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xp_logsAs Molly and Meggan settle down for bed, they are disturbed by disembodied singing. Roman makes himself known, and the two vow to help him.
Molly hopped in to bed, minty fresh after a good teeth-brushing. She was all ready to go with her strawberry pajamas, her hair in pigtails, and her matching strawberry hat. She had class tomorrow so they usually told her to go to bed early...but their early was not as early as her mom and daddy so that made her happy.
"Do they make strawberry toothpaste?"
Maybe if she got that it would match her hat!
“There's someone out there makes pork flavored toothpaste,” Meggan said, as she sat down on her own bed. “So I’m positive there’s strawberry…we’ll see if we can find you some tomorrow, if you want it,” Meggan suggested.
Sure, the pork was just some sort of novelty item that had only been sold for a holiday, but it was still real. There was bound to be someone in the school that had some extra strawberry flavored laying around, since that wasn’t a rare one. If not, they could buy Molly some, and see if she liked it.
"PORK? Ewww," Molly said, curling her nose. It didn't sound like it'd be very toothpastey.
"The strawberry would be good though! I wonder if it'd be like jelly? Do you think it'd be strawberry minty?"
Meggan agreed with the sentiment. Pork toothpaste had to be disgusting, so ew indeed. “That type is probably like the bottled turkey drink you see once a year…only for a different holiday, like Christmas. And turkey-less.” She was now hoping neither of them would dream of brushing their teeth with a gigantic turkey leg, because that was the only way to go from there.
As for strawberry mint? As she turned out a nearby lamp, she nodded. “There could be one like that, yeah. Looks more like jelly, tastes like a combination of mint and strawberry.” How good or bad that would actually taste, however, was up in the air.
"Oooh that might be good!" said Molly, who thought pancakes and applesauce were a good combination.
"Like strawberry limeade but minty!"
She pulled her strawberry hat down tighter around her head. Sometimes at night it came off so she wanted to make sure it stayed on.
"Do you think we can maybe go swimming outside sometime? It's getting warmer."
In LA it was already time to swim.
"Probably just like that!" That was a different sort of flavor combination, all right. Meggan nodded as she climbed back into her bed. “Yes. I’d give it another few days, though, to bring the water up to just the right temperature. How’s that sound?” It felt like it was almost perfect weather for it by now, but the water might still be ever so slightly chilly.
“When it’s looking like it’s just right, then we’ll head straight for the pool and dive in,” Meggan promised. She was in the mood for a good swim herself, now that Molly had brought it up.
"With our bathing suits, right? Cause real clothes might be weird," Molly said, nodding. She did that once. It was not as fun.
"Oh! Can we have a pool party for Nico's birthday on my birthday? Cause she never gets to have one since it's on Halloween."
“Yes, with bathing suits,” Meggan grinned. “Regular clothes would probably just weigh you down.” She wasn’t sure if Nico would want a pool party, but it couldn’t hurt. “We could try, and see if she wants to,” Meggan said. “You just want to move hers to yours and share it, or do you want to completely switch things around and have your birthday wait until Halloween?” She assumed it was the former, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Oh, no I asked her! She said we could have a pool party for her on my birthday and we could have presents maybe for both of us on my birthday! And presents on her birthday and a Halloween party too!" Molly said.
She thought she remembered that part right.
Yawning, Molly hunkered down deep in the pillows and blankets where it was comfy, grabbing her bear to hold onto.
“We can do that, then. Good idea,” Meggan agreed. Twice the presents all around had to be good for Nico. It couldn’t be a bad thing. Pulling the covers up, she settled down for a night of sleep.
Quiet descended and the two girls began drifting off to sleep. Then a voice could be heard, a man's voice, singing. It had a nasal, mournful tone to it and it got louder and louder:
"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end...
Molly stirred, if only to roll over and cover up her ears with a pillow.
"Did we leave the radio on?" she asked plaintively. She had just started to go to sleep, and now there was singing. She didn't even know that song.
Meggan had been in the middle of sleepily putting the covers over her head to block out the music, when Molly’s comment really registered. “I was about to ask you the same thing, but I don't think we did." Confused, she wondered aloud, "Did we ever turn it on today?” She didn’t think so. If not, where was it coming from? She continued to stay in her bed for a moment longer, trying to pinpoint the source of the singing. It probably wasn’t an abandoned iPod.
"Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby."
The voice continued, getting louder. It seemed to be coming from the end of Meggan's bed.
