ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="keywords" content="uneven days, unevendays"> <meta name="description" content="Uneven Days"> <title>Uneven Days - A Dark and Stormy Tale</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../standard.css"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"> </head> <body> <div class="headimage"> <img src="../unevendays.gif" alt="unevendays"></div> <div class="nav"> <a href="http://www.last.fm/user/unevendays">Music</a></div> <div class="nav1"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1052328">Books</a></div> <div class="nav2"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/unevendays/">Photos</a></div> <div class="nav3"><a href="http://unevendays.livejournal.com/">Blog</a></div> <div class="nav4"><a href="../writing/index.html">Other Writings</a></div> <div class="nav5"><a href="http://books.dreambook.com/zaf/unevendays.html">Guestbook</a></div> <div class="nav6"><a href="mailto:kindle@unevendays.co.uk">Contact</a></div> <div class="navhome"><a href=../index.html">Home</a></div> <div class="main"> <div class="head">A Dark and Stormy Tale:</div> [ <a href="index.html">Writing</a> ] [ <a href="../index.html">Home</a> ]<br><br> 'Twas a dark and stormy night. Nea sighed. Another boring haunting job. She had yet to find one that did not demand that she haunt only in bad weather or at midnight. And as she only had clearance to be Earthside whilst on duty, it got depressing. What she wouldn't give to haunt in the sunshine for once!<br> She was in her uniform, of course - the white dress, loose hair and bare feet&nbsp; - and drifted along the corridors of her duty post, silent as only an insubstantial could be. It was lonely, as all such jobs were - it would never do for substantials to see their ghosts chatting on duty! - and there were no substantials nearby as there sometimes were. <br> Her background profile was that of a benevolent 'woman in white', the usual sort. The type that drift down dark corridors in thunderstorms but fail to go out in the sunshine, as Nea wished so desperately to do. Nea hadn't been told what she was supposed to have died of, but it was probably childbirth or disease as her profile was so <I>boring</I>! If she couldn't haunt in the sunshine, they could at least give her an interesting profile. She never got to run around holding her head in her hands - not attached to her neck, of course - and screaming, which would have relieved the tedium a little.<br> As it was, curious mortals often came to watch her drift. Their presence sent shivers up her spine, but she was too professional to let it show. She didn't even let on that she could see them.<br><br> She drifted down the corridor as the thunder crashed and the lightning cast a blue light. It really was awful weather! She hated haunting in storms - the electrostatic forces made her itch. She knew that it would make her slightly more substantial, but even that thrill did not make her enjoy it. It could only give her enough solidity so that she might make the tips of her fingers solid enough to touch something, and Nea had never really wanted to touch things. They were all substantials, and she was not. <br> Nea heard footsteps - not hers, of course, insubstantials had no footsteps - and fought the urge to run. She didn't know why it was that substantials bothered her so much. None of the others had any problems with them. But Nea couldn't stand the idea of something that was <I>solid</I>. That couldn't go wherever they wanted because they had to protect their so-frail bodies. It was just a bad idea!<br> The footsteps came closer, and Nea forced herself to keep drifting, her face calm, eyes distant. They belonged to a small girl dressed in a pair of pink pyjamas that were a bit too big for her. <br> "Good evening," said the child, in English. Nea understood - she had taken an English class the last year in case she had the good fortune to land a job as a ghost that was allowed to scream and run - hopefully even to hold her head in her hands! So far, it hadn't amounted to much.<br> Nea ignored the child and kept drifting, outwardly calm. As soon as she rounded the corner, she dropped her composure and ran for the portal. It was safe from substantials, as you had to go through a wall to reach it. <br><br> As she stepped through, she realised that it was pretty much the end of her shift anyway, which was a relief. She approached the cross-over station, and put her hand through the verifier. It pinged and she crossed through back into Ghost Town. <br> Her apartment was on the outskirts of the city - as she had such a poor job, she couldn't afford to live in the centre. It wasn't particularly nice, just the basics. The cubicle for resting, and the dispenser for energy, and the rest of the room was empty. Nea was so exhausted after her ordeal that she just stepped straight into the cubicle and off-lined. <br><br> The next night was also rainy, so she was on duty again. The first half of the shift passed without event, and Nea spent the whole time wishing that she'd got a better job. One that wasn't so boring! <br> Her wish for interesting things came to pass at about midnight, when she saw the child again.