pleasing view (or, well, motion sickness is also a reason for their short-lived stop) , but even his own higher ups, the Ghost Council , condemned him to this town, synonymous of their disinterest in him .
But that is just fine , cause he is fine with it. He is fine with being alone, and he does not need any-body-else.
...but, um, well, he must admit that an enthusiastic family moving into his house, disregarding his relentless and very much scary opposition... but actually freeing him out of this eternal restraint (albeit a non-intentional dumb curse also had a great part) , is, surprisingly, a very nice turn of events.
And today, after many and many and so much more many inconvenient happenings (caused mostly by the youngest of the family) they will be visiting an aquarium (well , among other places but that was the only place he cared about and what actually managed to ,heh, reel him into coming along) that is just about 5 hours away from the town of Brighton!
How exciting!!
.
.
.
.
...And uh, how, exactly, does one leave the town of Brighton after ,who knows how many years of being bound to staying there? While keeping up the apathetic ,sarcastic and charming bad boy persona, that is.
Asking for a friend.
Yes, perhaps the same friend that is often clueless on what to do when something stresses 'em out, and so what of it? Cut the ghoul some slack, ok? Geez.
The house always seemed very hectic, much more frantic than usual, at these times of fun departure.
One rule that he absolutely despised, yet had to come to terms with eventually , is that ,everytime, an exhaustive wave of deep spring cleaning hits the house, a BIG house might I add, just before the day they leave.
A usually pretty clean house suddenly needs to be utterly pristine, spotless and shined to utter perfection , and that meant a whole day of chores.
It didn't make sense, why!? There will not be anyone visiting , they won't be home! No guests, ,no visits from relatives, (*ahem* their relatives), no sudden inspections, (hopefully no ghost council now that he thinks about it) so , why go through all of this trouble of wondering if the coffee accident from a sudden encounter yesterday night will come off from the wooden floor,(he just got a little peckish at night is all ! no need to launch a whole coffee pot with boiling bean juice to his face, his morning hair just can't be that awful), or cleaning every crook and cranny of picture frames that he hasn't even seen before, which just shows how unimportant they are, ( apparently it was taken during Sharon and Pete's first date ... big whoop) or getting rid of that weird , probably acidic, or illegal, substance that was dripping from Darryls ceiling, that's never been an issue before!
He didn't get it, he didn't understand it and he hated it, there!
It did seem like a normal occurence to the family though , and as a , um , new member of ,this, family, he complied.
.
.
.
Still hated it though.
And no, Molly teasfully opening his own personal playlist that featured his all time classics like Minnie the Moocher, Stairway to the Stars, Shake it Off or Fly me to the moon, definitely did not make the cleaning duty somehow entertaining, absolutely not.
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This obstinacy of his lingered till the next morning as they had to wake up early from their repose, but quickly replaced by an internal sense of ecstasy and joy , while trying hard to not let it slip through his complaining façade.
The siblings quickly bolted from their bed, Darryl with his various different sfx noises that he somehow made it into a singular alarm noise, and Molly by being Molly, her enthusiasm being enough to wake her up fully energized and eager to help her father arrange the trunk of the vehicle.
There weren't many items they were bringing, a simple duffel bag that had some essentials, and a second bag , seemingly more stuffed, filled with various snacks , after the wailing and begging of yours truly. The two siblings did grin discreetly to themselves when their soft father finally gave in to the ghosts pleases , and they might have exchanged a mischievous glance between one another , for if their mom was scolding their father of being tenderly lenient all the time while the thrilled ghost haphazardly picked his favourite ray of snacks with the siblings trailing behind him with little exclamations of "ooh yummy!" " i don't like the one with raisins!" " coconut flavoured ones are simply superior." , that meant that all was settled for the trip.
(In the end , Pete did get a small packet of trail mix for the two of them, discreetly making sure he got the ones with cashews in them. Contrary to her belief, he is not that soft , in fact, he can be very mischievous! Because, in his secretive plan, he liked it when Sharon , who greatly dislikes the moon-shaped nuts, picked them out from the mix and fed it to him carefully so as to not distract him from the road, occasionally making loving and mushy comments to one another , while the two kids gagged. Happens in almost every long car ride with the Mcgee family.)
