Baby Talk

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting yesterday like I originally had planned. Thank you for your comments. I think this is just one of those frustrating years with everything going on and I’m reminded that I used to post four chapters regularly originally. That is a little crazy admittedly, but consistency is just something I strive for. All that being said though, I was really trying to push it, but one thing after another just kept popping up in the first part of my day, and I knew for this chapter, I needed to be in a more ‘hopeful’ mindset. I write and I can fake emotions… but I like the raw stuff sometimes better than what I can come up with out of the blue when I’m definitely not feeling it. I can make up angry pretty well… but changing bad feelings going into good feelings though is a bit of a stretch. So, sorry again about that. What this means though, is that due to some family cookie baking obligations, another chapter will be posted on Saturday now. I’ve been working on the ending however, and I have most of the major details fleshed out now to give this story a proper conclusion. Which, barring an emergency, should allow me to power through this story and finish it up next week. Next, just as a reminder, a new poll is up for you all to let me know which story you all would like to read next. Story options can be found back in the beginning of chapter 2, and the link can be found there and chapter 9 as well. As I mentioned before though, if you feel more comfortable leaving a comment here or as a private message to me, I will count these as well. Additionally, like before, this poll will be shut down right before I post my final chapter on here. Further announcements will be made regarding this when the time gets closer, but this should be Wednesday or Thursday now. Last but not least and as usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter of my story! Chapter 13: Help From the Most Unexpected Places I look at the ghost now crouching before me. The other spirits that have visited me… tormented me from their longing and aggressive requests… all of them were angry and even violent. They couldn’t harm me necessarily, but they were like that bee buzzing in my ear or the horn blasting in my face. Neither are fatal… but keep it up and multiply them by dozens if not hundreds, and it’s not a very pleasant thing to encounter. But this woman is different. In her face, there is no urgency… only kindness. There might be a hint of sadness around her eyes, but from her outer facial expression, I can’t tell if that’s more from whatever her history is or if it’s something more to do with myself and the concern she’s clearly showing for me right now. And maybe it’s just my own bias, but her 1950’s housewife appearance doesn’t exactly scream threatening either. She then waddles in her crouch a little closer to me, her expression still open and sincere. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to know… are you okay?” Despite her outwardly friendly demeanor, she’s still a ghost. Given my history with them lately, my nerves are still a jumbled mess. “I… I’m o… okay. W… who are you?” She smiles and sits across from me, each movement she makes something gentle and completely non-threatening, almost as if she was treating me like a frightened little baby bird. “Me?” She almost seems shocked that someone, or at least me, would even ask her that, but her smile only grows instead. “My name is Susan. What’s yours, cutie?” I’m not sure why, but I feel this little warm glow in the bit of my being deep down right then. It’s small, but it’s there just enough that for some reason, I feel I can trust this new ghostly woman with my name at the very least. “I… I’m Liam.”  “Good to meet you, Liam.” She scoots a little closer but then stops when I flinch away from her. She quickly freezes in her movement but puts her hands up to show me she means me no harm. “It’s okay. I promise. I’m not trying to hurt you, Liam. I know I’m a ghost and that can be pretty scary, but based on everyone who was just at you, I’m guessing I’m not the first you’ve seen.” Still a little terrified of any ghost, I only shake my head. Her outer expression falters a little, but her smile remains firm. “Well, that has to be a little scary then. I can’t blame you for being a little jittery around me… so let’s just take this one step at a time, okay? First though… try and not be afraid of me, sweetie. I swear I’m not here to hurt you.” I stare at her for a moment, and I try to look for any signs of deception… but I only see sincerity staring back at me. Not only that, unlike any of the other ghosts I’ve encountered, she doesn’t seem to either want anything or want to scare me or cause me harm. So, my words failing me a little, I instead scoot a little closer to her to show her my tiny instance of trust. Seeing that, her expression brightens up once more. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She pauses for a second and rubs her hands together. “Now, help me understand this… how exactly can you see us? Uh, ghosts, I mean…” I sigh, knowing that to explain a little of all this means explaining everything to this virtual stranger. Two things though bolster my confidence and my dwindling reluctance though. First, I still feel that warm glow. It’s not much, but so far… beyond my first encounter with Daisy when I thought she was Frankie’s ghost, all the other times have only led to positive outcomes. Second though, Susan has already gotten a good long look at me. She’s seen my terror, my tears, and most critically, Mr. Snuggles. None of that has frightened her off or made her laugh at me, so, I take a deep breath and decide to tell her everything… or at least most everything. She doesn’t need to know about my diapers… or my pacifier, still tucked neatly away in my pocket. Once I’m done explaining almost everything, I sit back and Susan looks bewildered for a second, not that I can exactly blame her there… even if she is a ghost herself. “That’s…” She bites her lower lip and hesitates but then looks at me with what I can only amount to sympathy. “I’m very sorry that happened to you, Liam. That would be a lot for anyone to handle… definitely explains why all the ghosts want to talk to you and why you were so afraid of me at first though.” She pauses for a moment and twiddles her fingers before looking back at me. “But you’re not afraid of me anymore, right?” I stare back at her, and while there’s a tiny part of my brain telling me I should just run away… I squash that part down and shake my head. Somewhere in her voice, I hear hope, and for me right now, that’s enough. “No. I don’t know why… but you seem… different… at least from the others, I mean.” When she smiles, a little part of my rational brain kicks in. I originally came out here to find Daisy… but I don’t even know where to start looking. Worse, without Susan’s intervention, I know I would be swarmed by the ghosts again. So, gathering any remaining nerve and confidence I have left, I take a breath. “Uh, Susan? I know we just met, but… you’re honestly the first ghost that hasn’t tried to demand anything or scare me… or try to possess me.” Susan smiles a little at that, and I feel a burst of a little more confidence surge within me. “Uh… so, I was wondering if… well, what you all are or what even motivates you. I’m trying to find Daisy and… I really don’t know where to start.” Susan nods and scratches her head… as if her there was still an itch there of physical form. “Well… there’s a lot to all this, and I don’t know everything to be honest, but what I’ve been told at least and seen for myself… we’re that little part in people when they’re alive that makes them get up in the morning and feel life. Like emotions or the feeling you get when you smell pine or cookies or whatnot. Some call it a soul, but this one ghost I first met 40 years ago always just refers to it as the human ether.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Not sure, but if you want to know what make us tick… I do know that without a body to tether us down, we don’t have limits anymore and our emotions can just build and build without a way to release them. Think of it like punching a pillow. Helps get your frustration out, but being dead and…” She waves her hand around and then passes it through a nearby leaf on the ground. “…Whatever we are, we can’t do that anymore. So, for young ghosts or those who just never learn, those feelings can just grow and grow until they pop.” “Pop?” I question, quickly thinking back to how emotion Daisy could be. She nods. “That’s right. A ghost can lash out unexpectedly from all those times they couldn’t release… decades for some. A lot of spirits grow angry and… I know you’ve seen what that desperation and negative feeling can go to create…” I know she’s referring to all the ghosts and spirits that tried assaulting or scaring me earlier. Before, I just viewed them as crazy and vengeful… waiting to mow me down in a second like wild dogs. Now, they just seem more like broken things… doomed to wander around until they can happen on maybe some poor unwilling soul… like Daisy did with me. Curious now more than ever, I scoot closer to Susan, my mind fixated on Daisy and maybe coaxing her in by helping her… if that’s even possible. “So… can you help a ghost out, or… maybe change things for the better for them?” Instead of her usual quick and spirited response back to me, Susan pauses and looks off distantly… before smiling and turning back towards me. “There is, and… actually, do you have a moment to spare?” she questions. “I think there’s something you should see…” Despite how late it is, I know I’ll find no true rest until all of this has been resolved, so barely even thinking, I nod my head and quickly follow