Molly frowned, pulling the pillow off her head. The sound didn't sound muffled at all now. Like it was someone singing, right there.
She sat up in bed, looking slowly over toward the sound.
There was a shape sitting on the end of Meggan's bed. Male, with long hair in a pony tail and a bald spot, torn jeans and a faded Who t-shirt straining over a paunch. The only thing missing, as he sat and sang, was the guitar.
As Molly sat up, he stopped singing and looked over. "Evening, little lady," he said, nodding his head at her.
Molly stared at the man, freezing like a statue, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
"Meg...gan..." she said through one side of her mouth, swallowing, before belting out:
"MEGGAN!" she said with a perfectly high pitched squeal that only a girl of her size and age could manage.
"LOOKLOOKLOOK!"
Meggan sat up quickly at Molly’s squeal, her eyes coming to rest on the man at the foot of her bed. A startled squeak of surprise was all that came from her at first as she scrambled backwards, before she finally shouted to Molly an equally surprised, “I SEE! I see him, Molly!” In her haste to get away from him and over to Molly, she nearly fell off the bed as her feet tangled in the sheets. Levitation was all that saved her from a particularly nasty spill.
As she caught her breath closer to Molly’s bed, she looked back in puzzlement and more than a little fear. What was he doing in their room?
Once Molly was certain she was not the only one seeing a transparent guy who could sing, she tilted her head. He hadn't SEEMED evil when he talked to her.
"What are you doing in our room, Mr. Ghost?" She paused.
"Are you a ghost?"
Maybe he was a mutant too and was just transparent?
"Well then, little lady, you've got me bang to rights. I am what you'd call a ghost. Deceased. Dead and gone." The man nodded his head to Molly and then Meggan. "Pardon me for the interruption. When the muse takes you, you have to go."
By this point, Meggan was seated beside Molly, watching the transparent man carefully. Meggan’s first assumption had been invisible mutant suddenly revealing himself, but if he was dead it was a whole new ballgame. “Why are you here? Do you need help?” Her last experience with something ghostly hadn’t been a good one by any means, so she wanted to understand his reasons for suddenly appearing to them. Other than getting an overwhelming urge to sing a sad song at the foot of her bed, which didn’t feel like it would ever be part of some evil master plan.
“I’m sorry for not asking this first, but…what’s your name?” He hadn’t said that yet, what with all their shouting and her diving away in shock. She thought asking someone how they died was too personal, and possibly rude, so she left that one off.
"Roman Coffee." He paused, as if waiting for some kind of recognition. "You've heard of me, right?"
Molly squinted a bit, resting her chin in her hand in contemplation. She brightened.
"Oh! Were you the owner of Starbucks?" she asked hopefully. He seemed like he might've been sad if she didn't know him.
Besides...coffee, right?
Roman gave her a look like a puppy that had just been kicked. "No, not Starbucks," he replied, before looking to Meggan. "You know me, don't you?"
Meggan thought for a moment, before she shook her head. Unfortunately, she couldn’t give him that small comfort. “I’m sorry, no. When were you famous?” Since he was dead, she assumed he might have been better known in whatever year it was he died.
Roman's face fell. "I suppose not," he said sadly. "I wanted to be - we all did, back then. Every guy and his guitar had dreams of making it big. Back when the music meant something."
Molly frowned. "You sounded good when you sang," she offered. He was a ghost but a sad ghost and she felt bad for him.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to be famous. But...um...why did you wanna see us?"
Didn't ghost come to see people they knew?
"Oh! Did you live at the mansion?"
Maybe he was haunting the mansion because he used to live here! So maybe he was a transparent mutant ghost! He seemed like he was the age of the Professor, though. Maybe they were buddies?
"The Professor would be happy to see you maybe."
Meggan thought that was a good question. Maybe he had lived somewhere close to this very suite of the mansion however many years ago his life was. The 60’s, if he was a type of hippie. How long had he been trying to contact someone? It would explain the morose song. “Was this your room when you were alive?”
Was he only appearing to certain people at certain times of the day? Meggan tilted her head curiously. “Are you only able to haunt at night? On the subject of hauntings," she added softly, "can you promise not to ever haunt our bathrooms?” Suddenly appearing on her bed meant there was a chance he might suddenly reappear in the bathroom.
Just because he was dead didn’t mean he shouldn’t respect their privacy in there. She didn’t want to be taking a shower and have a dead man popping in to sing a ballad. Or anyone to do that, really. “Yes, the Professor," Meggan encouraged. "Was the Professor a friend or teacher of yours once? Do you need to get to his room? Or do you need to find somebody else?” Were they going to have to give map directions to a ghost, if he was just lost?