Once they were all sure of their items, after a few quick trips around the house in case of oubli of anything, they were ready to go.
All three of them straggled to get in the back seat. They managed to agree begrudgingly on a seating plan after some grumpiness and commands from the parents.
Apparently, surely very exciting news to Scratch, another classic road trip rule is whenever the father , his hand clasped in the shape of a small wonky circle as a weak, (and quite a pathetic one for Scratch's shapeshifter standards) imitation of a megaphone, hollered "Mcgees, are we ready to hit the road?!" with absolute mirth and satisfaction, the rest of the family responded with an equally gleeful "YEAH!", like a coxswain commanding the crew with a "Heave Ho!".
To his surprise, even Darryl , his traitorous partner in crime, also succumbed to the horrible fate of this cringy family tradition.
But no, Scratch had a reputation , a dignity to keep! So he just threw his right gooey arm in the air with a clenched fist, twisting his wrist in all directions to imitate his excitement, yet from his face, it seemed like he just wanted to get on with the road.
...But the car did not budge, the motor didn't even turn on, and the key was still not inserted, just many pairs of eyes fixated on him with waiting smiles, albeit also very creepy from his point of view.
"...what?" he spat ,troubled, with a not so delightful voice, "why are you all- i swear i didn't sneak anything in my ectoplasm, geez." he blabbered out, rolling his eyes in his eye sockets , doing a full circle.
"C'mon Scratch, where is that enthusiasm? What happened to that joyful ghost that has been floating 'round non-stop for days the moment I brought up the new aquarium ? " Pete replied , trying to ignite once again the ghosts' excitement.
"Besides," he continued , his face getting morphing into that all known disastrous face of an upcoming dad joke "you're still not totally , snrk, off the hook , from scaring that poor teen in the shop yesterday." the father joked , which indicated that he really wasn't taking that teen boys extreme horror all that seriously, using it now to merely make a joke; they had gotten used to the ghosts antics, like a child that you apologize after to other people,with numerous "he is at this certain age..." , but high five with in private.
The family was very much amused , if their poorly hidden snickers were anything to go by, while the ghost sank deeper in his non-desired spot, murmuring negatively, while not having any real venom.
" this family i swear IN MY DUH-FENSE!," the blue clad started , his voice rising tremendously, almost comically for such a seemingly political argument :" HE WAS REEALLLY TAKING HIS SWEET SWEET TIME , AND I'M A BUSY GUY!" he exclaimed , thinking surely to himself, yeah, nailed that.
The car still did not budge. Not even a hoarse engines start up coughs , that always rung in his ears , even after the initial shock of the noise, as he looked around the unmoving vehicle.
Everyone simply waited wickedly, evil.
He sighed , huffing to himself, oh how he hated when they got things their way.
He cocked his head towards the driver , almost to sign his cue, telling him to start the cheer once again, in which he grinned and exclaimed for a second time:
"Mcgees, are we ready to hit the road?!"
This time , a new , but also very old , perhaps even rusted from before , for it wasn't used to talking before this family had arrived; this unique voice joined them, with a slight tone that you wouldn't be able to distinguish from sounding irritated and sleep deprived or a meek appreciation for this moment, serving as a mere lid to such internal relief.
"Yeah!" he said , not exclaiming , but for him, as it rang in his ears to register his own voice , it was louder. And he wouldn't know this , but as a narrator, a very good one at that, i will tell you , it was loud enough for them too.
With a quick swift of the hand that placed the slightly sunned key into its place, and with the harsh sound that would trouble Scratch for just a few seconds,
It was time to hit the road.
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Ghosts can't drive.
They don't need to drive.
Why would a ghost need to drive?
Well, if you went by the reasoning of a man who has lived with a supernatural entity for months ,who is a passionate and loving father, but most importantly , definitely a man that has nothing better to do, the answer you would get is : " It was always my dream to teach one of my kids how to drive, it fills you with the joy of parental responsibility!" he would say, with his hands clenched together and placed on his cheek to finish his wondrous reply.
"Yeah, ok , well, in this dream of yours did you also perhaps see yourself teaching a dead being too cause lemme tell you, you must have some crazy imagination."