Susan away. About 20 minutes later, we stop somewhere in the Southwest of Philadelphia. Sighing, Susan turns back towards me. “Tell me, Liam. Are you very familiar with the history of this city… more specifically, the history of epidemics with it?” I grimace over such a conversation starter, especially when concerning potential ghosts but I still waffle my hand back and forth. “I guess a little? It took one of the ghost tours a few years back with my, well, girlfriend at the time. I think I remember something about one in the… 1780’s? Maybe 1790s?” Susan smiles and nods. “Very good. Most people don’t remember that… even when they have taken the ghost tour.” From her tone, I wonder if she resents the term more or the tour itself. “Still, Philadelphia has had several epidemics throughout its history. While the yellow fever of 1793 is probably the most famously talked about still… cholera swept up the city more commonly in the 1800’s.” She pauses and looks distantly for a moment. “While the city’s improvements reduced the number of dead over the years, in 1849, it struck again. A family was living out here when the mother was struck ill and taken to a hospital… which one though, I’m not sure,” she says quickly. “What I do know is that a lot of those people have or had unfinished business.” “And is she… the mother, I mean, the ghost we need to help?” I ask after a moment of her staying silent and looking over the city blocks as if she was looking for something… or someone, in particular. Looking like she spotted the something that she was looking for, she turns back towards me and shakes her head. “Not specifically at this moment, no. The ghost, or ghosts, I should say, are two of the children of that family. Tasked by their bedridden uncle with finding their mother and bringing money to the hospital for her treatment, they walked off… but they had been stricken by the disease as well. Sick, one foggy morning just after a rainstorm that summer, they fell gravely ill and died, still searching for their mother… just two of the 747 that year, if I remember correctly.” Before I can ask a single question, Susan gestures just ahead of us. Looking over, sure enough, I see two pale ghostly figures dragging themselves up the street, both in ragged clothes seemingly plucked from a Charles Dicken’s novel. Being so late, as soon as they come into the light, I notice both with how scared they are… how sick, but maybe most importantly, how lost they are. “Are they the ghosts you wanted to show me?” I gesture back at the two wandering children, now seemingly confused with the bright neon sign of a local bank in front of them. Susan nods. “Yes. I… well, I stayed in one place for many years. About ten years ago though, I began to wander around the city. I help where I can, but these little dears… they’re still searching for the hospital with their mother. And… as much as I want to help, I just don’t know the city as well as I would like anymore. So many places look different these days…” I see a sadness in her eyes; a look I can only imagine is the distant look of someone see the city they lived in grow and completely change around them… leaving them behind quickly. Looking over at the two kids, I can only imagine their confusion with all the changes that sprung up around them in the nearly 200 years since they passed. “And you think I can help?” I scratch my head, not sure if I really can. Susan nods again, however. “I do. You have access to resources I don’t. You can travel more easily, and frankly… let’s call this a test of sorts for you. You seem you need help and while I have my suspicions to help with Daisy… I need to be able to trust you completely before I do. I’ve seen far too many ghost hunters pretending to be lost or confused and con us ghosts. Never ends well…” I never even thought about that, but with a seeming test in front of me and her dangling the carrot of helping me with Daisy… I muster up my courage, nod, and then set off towards the two kids. Trying to keep in mind that they are both ghosts and kids, I approach them with caution. Taking advantage of them trying to interact with an electronics storefront, I stop and clear my throat. “H… hello? Can I h… help you two?” The two children stop their probing of an advertised cellphone and turn right towards me, their faces pale and calm and calculating. Hauntingly moving closer to me, they hold up a scrap of paper with their waxy candle-like bony fingers. “Do you know where this is?” they ask me in unison, something they say so quickly and without emotion that I wonder how many times they’ve asked it by now. I look at the ghostly image of the scrap of parchment, but the ink has been highly degraded, likely caused by the rainstorm Susan mentioned that occurred the night before. I sigh and shake my head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t read that. But… do you all remember what it