"Woah, woah!" Roman held up his hands. "Easy there. I've never seen this place before - I got brought here by that friend of yours, the one in the black? I was just hanging out, looking for Ramona, doing my thing, and then next thing I know, I'm here." He looked at them searchingly. "Maybe you can help me find my lady? She's seen me through some bad times and I have to tell you, being dead is the worst. If Ramona was with me, things would be better."
Molly tapped her chin. Lady in black... "Oh, Nico!" she said. That was weird, she didn't know Nico could make ghosts!
"Where does Ramona live?"
She bit her lip. "Does she know you passed away? I bet she's sad."
So Nico had accidentally revealed a ghost. Made sense if the spell went all wonky because of the wrong phrase, Meggan decided. Meggan thought for a moment, wondering what they could do for him. “Do you need us to get a message to Ramona? Is it like one of those movies where the spirit needs to tell someone they love one last message? Do you…need to sing her one last song?” She wondered how many years had passed since Roman had died.
"Romana's my axe, little one, my guitar. My one true companion on the road." His face fell. "She's seen me through some tough times. She was supposed to be buried with me, when I passed on, only my jerk drummer sold her off. I suppose he figured he needed the cash." Roman shook his head in disgust. "Drummers." Then he brightened. "Maybe you and your friends can help? Buy back my lady, get her back to me?"
She could tell just how much he missed his instrument, so she didn’t have the heart to say no to him. “Roman, we’ll do whatever we can to help you get your Ramona back,” Meggan vowed. She glanced at Molly, hoping she’d agree with the plan. Surely they could find the money somehow. How far away might the guitar have traveled? In the morning, they could always ask for identifying marks on the guitar so they didn’t just grab any old one from a pile.
Molly met Meggan's eyes, then nodded. "Do you know where she got sold to?"
She hoped it wasn't in like...Las Vegas, cause that'd be far away.
Actually...that'd be kinda fun.
"Is she in Las Vegas?" she asked hopefully.
"Groovy! You two ladies are just totally... I don't even have the words for it. Tell you what, we'll talk about all the details in the morning, after you two have a good night's sleep." The ghost beamed at them and floated to the top of the dresser. "I'll sing you a lullaby."
Molly hopped in to bed, minty fresh after a good teeth-brushing. She was all ready to go with her strawberry pajamas, her hair in pigtails, and her matching strawberry hat. She had class tomorrow so they usually told her to go to bed early...but their early was not as early as her mom and daddy so that made her happy.
"Do they make strawberry toothpaste?"
Maybe if she got that it would match her hat!
“There's someone out there makes pork flavored toothpaste,” Meggan said, as she sat down on her own bed. “So I’m positive there’s strawberry…we’ll see if we can find you some tomorrow, if you want it,” Meggan suggested.
Sure, the pork was just some sort of novelty item that had only been sold for a holiday, but it was still real. There was bound to be someone in the school that had some extra strawberry flavored laying around, since that wasn’t a rare one. If not, they could buy Molly some, and see if she liked it.
"PORK? Ewww," Molly said, curling her nose. It didn't sound like it'd be very toothpastey.
"The strawberry would be good though! I wonder if it'd be like jelly? Do you think it'd be strawberry minty?"
Meggan agreed with the sentiment. Pork toothpaste had to be disgusting, so ew indeed. “That type is probably like the bottled turkey drink you see once a year…only for a different holiday, like Christmas. And turkey-less.” She was now hoping neither of them would dream of brushing their teeth with a gigantic turkey leg, because that was the only way to go from there.
As for strawberry mint? As she turned out a nearby lamp, she nodded. “There could be one like that, yeah. Looks more like jelly, tastes like a combination of mint and strawberry.” How good or bad that would actually taste, however, was up in the air.
"Oooh that might be good!" said Molly, who thought pancakes and applesauce were a good combination.
"Like strawberry limeade but minty!"
She pulled her strawberry hat down tighter around her head. Sometimes at night it came off so she wanted to make sure it stayed on.
"Do you think we can maybe go swimming outside sometime? It's getting warmer."
In LA it was already time to swim.
"Probably just like that!" That was a different sort of flavor combination, all right. Meggan nodded as she climbed back into her bed. “Yes. I’d give it another few days, though, to bring the water up to just the right temperature. How’s that sound?” It felt like it was almost perfect weather for it by now, but the water might still be ever so slightly chilly.