" Well no," he continued , the sarcasm flying over his head "because I didn't even know ghosts existed! and cmooon, don't you wanna help your old man-"
"Literally dead man here-"
" - during family trips where he has to not fall asleep-" he rambled and he gave this slight laugh, but , as he brought he placed his hands on his shoulders to comfort his own self while face drooping in an off putting way ,eyes getting wider with his pupils trembling, it definitely wasn't a happy laugh "-when everyone is snoring next to him while he has his eyelids slowly shutting but there is still 10 miles before you can stop so you just-"
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT GEEZ! you really know how to lament, got it." He interjected , because of a discours that was simply pitiful, to be kept...awake , a shuddering thought.
" The point is , you can take over every once in a while! Besides , we can have a nice little father and son moment ehhh? "
That was weeks ago.
.
.
And uh, well, an invisible being that is not human can't really have a license and legislation, nor a driver's ID now can he?
.
.
.
Maybe they should try with a more modern car next time, like an automatic one that's easier for beginners! and hey no ones perfect on their first try it really is a process-
So no, ghosts can't drive.
But it does seem like they can parallel park quite well! just, not ,anything else.
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The car ride was filled with a languorous vibe , cozy tiredness enveloping the passengers.
Lurid flashes of light from the slowly awakening sun , paired with empty sand-yellow roads, the precipice harshly cutting the beauty of the sky every once in a while, which did irritate the lurid state , but it was simple to get used to.
The ghost did not budge lest he disturb the two small figures (albeit , his size also but he did view them as a tad smaller , kids after all) that were leaning on his unstable being, trying to keep still yet not too stiff. It is not an uncommon occurring that one of the family members simply leaned on him for a quick rest
He was also told by his somnambulist , sleepy companions that it was like " a pillow that is cold on every side" , which he assumed was something appreciated by humans.
This menial job did not bother him, in fact, not in the slightest. It flattered his vanity, just a tad bit.
Later they would wake up, poke him until he woke up as well, claiming they needed a 3rd player for a game that could definitely be played even stranded on an island completely alone, open songs that the parents would even join in , a playlist of theirs that's called "Trail mix" , because of course it is , courtesy of Molly the Mcgee , or they would even watch a movie that is definitely not that sad and he wouldn't cry hiccuping and protesting into Darryls jacket for half an hour that the siblings would join in also, because it just simply wasn't that good of a romance plot really, horribly written actually.
But for now, it was sleep time.
He simply gazed outside, yet he did feel the eyes of Sharon , quick glances , yet not really saying anything, just smiling and setting her eyes on the larger window again.
There is a beauty in being able to move , just the ability to move in itself. You manipulate a painting almost, like a collaborative one for ages , so you can paint on it, but it changes. Because you just took a step, took a step back, you swung your head, you took a bus on the way home, you wondered how close you can get to the stars when you climbed that one tree, you got distracted, careless, anything ;you changed the scenery, just you.
And when you're leaving that one painting, the one you just see everyday, it's like leaving it at an art studio. You will come back to see it again,but for now , you left that small town that you felt like you were chained to, doomed to stay for eternity.
Right now, you're in a car. It's been a bit more than half an hour so far, and you're out of town for a family trip.
How utterly normal does that sound, right?
As the time passed, the once desert-like painting arrived at a small , barely-a-forest like road, decorated with evergreen fir trees , their cones splattered around making tiny crunch sounds when the tires went their merry ways. It was not unpleasant, and when he looked out the window, slightly visible despite the sleeping girl's ponytail that was clearly disheveled , the cleaved upright cones left tiny chunks of wood along the path after them.
Weeping birch, with their pure white stems that shone like silver throughout the delicate forest green, aided him to doze off , eyelids becoming heavier by the second.
He did appreciate the wondrous scenery , and how vastly different it was from the trees back home. He really did just wanna preserve any place that wasn't Brighton, because of the slight fear he might never get to again.
But for now, it was sleep time.
With his consciousness slowly slipping away , he briefly heard a slow voice, whisper of a mother, softly chuckling: " Well, at least he gave a good fight this time. Have a good rest, Scratch."