said maybe?” Both think for a moment and then sadly shake their heads. Sighing, I realize I need to dig deeper with them to help them out, my pass or failure of this test still on the line… plus no small amount of feeling the need to help these two stranded ghostly kids out. “Alright. Well… let me have a think for a moment, but… let’s start with names. I’m Liam.” “Liam…” they say slowly and in unison as if they were both rummaging the name repeatedly in their heads. After a moment though, the scrawny boy steps up and looks at me head on. “Tommy… Tommy Baker.” The girl, looking even paler and sicklier with sunken eyes nearly looking like dark holes just housing little white orbs, gives me a little wave, reminding me quickly of one of my nieces. Tucked in her arms, I can even see a raggedy little doll. “Mary…” she says weakly. Tommy gives her a side hug, nearly looking more like an effort to keep her on her feet. “Please, sir… our mother… she’s very ill…” “I heard about her, but…” I then slowly remove my phone. “You know, I might just have a solution…” “Is that magic?” Mary questions, her eyes growing wide at the glowing object now in my head. I pause my search for old Philadelphia hospitals, and I hesitate with my answer. Magic in old America could be bad to associate myself with, deadly even in some cases with the wrong sort of people. But… with children, I feel I need to take a chance and maybe wow them. “Why… yes, it is. I simply ask it a question, and it tries to give me an answer. Magic.” “Wow…” both say, seemingly enchanted by the notion, my gamble seemingly paying off. It’s a big relief, and in another stroke of luck, I see two potential places to take in the sick from back then within the city: Pennsylvania Hospital and Blockley Almshouse. “Okay… my magic device says there might have been two… one’s the Pennsylvania Hospital and the other’s Blockley Almshouse… or sometimes known as Old Blockley.” I pause and look back at the two enraptured ghostly children before me when they don’t immediately say which one was written down on their faded paper. “Do either of those sound familiar?” Unfortunately, this time my luck doesn’t hold as both shake their heads… only compounded now by the notion that Blockley Almshouse closed almost 50 years ago now. If there was something to be resolved there, something tells me that it would be even harder now. Sighing, I see I do have one more trick up my sleeves. “Okay… I know you all were traveling to your mother. Do you know where in Philadelphia she was located? Where you were headed, maybe? Maybe a direction?” Both pause and seem unsure until Tommy utters a single word… “East…” Almost instantly, relief washes over me. “Okay. That has to be Pennsylvania Hospital. The other is most definitely west of the city. This one though is actually…” I look at the map on my phone, and while I know it’s closed tonight, a location might be all I need. “Yep! Just about 7 blocks east of here…” Both Tommy and Mary instantly look joyous… though decidedly calmer than I expected. As we start to walk over though, considering the other ghosts were still afflicted by what killed them, I chalk up their muted joyous laughter and jumps for joy to the lingering effects of cholera. Already, just by seeing how much ghosts suffer after they pass, I feel bad for Daisy. Not so much that I forgive for everything she put me through… but enough that I at least can understand her a little better now. Pulling in Susan, the four of us walk over to the site of the old hospital. Still standing after over 250 years, the grounds are covered in the ghosts of former sadly deceased patients. I had always joked with Brandon and Carmen when all this started with just how haunted Philadelphia was… but seeing them all there, I am immediately humbled as they all begin to stare at us. To my relief, barriers don’t seem to an obstacle for ghosts, and leading Tommy and Mary right up to the fence, we are soon greeted by a similarly dressed woman, her own skin pale and eyes sunken in. Her hair quickly reminds me of Mary and her nose of Tommy. “Kids!” she shouts out before I even have a chance to introduce the trio. “Mom!” both shout, running up with a new burst of energy, their old sickness seemingly vanishing as their mom passes through the fenced off wall and embraces them tightly. “I missed you two so much!” she exclaims, her words only broken by the dozens of kisses she showers over the tops of their heads. She then turns towards me. “Thank you… thank you so much. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for bringing them to me.” I shake my head. “You’re welcome, ma’am, but think nothing of it,” I say, smiling and just relieved and happy over the easy but joyous outcome. To my surprise though, she then turns to Susan. “Thank you… I just knew you would help. I always heard you were a miracle worker…” “It was my pleasure, Constance,” Susan replies, smiling back wide at the reunited mom and her kids. “I think you all should be ready now…” “Ready for…?” Constance questions, before beams of light softly begin to glow and grow all around her and Tommy and Mary. Soon, the trio is bathed in light before floating up and then disappearing like so many little fireflies. It’s a wonderfully beautiful sight, one to my surprise that few other ghosts seem to notice. Still, as they depart, I get that same glow of a warm feeling deep down. ‘Weird… is this just my body’s new way of telling me I did a good job, or is it something else?’ Regardless, once they flutter all away and the darkness returns to the street, I turn, amazed but bewildered toward Susan. “What… what was that? Why did the ghosts not react? And… why… how did she know you?” Susan sighs, smiling still. “That… was their unresolved business being completed. It’s what happens to ghosts who are no longer tethered here. And the other ghosts do see it… most just don’t want to be reminded how they’re stuck here. Sadly, most ghosts can’t get out of their own ways… their own problems.” “As for your other questions…” She then pauses and sighs before sitting down on a nearby stoop and gestures for me to sit next to her. As I do, she looks out and gestures to the others. “Look at them, Liam… tell me what you see out there.” I look, and now that they aren’t ganging up on me, I still see the gore and the deaths that so deeply disturbed me before, but now I see something more. In each one of them, while there’s anger for some, most are aimlessly wandering around, lonely… sad. They look like they are longing for something they just can’t quite reach or the life they’ve now mostly departed. “Sadness… loneliness… anger for a few, but… they look like lost puppies in a rainstorm…” I say, finding yet another one who looks even sadder than the previous one. “Exactly,” she says with satisfaction yet a sadness as well. “For me, while I wait, I help others that I find out in the city… those dead and wandering. I can’t help everyone, but those I can… I try to. I can only do so much and tonight just happened to be not long after I first found out that those two still had a mother waiting on them here at this hospital… even how she died before they ever made it to her. Two unresolved issues… now fixed in a single night.” “So, you could have helped them?” I ask after a moment. Susan hesitates but then nods. “That’s right. I could have, but as I said… I wanted to test you. Plus, with their case, I knew it was going to be an easy one to fix. Not all are so easy, so I didn’t want to put you in danger with the test though. Not only all that, but I wanted to show you that not all ghosts are scary and that instead of thinking about your situation as some sort of cosmic joke or a curse from a series of ill-informed spells, maybe you could see this as a calling… at least for now.” I stare at her in near disbelief and blink a few times, trying to figure out what she’s getting at. “Meaning?” “Meaning… go out there and help the ghosts where you can. Find out their unfinished business. Gain a respect back in the community… a rumor if you will that could lead back to Daisy and help you out with her.” She pauses and sighs. “Right now… she is probably alone, scared, sad… and hates your guts. I know she wasn’t fair to you, and she took things too far, but… don’t write her off as a bad person… just maybe as one who can’t control her emotions and felt alive through you. It’s not right, but she isn’t evil either.” It's a lot to think about and we sit in silence on the stoop there surrounded by all the other sad and wandering ghosts milling about lost and aimlessly. It’s a lot to ask anyone to go out and help the ghost fix their unfinished business, but there’s a part of me that wants to help them. Susan’s given me a lot to ponder, but as I turn to her, I see that same tiny bit of sadness I saw before. “Susan?” She turns towards me. “I’ll try to help those I can. It’s a lot to shoulder, but… I can at least try. But… maybe I start with you…” Her eyes widen in shock but even seeing that I stick to my plan. “Is there maybe some unfinished business I can help you with? I mean, you’ve already helped me so much tonight, and I…” She then stops me by placing a single finger over my lips. Smiling, likely to tell me she’s not actually annoyed, she then removes her finger. “I appreciate the offer, sweetie. I really do, but…” She trails off and looks distantly once more. “I know it’s late, but… if you’re willing, there’s one more thing I want to show you. Maybe it will even help you…” I don’t even want to look at my watch, and I’ve definitely been ignoring the chimes of the local clock striking each late hour, but I want to continue. I want to help Susan, so, barely even thinking about it, I nod my head. Following her along, we move west in the city… past Independence Hall… past my job and the