First, nothing.
Then I was back in the world.
You could call me a ghost. But I was really just a memory. The Ellimist had afforded me one last mission.
Say goodbye.
I was in Marco's kitchen.
All of a sudden, Marco came stumbling in, all bleary eyes and lack-of- night-vision clumsiness, totally not seeing me. He stumbled to the fridge, opened it hard enough to bang the door against the counter, and did a typical guy thing: drank straight from a fresh carton of milk.
I couldn't control myself.
I laughed.
He nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Rachel?" he asked.
I nodded.
"You can't stay, can you?" he asked.
I pulled my sad face and shook my head. No. I couldn't stay. Two hours with each Animorph. No more. No less.
Marco pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Marco...God, I miss your sense of humor. The ones in that Heaven place aren't anywhere near your skill level. Up there, I feel like driftwood on the ocean. I find myself remembering morphing. I want to be a dolphin again. I want to be a grizzly, an elephant, anything not dead. I want to be here, living a semi-normal life on a Yeerk-less planet Earth. I want to morph a dog, just to snatch a frisbee out of the salty beach air. I want so many things that I can't have. I miss life. I miss you guys. I miss everything..." I said.
Marco just looked at me.
Not his normal "I'm gonna make a joke any second now..." look.
He was intense. Scary.
He was the Marco that only came out in times of tragedy.
He looked almost sad and almost angry.
Then he said, "I guess the Ellimist is trying to be nice, letting you say goodbye, letting us say goodbye, but it's unfair. We don't get to keep you. I'd cut my own head off just so we could get you back."
He laughed.
I just stared.
Totally unexpected.
I glanced at the clock. I had to go.
"Bye Marco. Cross your fingers and hope he lets me stay." I said.
Then I was gone.
Then I was back in the world.
You could call me a ghost. But I was really just a memory. The Ellimist had afforded me one last mission.
Say goodbye.
I was in Marco's kitchen.
All of a sudden, Marco came stumbling in, all bleary eyes and lack-of- night-vision clumsiness, totally not seeing me. He stumbled to the fridge, opened it hard enough to bang the door against the counter, and did a typical guy thing: drank straight from a fresh carton of milk.
I couldn't control myself.
I laughed.
He nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Rachel?" he asked.
I nodded.
"You can't stay, can you?" he asked.
I pulled my sad face and shook my head. No. I couldn't stay. Two hours with each Animorph. No more. No less.
Marco pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Marco...God, I miss your sense of humor. The ones in that Heaven place aren't anywhere near your skill level. Up there, I feel like driftwood on the ocean. I find myself remembering morphing. I want to be a dolphin again. I want to be a grizzly, an elephant, anything not dead. I want to be here, living a semi-normal life on a Yeerk-less planet Earth. I want to morph a dog, just to snatch a frisbee out of the salty beach air. I want so many things that I can't have. I miss life. I miss you guys. I miss everything..." I said.
Marco just looked at me.
Not his normal "I'm gonna make a joke any second now..." look.
He was intense. Scary.
He was the Marco that only came out in times of tragedy.
He looked almost sad and almost angry.
Then he said, "I guess the Ellimist is trying to be nice, letting you say goodbye, letting us say goodbye, but it's unfair. We don't get to keep you. I'd cut my own head off just so we could get you back."
He laughed.
I just stared.
Totally unexpected.
I glanced at the clock. I had to go.
"Bye Marco. Cross your fingers and hope he lets me stay." I said.
Then I was gone.