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" Scratch you can't look at the front cards again you were supposed to remember it from the beginning it's only one time-"
"BUT I FORGOT- OH SO WHAT NOW WE'RE EXCLUDING PEOPLE WITH SHORT TERM MEMORY??? AHH YOUR GAME IS SO RIGGED MCGEE-"
" Scratch this is the 4th time please you're gonna lose anyways."
"...you know I really don't think I understand this game."
A conjoined sigh escaped from the two siblings' mouths , while the ghost still looked puzzled at their nonsensical game. They had tried everything to explain the game: playing it one round while explaining every move, using some crumbs and chips to show the system of exchanging cards, even Sharon looking at the back seat and giving him instructions to win and yet, this man is just simply not getting it.
Well it didn't matter now did it?
They're here.
The town of Aruna is not that populous of a town, but it does attract a pretty good amount of seaworkers. Many fishermen always profit out of the town's great waters , with a different range of fish that might not be even found in any other place. Small but special, just like how he prefered.
(He did see in Brighton's local newspaper a few months ago that they had found a rare type of fish , called the "Ribbon fish". Ever since then, he kept a mental note of the name of the town, but often messed up and called it Ribbon town instead.)
Small town, small shops. They are often targeted for the citizens themselves , and don't really aim to attract tourists, which makes it ever the more charming, he believes.
But the best of it all,
5 hours away from Brighton.
He really left that town.
Wow.
No more Mewline and it's fairly disappointing toilet cakes , no more Perfektborg with its...perfectness.
He is in a new place , one that he never saw before.
While a group of sailors, dressed in weakly tailored costumes, laughing about , with equipements dangling from every side, passed from the corner of the car window , a brief thought came to him that if he was alive , he believes this would've been just the place for him.
A little further down this side of the town, a newer building appeared. One would believe it would be a mall, encourage shopping and be more profitable , but in case you weren't certain, this town really does not care about being attracting to others that do not live there , it is a slow, hardly tumultuous town, mirroring the seemingly interminable ocean that it cares after, a soft glow with a brittle shine.
The building was coated in silver grey, not as worn out as the town itself yet, it would learn to glimmer as the time went by. It would soften , the town would spread its vines to gentle its harsh architectural features.
But for now, it was a newly opened aquarium.It made sense to locate it in a town that was close to the sea , they figured, and there it was.
They parked the haggard vehicle close to the towering infrastructure , yet , despite this heught difference, it didn't look all that intimidating.
It may be his obvious excitement ,but the emblazon of colours , warmth and even little nautical themed sculpts that the town's children contributed in painting this contemporary place as fun as possible, erased any hesitation he might've had in an instant.
As they all stepped out of the car, Darryl helped the ghost alight from his place , suspecting that he would be a bit woozy after such a long trip , evidently for a person who is not used to being on the road this long , and simply poked his dangling, pudgy arms softly. As the ghost laid on the top of the spiky haired kid, he took a few stabilizing breaths.Even though they're definitely the more chaos prone, less affectionate , less open-about-feelings duo of the family, when Darryl saw the wonky smile of the ghost with his eyes silently thanking for the pause, he gave one back, and decided their quiet gratitude was what defined their broship.
They headed to the ticket area where a fairly tanned lady stood, a slight smile on her lips that in his naive self believed it was genuine, which only got confirmed with her enthusiastic intonation .
The ghost, motion sickness practically disappeared in a second , rocked slightly back and forth on top of the boy's head , stimming as the boy looked up and gave little pats. After a little chat with the lady, in which also consisted of Molly quickly complimenting her hair clips that were in the shape of seashells and a singular goldfish, the parents requested a total of 5 tickets to enter.
" Ah, I'm sorry , is there... someone else... who will be joining you ? " The lady , the name tag read Evelina ,yet he stuck with 'the lady' in his head, asked quizzically, her head bowing slightly to the side in confusion, yet still maintaining her kind voice.
"Excuse me?"
" I am...only counting... 4 ?"
It is quite nice to be a narrator you see, who else would be the one to tell you that everyone's delightful internal reaction was just different measures of a chaotic "oh". Some alarmed, some panicked, they all stammered for a different story for this miscount.