“When it’s looking like it’s just right, then we’ll head straight for the pool and dive in,” Meggan promised. She was in the mood for a good swim herself, now that Molly had brought it up.
"With our bathing suits, right? Cause real clothes might be weird," Molly said, nodding. She did that once. It was not as fun.
"Oh! Can we have a pool party for Nico's birthday on my birthday? Cause she never gets to have one since it's on Halloween."
“Yes, with bathing suits,” Meggan grinned. “Regular clothes would probably just weigh you down.” She wasn’t sure if Nico would want a pool party, but it couldn’t hurt. “We could try, and see if she wants to,” Meggan said. “You just want to move hers to yours and share it, or do you want to completely switch things around and have your birthday wait until Halloween?” She assumed it was the former, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Oh, no I asked her! She said we could have a pool party for her on my birthday and we could have presents maybe for both of us on my birthday! And presents on her birthday and a Halloween party too!" Molly said.
She thought she remembered that part right.
Yawning, Molly hunkered down deep in the pillows and blankets where it was comfy, grabbing her bear to hold onto.
“We can do that, then. Good idea,” Meggan agreed. Twice the presents all around had to be good for Nico. It couldn’t be a bad thing. Pulling the covers up, she settled down for a night of sleep.
Quiet descended and the two girls began drifting off to sleep. Then a voice could be heard, a man's voice, singing. It had a nasal, mournful tone to it and it got louder and louder:
"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end...
Molly stirred, if only to roll over and cover up her ears with a pillow.
"Did we leave the radio on?" she asked plaintively. She had just started to go to sleep, and now there was singing. She didn't even know that song.
Meggan had been in the middle of sleepily putting the covers over her head to block out the music, when Molly’s comment really registered. “I was about to ask you the same thing, but I don't think we did." Confused, she wondered aloud, "Did we ever turn it on today?” She didn’t think so. If not, where was it coming from? She continued to stay in her bed for a moment longer, trying to pinpoint the source of the singing. It probably wasn’t an abandoned iPod.
"Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land
Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby."
The voice continued, getting louder. It seemed to be coming from the end of Meggan's bed.
Molly frowned, pulling the pillow off her head. The sound didn't sound muffled at all now. Like it was someone singing, right there.
She sat up in bed, looking slowly over toward the sound.
There was a shape sitting on the end of Meggan's bed. Male, with long hair in a pony tail and a bald spot, torn jeans and a faded Who t-shirt straining over a paunch. The only thing missing, as he sat and sang, was the guitar.
As Molly sat up, he stopped singing and looked over. "Evening, little lady," he said, nodding his head at her.
Molly stared at the man, freezing like a statue, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
"Meg...gan..." she said through one side of her mouth, swallowing, before belting out:
"MEGGAN!" she said with a perfectly high pitched squeal that only a girl of her size and age could manage.
"LOOKLOOKLOOK!"
Meggan sat up quickly at Molly’s squeal, her eyes coming to rest on the man at the foot of her bed. A startled squeak of surprise was all that came from her at first as she scrambled backwards, before she finally shouted to Molly an equally surprised, “I SEE! I see him, Molly!” In her haste to get away from him and over to Molly, she nearly fell off the bed as her feet tangled in the sheets. Levitation was all that saved her from a particularly nasty spill.
As she caught her breath closer to Molly’s bed, she looked back in puzzlement and more than a little fear. What was he doing in their room?
Once Molly was certain she was not the only one seeing a transparent guy who could sing, she tilted her head. He hadn't SEEMED evil when he talked to her.
"What are you doing in our room, Mr. Ghost?" She paused.
"Are you a ghost?"
Maybe he was a mutant too and was just transparent?
"Well then, little lady, you've got me bang to rights. I am what you'd call a ghost. Deceased. Dead and gone." The man nodded his head to Molly and then Meggan. "Pardon me for the interruption. When the muse takes you, you have to go."
By this point, Meggan was seated beside Molly, watching the transparent man carefully. Meggan’s first assumption had been invisible mutant suddenly revealing himself, but if he was dead it was a whole new ballgame. “Why are you here? Do you need help?” Her last experience with something ghostly hadn’t been a good one by any means, so she wanted to understand his reasons for suddenly appearing to them. Other than getting an overwhelming urge to sing a sad song at the foot of her bed, which didn’t feel like it would ever be part of some evil master plan.
“I’m sorry for not asking this first, but…what’s your name?” He hadn’t said that yet, what with all their shouting and her diving away in shock. She thought asking someone how they died was too personal, and possibly rude, so she left that one off.