<br> "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were a ghost last night, ma'am. I thought you rude,"<br> It was quite a nice child, really. Nea had to smother a smile.<br> "Can you see and hear me?" she asked. Nea made no response. "I won't tell!" Nea wondered if the child really knew that she wasn't supposed to acknowledge substantials, and hoped that she'd speak anyway. "Are you an insubstantial?" the child asked, insistent.<br> Nea started, and looked at the child in horror.<br> "How& how do you know what we call ourselves?" She demanded.<br> "So it is true. My uncle Julian used to tell me of a ghost lady, who used to talk to him. She called herself an insubstantial. And him a substantial." <br> "Yes, it is true. Do you know the name of the insubstantial?"<br> "It was Nivena, I think," said the child. Nea gasped. <br> "That was my mother's name!"<br> &nbsp;"Really? Then we're practically family! My name's Carrie."<br> "Pleased to meet you, Carrie. I am called Nea."<br> "Pleased to meet you, too, Miss Nea," Carrie said. <br><br> Carrie often came to see Nea on her shift after that, and Nea confided in the little girl almost completely. Carrie did the same, telling Nea all her secrets and wishes.<br> "When I'm big, I want to be a ballerina!" Carrie said, one day.<br> "I'd like a better job. Where I could run and scream, perhaps. Or even better, when I could go out in the sunshine. I've never seen sunshine. My mother had a summer job once, she got to haunt in the day. I think seeing sunshine is my biggest ambition."<br> "You've never seen the sun?" Carrie asked in horror. "How do you cope? The sun is the greatest thing ever!"<br> "I know. I wish I could get clearance to come to Earthside when I'm not on duty, but it's not allowed."<br> "I'd run away, if they didn't let me see the sun!" Carrie said.<br> "But I don't know what I'm missing." Nea said. "I think if I had seen the sun, I would not go back."<br><br> Carrie's words haunted Nea: <I>'I'd run away if they didn't let me see the sun!'</I>. Nea knew that the sun was the thing she wanted most in the world, and she gradually hatched a plot to flee Ghost Town and to become a criminal insubstantial. It was a crime to be late in from a shift, or do anything that might lead to substantials suspecting the truth, so Nea was already a criminal, although no-one knew yet. But if she fled, they would search for her. She decided to confide in Carrie and see if the child had any ideas.<br> Carrie, it turned out, had a perfect idea.<br> "Why don't you come home with me?" She asked. I live in a big house in the country that could use its own ghost. It's old enough, and it's way out of town. You could come out anytime without anyone seeing you - I have my own private garden. I live with my uncle Julian and aunt Crystal. You could talk to uncle, but aunt might be a problem."<br> "That would be wonderful if I could come! When do you go home?"<br> "In three days. Aunt and uncle have been in France. So I got sent here to my other aunt and uncle. So will you come?"<br> "Yes, I'd love to!" Nea said.<br><br> On the third day, Nea went on her shift as usual, but instead of going home, she went with Carrie to her room. In the morning, before daybreak, Nea hid herself in the car that was to take the child home. Carrie had pointed it out the previous night, and suggested that Nea hide there until the following night. Carrie would then show Nea around her new home, find her a hiding place in the private garden, and then wait for the dawn.<br> Nea felt the car begin to move. She was actually going! She couldn't believe it! She let the motion of the car soothe her into a state not unlike what the cubicle produced.<br> Abruptly, the motion stopped. Nea was jolted fully awake, and realised that the cubicle was an impediment. She slept better without it! But Carrie did not come, so Nea stayed where she was, not moving, and then drifted off to sleep again.<br> "Nea, are you there?" Carrie's voice, anxious. "I've brought uncle Julian," Nea slid out of her hiding place to see a tall man with the child.<br> "Hello, Nea. Carrie tells me you're Nivena's daughter, and that you've run away from Ghost Town."<br> "Yes, that's correct, sir," Nea replied.<br> "You're more than welcome here, Nea," he smiled.&nbsp; "All that I ask is that you don't show yourself to Crystal. She's a bit nervy. Let me show you the way to Carrie's garden."<br> "No, uncle! Let me show her!" Carrie said. "It's my garden!"<br> "Alright, Carrie. Just this once. But I want no arguments tomorrow!" Julian walked away, and Carrie tugged Nea by the hand - or would have done had Nea a substantial hand to tug. <br> Carrie showed Nea the garden, and it was one of the most beautiful things Nea had seen.<br> "Just wait until you see it in the morning!" Carrie cried.<br><br> They settled down to wait in a corner, and Carrie soon fell asleep. Nea, however, was far to exited to relax. It was only an hour or so to daybreak, so Nea waited. <br> A speck of light appeared on the horizon.<br> It grew.<br> And grew until the sky was almost completely lit up.<br> A ray of light hit Nea, she got up, and smiled as she saw the sun for the first time.<br><br> [ <a href="index.html">Writing</a> ] [ <a href="../index.html">Home</a> ]<br><br> </div> </body> </html>