" OH YES , SILLY ME I MUST'VE UHH COUNTED MY WALLET AS WELL ! GEE YOU ALMOST GOT ME THERE LADY HAHAHA-"
"uuHhhh MY TOY , TWINKLE SPOT! I REEEALLY HAVE A DEEP CONNECTIONS TO MY CHILDHOOD ANIMAL PLUSHIES ! Can't believe you're throwing me under the bus again Mcgee (the toy deadpanned, from Molly's room, which is miles away) OH HUSH YOU-"
"there's a dead man in our trunk-"
" ENOUGH!" the mother yelled quietly to her family with a stern voice , which shut their fairest of tales in an instant.
"So sorry for the confusion , yes only 4. We usually go on vacations with my mom, so got a bit mixed up there!" Sharon responded coolly , the rest of them , including the ghost that was definitely not visible, nodded frantically with their own respective awkward smiles.
"I um...see." she stammered , still a bit in shock of the scene that just played out with their 4 tickets in hand.
Sharon reached so very slowly for the tickets, carefully pulling them from the teens hand as if she was pulling out a brick of a building that would crumble in an instant. She added a very meek "thank..you...miss Evalina, we uhh yeah goooona go see some fishies now!"
" Yeah uhh , bet the guy is even sleepin with the fishies now!"
" DARRYL, DON'T MAKE IT WORSE."
With that very normal interaction , they presumed on their exploration in an even more weird and awkward position that ... was aiming to conceal the ghost with their arms in the air but merely forgetting the silly little detail of ghosts ability to blend with their surroundings, so still being invisible.
.
.
.
She would definitely tell this weird interaction to her equally not paid enough to care co-workers, definitely emphasizing their strange "family walking out" move.
But for now, there they went to the 'most magical place of all', she supposed.
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Once they made it inside, it was pure fascination that surrounded them with no great warning.
Oh, what a sight .
The moment they entered , the family was greeted with a shining alabaster stone ,a glimmering statue. And on its plain acroterium, decorated with carved and chiseled antique shapings, the figure of Poseidon, holding his brilliant trident, coppering on the tips.
Nothing colossal, but a mesmerizing welcome.
This purish white was disturbed beautifully with the bright colours that shone on this sculpt from various different tanks. The fish that swam blissfully, coloured the statue in the brightest of cerise, azure and jade like colours , like precious gem shards, the fluorescence bringing the spark to the pitch black labyrinth.
Molly , skipping with joy , gazed upon everything to take in the adorning scenery. When something quite musing caught her eye, she jabbed her mothers side softly to show to turn her attention to the funny image.
"Mom, look at Scratch." the amused girl whispered , the hilarity clear in her silent voice.
Sharon looked to the side , her smile already forming from her daughter's comical tone. When she raised her head discreetly to see the designated ghost, she understood how intriguing the sight was. Ever the grump, the pessimist of the family was now grinning non-existent ear to ear, his blightfullness apparent from every crevice and feature of his gooey face.
When you're not quite made of a solid figure like your human companions, and your usually achromatic (with a few hues) body is constantly in bond with the light that surrounds you , it seems like the light that reflects on you looks quite different.
The disco ball resembling ghost was now floating on top of his resting area (just above Darryls head), his usual ocean blue self glimmering with the various colours around him, the man-made light becoming purely ethereal as it reflected on his figure.
This aery apparition may not be something that was much of a notice to humans, deeming it as "pretty" and nothing more, but light was a ghosts fashionable clothing, it's style, it's beauty even.
What a sight.
And they were only getting started. A thought that made the ghost ever the more joyous.
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The happy soul pressed his head to the glass pane with absolute giddiness, watched as the little creatures right across him traveled through the water, unphased by its spectral spectator.
The ginger tinted glow emanating from the circular aquarium gave such a cozy shine to the dim, equally round room. The long transparent column reached the high ceiling of the place, and , thankfully to his floating abilities that allowed him to keep up with the fish tank, the ghost did several turns around it, going higher and higher than any human could.
In the room following it, there was a plainly open aquarium,with a dark bottom that had densely edged corners, decorated with porous corals , mossy tree stumps and rocks, that had a unique type of fish , called large/ giant Gourami, who were native to freshwater and are primarily in Southeast Asia and yada yada....The reason this fish tank peeked the interest of the two close-to-tears siblings was the fish's comically looking mouth , the bottom lip so much more plenty than the top of the lip, making it have a goofy looking appearance.