"Roman Coffee." He paused, as if waiting for some kind of recognition. "You've heard of me, right?"
Molly squinted a bit, resting her chin in her hand in contemplation. She brightened.
"Oh! Were you the owner of Starbucks?" she asked hopefully. He seemed like he might've been sad if she didn't know him.
Besides...coffee, right?
Roman gave her a look like a puppy that had just been kicked. "No, not Starbucks," he replied, before looking to Meggan. "You know me, don't you?"
Meggan thought for a moment, before she shook her head. Unfortunately, she couldn’t give him that small comfort. “I’m sorry, no. When were you famous?” Since he was dead, she assumed he might have been better known in whatever year it was he died.
Roman's face fell. "I suppose not," he said sadly. "I wanted to be - we all did, back then. Every guy and his guitar had dreams of making it big. Back when the music meant something."
Molly frowned. "You sounded good when you sang," she offered. He was a ghost but a sad ghost and she felt bad for him.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to be famous. But...um...why did you wanna see us?"
Didn't ghost come to see people they knew?
"Oh! Did you live at the mansion?"
Maybe he was haunting the mansion because he used to live here! So maybe he was a transparent mutant ghost! He seemed like he was the age of the Professor, though. Maybe they were buddies?
"The Professor would be happy to see you maybe."
Meggan thought that was a good question. Maybe he had lived somewhere close to this very suite of the mansion however many years ago his life was. The 60’s, if he was a type of hippie. How long had he been trying to contact someone? It would explain the morose song. “Was this your room when you were alive?”
Was he only appearing to certain people at certain times of the day? Meggan tilted her head curiously. “Are you only able to haunt at night? On the subject of hauntings," she added softly, "can you promise not to ever haunt our bathrooms?” Suddenly appearing on her bed meant there was a chance he might suddenly reappear in the bathroom.
Just because he was dead didn’t mean he shouldn’t respect their privacy in there. She didn’t want to be taking a shower and have a dead man popping in to sing a ballad. Or anyone to do that, really. “Yes, the Professor," Meggan encouraged. "Was the Professor a friend or teacher of yours once? Do you need to get to his room? Or do you need to find somebody else?” Were they going to have to give map directions to a ghost, if he was just lost?
"Woah, woah!" Roman held up his hands. "Easy there. I've never seen this place before - I got brought here by that friend of yours, the one in the black? I was just hanging out, looking for Ramona, doing my thing, and then next thing I know, I'm here." He looked at them searchingly. "Maybe you can help me find my lady? She's seen me through some bad times and I have to tell you, being dead is the worst. If Ramona was with me, things would be better."
Molly tapped her chin. Lady in black... "Oh, Nico!" she said. That was weird, she didn't know Nico could make ghosts!
"Where does Ramona live?"
She bit her lip. "Does she know you passed away? I bet she's sad."
So Nico had accidentally revealed a ghost. Made sense if the spell went all wonky because of the wrong phrase, Meggan decided. Meggan thought for a moment, wondering what they could do for him. “Do you need us to get a message to Ramona? Is it like one of those movies where the spirit needs to tell someone they love one last message? Do you…need to sing her one last song?” She wondered how many years had passed since Roman had died.
"Romana's my axe, little one, my guitar. My one true companion on the road." His face fell. "She's seen me through some tough times. She was supposed to be buried with me, when I passed on, only my jerk drummer sold her off. I suppose he figured he needed the cash." Roman shook his head in disgust. "Drummers." Then he brightened. "Maybe you and your friends can help? Buy back my lady, get her back to me?"
She could tell just how much he missed his instrument, so she didn’t have the heart to say no to him. “Roman, we’ll do whatever we can to help you get your Ramona back,” Meggan vowed. She glanced at Molly, hoping she’d agree with the plan. Surely they could find the money somehow. How far away might the guitar have traveled? In the morning, they could always ask for identifying marks on the guitar so they didn’t just grab any old one from a pile.
Molly met Meggan's eyes, then nodded. "Do you know where she got sold to?"
She hoped it wasn't in like...Las Vegas, cause that'd be far away.
Actually...that'd be kinda fun.
"Is she in Las Vegas?" she asked hopefully.
"Groovy! You two ladies are just totally... I don't even have the words for it. Tell you what, we'll talk about all the details in the morning, after you two have a good night's sleep." The ghost beamed at them and floated to the top of the dresser. "I'll sing you a lullaby."
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