city center… and right to the side courtyard of a nursing home. Curious and worried a guard might spot us peeping around over here, I look back at Susan, now looking for something in the windows. “Susan? What are we doing here?” She seems to ignore me for a moment, before lighting up and then pointing at one of the windows. “Now, don’t make a scene, but you see that elderly woman?” I look up at the window she’s pointing to, and sure enough, I see an elderly woman looking distantly out at the city, her white hair shimmering under the dim lights in her room. Looking closely though, even beyond her elegant but seemingly thick glasses, I finally see what I can only describe as someone who looks like Susan’s mother, and I smile at first… only to realize my math is wrong. Based on her clothing at least if nothing else, Susan probably died in the 1950s. Unless she was a teenager when she had her, her mom would be almost 100 now. The woman I’m looking at now is old… but not that old. “Who is she?” I ask at last, my curiosity burning, but my sadness also muted feeling like I already know the answer. “My daughter… Lilly,” Susan says with a smile. “She turned 82 last July…” I can only imagine the joy but maybe also pain in seeing your own daughter grow up without you. Yes, she’s alive, but looking at Susan, I can’t imagine that Lilly was very old when she lost her mother. At that moment, seeing the pride and wistfulness on Susan’s face, I feel I already know her unfinished business. Letting her speak first, Susan takes another look at her daughter before sitting on a nearby bench under a large tree. Wanting to hear her and help her if I can, I sit in time for her to start talking again. “I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy… but I had an internal aneurysm the doctors didn’t detect. I might have lived… but I fell on the ice a few weeks later… burst it open and I died.” She pauses and I see her daughter… but not her son. “And your son… Is he…?” I leave the question open-ended, waiting for Susan to fill in the gaps herself only if she’s willing. “He passed a few years ago. They were both raised by my sister. She did right by them, and for that, I’m grateful. Visited my grave several times and both always called me mom…” She looks back up at Lilly, now pushing off to bed. “Soon… I’ll be with both my babies once more.” “You mean…?” I look back to the fading form of Lilly and fear the worst. “Cancer… didn’t catch what type, but doctor’s say she only has a year to live.” She looks away and twiddles her thumbs for a moment. “As a parent, you never want to see your child die… but I know everything and everyone in this world has its time. She’s lived a good life, and for that as her mother, I can only be happy.” “So, your unfinished business…” I push, still wanting to help her, “is to wait for your daughter to pass, or…?” “That’s right,” she confirms with a nod as well. “I lived a good life and while I would have loved to have guided my children in life, I still guided them both in death. I got to see them grow and mature and live their lives. I’ve got 14 great-grandchildren, you know? Not a bad legacy…” “But… but…” I realize quickly that there’s no helping Susan now and with her lesson apparently over, as she silently guides me away and back home, I can only mope in shock. She’s done so much for me in a single night, but now… she’s just waiting. I feel awful for not being able to repay her kindness like I did with Tommy, Mary, and Constance earlier. Getting within view of my house again, likely having seen my internal turmoil, she quickly moves by my side as I sit in silence still trying to absorb my realization that I can’t help her. It’s not long before she’s guiding her fingers over to my back and my hair, rubbing both and calming my nerves once more. I can’t feel her touch directly, but a pleasant warm tingle feels as if it’s sweeping over my skin. “There, there, Liam… it’s okay. You don’t need to help me. Help others… like I’ve done. You can help others, but I focused on children…” She pauses and smiles as she pats my leg. “One of the reasons I helped you actually…” I sniffle but her words catch me quickly off guard. “You… wait.” I turn towards her in confusion. “But I’m not a child!” She smiles and even chuckles for a second. “Oh, honey. I know that.” She then gestures to Mr. Snuggles. “But there you were… you were on the ground with your teddy and crying. Plus, given your teddy and your crying, I can only assume you are… padded underneath, shall I say?” I immediately scoot off the bench and shake my head. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Susan stands and joins me. Instead of mockery though, her smile only conveys sympathy. “It’s okay, Liam. You don’t need to be afraid of me or that others might know as well… but I was… am a mother. I know the sight of a diaper bulge when I see one. And…” She turns around and looks at a nearby digital clock reading. “Oh my! Look at the time. Young men like yourself shouldn’t be up this late! And…” She leans in close. “If you really need those diapers and based on the larger bulge I see… you’re definitely in need of a change, sweetie…” “I… I…” I try to stammer out any argument against her deductions, but her piercing concerned and sympathetic glance back at me silences those protests quickly. “I’ll go home… but for tonight… thank you, Susan…” She smiles and nods before wrapping her wispy trails of blue transparency around me, eliciting her previous calming warm glow over me once more. Backing away after a moment, she smiles sweetly at me. “No worries, honey, but… you run along back home now. I’ll look out for Daisy and let you know if I find her out here. Until then, help who you can…” Smiling, her body then nearly evaporates as she waves goodbye to me. “Tata for now, sweetie!” Her smile nearly sparkling under the streetlights, she then vanishes completely. I stand there, stunned for a moment, but her words and her guidance from tonight strikes me deeply. Coming to my front door soon after and still seeing the ghosts around my house, I sigh. I don’t want to, still fearing they’ll gang up on me again, but taking a deep breath and ignoring the time, I approach the calmest looking one. “Uh, excuse me? Can… can I help you?” *              *              * I wander the streets at night once more, no longer fearing the majority of ghosts around me. At first, I was scared and I nearly cried the first time a ghost yelled at me for just trying to help them. Since then, in the past week, I’ve gotten better at determining who can be helped… or who even wants to. It’s a hard concept to master, the notion that some ghosts just want to marinate in their pain and agony, but the lesson didn’t take long to stick. Having Gwen by my side a few nights has helped as well. With Daisy seemingly disappeared, Gwen offered to act as my escort for those ‘just in case’ times. I think there was a little part of her that enjoyed treating me like a lost child sometimes… something I didn’t mind either honestly, but I was mostly just glad for the company. Frankly, I keep getting these warm feelings around Gwen and in the past week, I only find comfort while being with her. She’s funny and smart and worldly in a way I didn’t know I liked… or wanted. I’m still keeping my distance, despite my growing feelings… but I also can’t deny that they’re there either. Still, tonight, Gwen has another séance for another client, so I’m back out by myself. As I look down each of the alleyways, I keep an eye out for the most vulnerable ghost I can help. They usually have simple needs, and more often than not, just need to be connected with another ghost. Kids wanting another playdate at the swings or someone needing directions to a location… or even finding a location so they can once again smell their favorite Philly cheesesteak in one case. I don’t judge what they want… I just help them out the best I can. Not long after guiding one of the kids to a sweet shop where they can gaze in wonder at all the candy there, I see a familiar face. “Hey, Susan! I’ve helped out nine more since yesterday.” Since our first meeting, she’s checked in on me occasionally. She and Gwen had a particularly apparently joyous and interesting conversation the other day with the use of the purple seeing stone… but I still see her check on me. Her questions about the state of my diaper are a bit humiliating out in public, and I’m very glad no one else can really see her, but I do enjoy her caring nature at least. Today though, her usual cheery expression is completely absent. Instead, she floats right up to me with a grave look on her face. “Liam… it’s good to see you. I’m glad you’re helping others, but…” She pauses and looks hesitant to tell me something, but she finally relents. “Liam… I found her.” I almost ask who she’s even referring to her, but from her expression and the ominous tone in her voice, I know it can only be one person. “You found Daisy?” She nods. “I did. Follow me… Hurry before she runs off again.” Without question, I follow her. For whatever reason, she then leads me away and to one of the parks I’ve seen a lot of ghostly kids play at. I shouldn’t be surprised, given what little I know about her, but it’s still shocking to see her at a distance as we approach. Despite being surrounded by laughter and joy of the other ghost children, she sits on a bench… her glow almost fading. To be blunt, it looks like a stiff breeze could blow her away forever. Susan then stops me and she looks at me with the most serious expression I’ve seen on her yet. “Liam… I found her for you, but you have to talk to her yourself. She was very skittish when I last talked to her… almost ran from even someone like me, so seeing you…” She winces. “So, go slow… gingerly, and above all… be careful.” Nodding, now