Molly imitated the fish's shapen lips , twisting her bottom lip downwards to make it appear bigger , then showing it to her brother, who collapsed on the floor in an instant, laughing at the sight of it, with his sister following not long after , settled to his side, slapping the floor ,equally cackling , much to the irritation of the other visitors.
Towards the end of this wonderous show, which took the ghost 20 minutes each to observe almost every tank (the members of the family needing to rip him off from them every single time),there was a brilliant tunnel , showcasing so many more of these mesmerizing creatures.
The enclosing water that was in the form of a great demi circle, enveloped them completely, almost as if by swallowing.
The cyanite-like blue colour was much more heavy in this exhibition, glossy and deeper than the rest, which gave a celestial vibe to the tunnel.
Among the many corals , mossy architecture and seaweeds, sharks wandered about in this grand area , and it took every bit of force in Sharon's strength to hold the ecstatic ghost to not phase through the glass barrier and , oh forbid, disturb the creatures there.
Disappointed , but actually not even close, he followed every single one of them, sputtering mindlessly some facts about how "Did you know that angelfish sharks swim the exact same way as regular sharks even though they have winglike pectoral fins and broad flat bodies? The way like rays do, but shark?? Pretty cool huh? Well my boy over there, the blacktip reef shark, heh a classic guy over there! He, is like the puppy of ocean creatures, they're super timid and do not even hurt humans! Just don't provoke'em , which is the least you can do for these guys really and OH MY CORN IS THAT-" you get the gist.
As they find themselves at the end of the of this adventurous path, Scratch takes just a few seconds more to sink it all in , everything that he got to see today, every little picture that he took (of them ; ghosts aren't really that photogenic on camera unfortunately...but, they sure can be great photographers! Just, maybe not around a crowd of people that are clearly horrified at the sight of a family posing at a magically floating camera-), and every little creature he cooed over , it was like a silent goodbye, and an even quieter thank you for today.
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Ahhh, gift shops, the true highlights aren't they?
The small souvenir shop, aiming to make this trip more memorable for it's guests, had plenty of various items and even some that weren't just their logo and names plastered on some merchandise.
One last tradition of any family trip is what they call the "family keychain" , in which, you guessed it , the family picks out a keychain to add to their ever growing collection.
It was Pete's idea during their third family trip to Peal town , when the siblings were just so young , and after an adorable notice of baby Darryls interest in the clinking noise of the few keys he had, he decided to make it a family tradition! (mostly to not make the rebellious boy flustered, hiding it as a familial custom of theirs.)
Usually , its the the two of them that pick out these little ornaments , but Darryl wanted to take the initiative this time around. In the very far corner of this shop, the keychains dangled from the breeze that the repeatedly opening and closing doors made, chiming like a broken orchestra. When he approached this bunch, he flipped the metal hanger mindlessly, just a few quick turns, until a particularly shiny keychain concluded his search. It looked amazing.
In all honesty, he wasn't really much of a fish fan like his bro was, why care about what is in the ocean ? You will probably never see these outside of an aquarium! But bugs? Earth creatures are where it's at.
But The Abyssal spiderfish, the only name that he remembered from this whole fish exposition, just sounded so cool.
So, he took the keychain out of its hanger and observed the caricature of the slender fish.
That's it, he had chosen it.
.....
.....
" Darryl...where'd you get that?" The father questioned his boy, seeing him fidget with the circlet, cheap metal, the loops of the ring being fun to play with.It was clearly not the one that they had picked together.
Darryl halted in an instant, like a deer caught in lights, the fingers around the chipping ring hitching as well.
" Uhhh… it must've slipped in my, in the big pocket of the sweater. The hanger got uhh caught and it kinda whooped! I think, yeah…" he stammered out the best lie in the world.
Pete raised his eyebrow , clearly not buying his court-worthy argument, like the stern judge he was. Seeing this immediately, the boy tried his plan B straight away:
"Come on dad , do you reaaaally think this lil guy could get in any...fishy business?"
Oh, a dad pun like that? He knew he just couldn't say no to the boy.
He wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer, letting out a sigh of "what am i gonna do with you" ,but told the boy he would add it to their keychain collection once they were back home.
...He really was soft , wasn't he?
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While this totally understandable shoplifting was occuring , Molly Mcgee had a different objective in her mind!
On trips like these , her desire to appeal to her friends would always take over. So , she had her own personal tradition that she had followed for years : she always brought something to her close friends from these trips. Tiny notebooks, some sweet stationery, tote bags...everyone loves gifts!
(Well...she does wonder every once in awhile if the friends that she have left behind now still do possess these little trinkets that she happily picks out, or if they also keep it in a box, just like she does with the many friendship bracelets, painted pebbles, class notes and letters that are now interrupted , abruptly if she had any say in how she felt about it. She wondered if these little doodads somehow managed to hold the memories of her friendships, if they remind them of her every now and then.)
But she loved giving gifts, and well, she had a forever friend now. Although, from what her mom told her, she already had a different plan to surprise the ghost, so she decided to pick out some stuff for her other lovely friends, Libby and Ollie.
Libby was no trouble. I mean, turtles, aquarium. It really was no issue.
The exhibit had plenty of these plastroned friends , so after some digging in the shop, she found a few coloured stickers of turtles in funny poses , oh they were perfect!
She searched through to find the same turtle type that Libby had , like searching your own name on those necklace/bracelet/soda cans, flipping through some sliders, snappy turtles, even very cute tortoises , but settling for the box turtle stickers , because the skateboarding one made her giggle.
(She didn't really get something for herself in these kinds of shops, but... maybe she should start somewhere! She picked a second pack of stickers of these terrapenne friends, the one that had a microphone and a top hat being her favourite. )
Right across to this forest green coloured isle were little figurines, presenting elegantly, as it seemed carved and shaped by human hand, the most notable sea creatures that the visit offered.
Some sharks that had their mussels turned upwards joyously, some sea turtles swimming mid air , their flippers suspended as if stopped by time; but the one that definitely caught her attention was this one fish display. Silver scales, almost pure white, with tourmaline coloured stain, not really stained haphazardly, it wouldn't look this beautiful if it was. Even with the black splotches that contrasted its bright being , she picked up the wonderful figurine.
When she looked at the name of this particularly mesmerizing fish, she read Nishikigoi (Koi fish). The many ramblings of Scratch came to her mind, specifically how the name of the fish was homophonic to another word in Japanese (he doesn't know japanese, just a huge fish nerd) and that many people present them (necklaces, bracelets, paintings or even going to a fountain with these adorable decorative fish) for affectionate gifts (she remembers how he gagged while he spewed this one fact out, his usual self.)
Koi sounds like the word "love" in Japanese.
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Well Ollie wouldn't know that now, would he?
She brought all of these to to the check-out area , payed with her own money like the grown up she was, (her mom had given 50 dollars to the both of them before the trip) and, after complimenting the cashiers funny hat that read 'women fear me, fish want me' , she left the store last, still giggling over the cap.
(And if she noticed the seemingly large bag that was in her mothers clutches hand , she didn't say a word.)
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They were now an hour on their way back home, with the mother taking the wheel this time around, while her husband rested in the seat next to her.
The siblings had also fallen victim to this sweet slumber, their bodies probably tired from all that laughter, and that left only Sharon and Scratch.
The ghost replayed the sights and sensations in his buzzing mind as they passed through where the rivers would soon appear in the deep gorges, through the forest.
The trinkets and showy baubles that they have gotten from the gift shop would now chine into one another as the car took sharp turns every once in a while, and the once noise that resemble the melodic sounds of a wind chime, had now become the fruit of his irritation , as they laid in a particularly big bag, taken out of their initial packaging.
Annoyed and curious, he reached in the back of the trunk (not really , just distending his non-solid arm , not even moving an inch) and brought the bag to his plane of vision to observe, and most likely to get rid of the pesky music.
Once he reached inside however, it was almost as if his plans had been crushed to dust over this soft plush texture that he held in his ooze-gob of a hand.