not even wanting my voice to give me away, I approach from Daisy’s right side with her looking out towards her left. Her vacant expression combined with her even wispier and fainter form… she almost looks broken. For a moment, I wonder if it has something to do with the brutality of the spell that was used to sever our bond. I want to feel guilty about that, but I still don’t. The crinkle as I walk is testament to why, but with my newfound appreciation and sympathy for ghosts… I don’t want to turn my back on her either. Unfortunately, with the strong winds we’ve had recently and the cold Fall weather, a nearby tree has not only shed its leaves, but a few branches as well. I try to watch where I’m going, but my gaze is also fixated on Daisy, and my mind is glued to what it’s going to say to her… so I don’t see where I’m stepping. Until I snap a twig under my shoe… loudly. Daisy’s head almost unnaturally twists towards me. Her face showing that she recognizes me instantly, her pale blue and wispy form begin to transform as she stands and faces me fully. Seconds later, her skin and expression alive with hate, turns and burns a bright glowing red instead. Her eyes become like fire and she screams in anger. The ghostly nearby children see this as well and scream and run in terror. Some manage to float away while others disappear completely, a trick from Susan that I know only older ghosts can master in order to hide from even someone like me. I’m honestly surprised Daisy doesn’t do it as well, but looking back at her heaving and hulking form of pure rage… I see only revenge in her eyes. In seconds, before I can even react further, she runs at me and launches right into my chest. Not sure what to expect, instead of entering me like she used to, she instead pushes me to the ground. Seeing that, she screams louder, her voice full of pain and anguish. “Look what you’ve done to me! We had something and you threw it away! You ripped me apart and left me! You condemned to rot and fade alone! Damn you!” She snarls, almost looking more like a devilish beast than a ghost at this point. Her fury inescapable, I feel my diaper grow warm… and it’s not just because her form is now towering and crouching over me on the ground. I should be terrified, and I guess a part of me is… but I see something more now. Seeing all those ghosts and helping them out, I saw the angry ones… the ones that just wanted to hurt people… to make the whole world feel their pain. They are the ones that create the haunted houses… the ones that always are the ones to be written about. They bleed through society and create horror stories. But when I look at Daisy, I don’t see that. Instead, when I look at her, sure, I see all her rage and anger. She’s literally red and seething and fiery from her manifestation of it… but I see more. I see a tantrum. I see a scared and confused and hurt little girl. I know she’s an adult, but maybe it’s something she left in me, or something I always had and that Daisy just unlocked, but adult or not… there’s something childish within her. There’s a reason she wears diapers, even in death. There’s a reason she derived joy from feeding the ‘duckies.’ There’s a reason she liked story time or the feeling of being cared for. She’s an adult, but seeing her actions through the lens of the child she seems to be so much like… I don’t fear her. Instead, I just want to hug her or listen to her and soothe and fix her problems. It still takes every little bit of courage and resolve I have, especially seeing her interact with me on a physical level, something I didn’t even think was possible with a ghost… but I look right back at her and grab her hands and look deep into her eyes. With one giant breath, I make sure to put on my most sympathetic and caring face imaginable, scrounging every little experience I had with the other ghosts. Exhaling, I smile back at her. “Daisy… please. Tell me… tell me and I will listen.” I pause and see her face relax a little. “Tell me how I can help you now.”

No, not a problem here. I'm in a wet nappy most of the time, day & night. My wife's never raised it as an issue. She feeds me a bottle of milk in bed every night when she comes to bed, too, and she must know that means I'm going to wet in the night.

I don't remember saying that, but I could be wrong. For me, this story is over here. I'd rather end it a chapter too early than a chapter too late. If I were to compare it to TV series: there are too many I really liked, but the final season unfortunately wasn't as captivating as the previous ones. I even hesitated about posting part 3 here, because I personally don't think it's as good as parts 1 and 2. But I had already written it, so I felt I couldn't keep it from you.

Thank you, such a great story. Conclusion leaves the door ajar for a part 4. Is that on the cards, I think you said there might be, at one point?  

Ditto!! ❤️