Now, his affectionate roommate was truly obsessed with her own toys, tending to them with such gentle care. But he never truly bothered to have an interest in her plush hobby. It was her toys, children's way of having interaction and playing out simple images in their heads.
So perhaps he really should have given them a try before wallowing in misery in the same way for years.
But now he had in his hand a small, cloudy gray, cushioned and stuffed, with spherical buttons sewn in for each eye and a shape of a wonky smile with a felt like material, only thinner.
A shark, because they were at an aquarium and they saw sharks and at the gift shop there were these plushed sharks and she must've-
"Oh noooo , Scratch! That was going to be a surprise! I was gonna give it to you at home…" Sharon whined , without any true disappointment in him of course, just catching him in the rear mirror, fidgeting on the cardboard tips of the bag.
For...him?
He never really got gifts, not many people enjoyed his presence , or just cared enough to think about him, so he never really got celebrated with a gift. Yes, being the Chairman did have the advantages of little offerings , still surreal honestly, but nothing like this.
The last genuine gift he remembers (oh why did he have to remember ) he got , one that the person filled with thousands of buzzing memories in a precious rose-tinted bottle, it…didn't end well.
He never should get attached to anything, that was his motto, his way of living. Anything , anything at all, he can't even waver his barrier , his defense system like that. He just can't.
But they were different. So very different. They gave him the priviledge to dare. And, as he looked around the peaceful (when had he learn peace?) atmosphere of the car, the rhytmic rising and falling of their chests, reminding him how human they were , and how he was not. When he truly looked at his family, he realized he couldn't even cry when this barrier crumbled to pieces, he just watched it all go down with such thrill, terrified still, but exhilarated, like millions of little comets rather than harsh bricks.
He now had a little shark plushie.
…He had to speak didn't he?
He just… he must've misplaced his voice somewhere, he couldn't seem to find it.
He did find his tears however, so that's something.
But as the greedy part of him always indulges, he keeps what he finds to himself. So ,with that in mind, he took the cottoned toy out of its rest, and brought it up so that he could squeeze it…lovingly? He hoped it was. He didn't really know if his love was ever enough.
But he really loved his family, for what it's worth.
He loved them so much.
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Sharon glanced at the slighly flaring mirror once again, to see how the ghost was holding up with his terribly executed surprise.
And, to her eye, he just looked so… lost . No remark, no compliment (wasn't really expecting one , she thought , rolling her internal eyes in her brain) just , silent. Silent as a ghost, but not the ghost she had grown to care for.
…She had to say something , didn't she?
So , she tried, hoping her motherly voice didn't betray her in this heavy moment.
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"...YEEaaaa I uh...don't really wanna open a-, a particularly bad...,umm, can of worms! (fishing...pun! haha)" she said , trying to joke off the tension very awkwardly, but, with her acumen always being her reliable knowledge , she swiftly organized her words in a more genuine tone and a soft sigh, " but, I'm.. glad you... joined along. Glad you were here this time. Now... that one empty seat in the back is gonna be full." She smiled, turning her head to the front once again , staring at the road, driving almost blissfully , like it wasn't the most heart shattering words for him: "it really does feel complete, you know? A true family trip."
He supposed.
No, he really couldn't, not with the tears forming in the tired corners of his eyes once again, but he tried. It didn't work, but he supposed ,for her, it could be, it could be that simple for her. Possible, yeah.
Too upset to say anything, yet not having a clue for this disquietness of his, he tightened his gril around the toy. His arms were so much more tense than usual, but not from uncomfort, it was simply reminding him how human he came to be.
Yes, simple as it can be.
"I um... wanted to take the road that's next to the ocean, get in the ocean breeze , odour and all that, you know? You can open the window a bit, if ya like...just don't wake em up ,ok?"
And with that , she reassured him that everything was going to be ok , in a way that was just enough. A love that was just right, just enough for him.
With this newly acquired permission, he opened just a tiny gap, to let in the cooling air , entering the vehicle in spirals and curls.
As the aforementioned ocean breeze hit his face soothingly, like the most gentle hand,washing away his falling tears, that were now close to cessing completely, he realized how he simply couldn't wait for the next family trip.
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Maybe he can give those driving lessons a second try.