Kanae Has Her Say
by Rob Morris
Tomoo and his gang were in their glory. The girl in their group sealed up the hole in her face.
"She's such a dip! She doesn't even remember she split me in two."
Tomoo popped his head back on.
"It's like I toldja! Whenever she feels low, we show up, and drive the fork in till she's done!"
The other two were mostly silent, giggling when Tomoo demanded.
"Get her back!"
"Show her she can't just kill us and have nothing happen!"
The four ghosts were soon joined by a fifth.
"Excuse me? You have to stop this!"
The little girl was cornered by the four.
"Why do we have to stop anything?"
The girl in the group pushed the smaller one.
"Who are you to tell us anything?"
"My name is Kanae. I died about two weeks or so after you, by the same girl. In fact, it was you haunting her at the carnival that probably got me and my Papa killed."
Tomoo laughed.
"That was awesome! She was so broken up over that moron...owww!"
Kanae kicked him.
"Don't you ever speak about my Onii-chan that way! Don't any of you get it? Every time you show up to the horned girl, she kills more people. People who might have lived, if she only laid low."
Tomoo's blow was blocked by Kanae's rabbit.
"So? That's their problem! Ours is getting even for her killing us for no reason!"
A yelp from behind Kanae put the lie to that notion.
"You were deliberately mean and cruel for no reason. The puppy had never hurt you, and until you killed him, the girl had never hurt anyone. You have no right to haunt her. Especially not when it only makes things worse."
The girl and Tomoo smiled, pulled back, and went to punch Kanae in the face and stomach while the other two held her. She caught both their fists and knocked the other two back. The girl sneered at Kanae.
"You're not being honest! You hate her too! Why not join us in haunting her?"
Kanae grinned.
"No. You will join me. This last bit of stupidity was all I really needed."
The cloudy afterlife they had known faded. Flames appeared in their stead, and the place was punctuated by wails and moans.
"Who-who are you?"
Tomoo pointed.
"She's another damned horned girl!"
Horns did indeed appear on Kanae's head. But these were not small, and they looked nothing like cat-ears.
"Damned? Definitely. Dishonest? Yes, for my name is not Kanae. Horned? Duh. But I am nothing like the girl you so wonderfully tormented. You see, my name is also Lucy-but I was named for my father-the ruler of this place."
The girl shook in fear.
"We were innocent kids! We don't deserve this!"
Tomoo nodded.
"Like she said! Do you have any idea how rotten things were in that orphanage?"
The girl who was not Kanae shrugged.
"For which you were given enormous leeway. The problem is, your penalties accrue interest on Earth the more your original actions' consequences pan out. Not to mention your unjust hauntings-those wore away your leeway like crazy when she killed someone. In this last instance, it helped to get a girl named Aiko Takada killed, and put Lucy - not her name, of course-into the hands of a madman whose actions will cause the deaths of billions-including a euthanasia program Hitler never dreamed of! I know he didn't, because I asked him."
Tomoo tried to look defiant while the other three cowered.
"So? When do we burn?"
The devil-girl smiled anew.
"Who burns anymore? That's so Dante."
The three awoke, back in the orphanage. There was no smell of brimstone, and no moans or wails. Tomoo laughed, and his gang smiled with him.
"It was all just a dream!"
One of the other boys raised a finger.
"That we all had?"
The girl pointed at their classmates.
"L-Look!"
The boys all had reddish hair; the girls all had shades of pink; With the exception of Tomoo and his gang-all had horns.
"Look-Smoothies!"
Scissors began to float in the air.
"Maybe their horns are just small. Let's shave them and find out!"
The gang bolted and ran for the front door. Outside was a small army of puppies, all cute and cuddly-until they tried to leave. Then, their fangs bared and their eyes glowed red. Leading the group was the girl they had treated as nothing.
"Welcome To Hell!"
Behind them, the boys all held rocks and the girls all held vases. The puppies moved in. And this was the path of every single day of their existence, until the far-off time when the consequences of their actions no longer haunted the world above them.
For her part, this other Lucy resumed a friendlier form and met with someone she had no designs on.
"Hi, Kanae!"
"Hey, Lucy! Wanna play a board game?"
"Sure!"
Lucy smiled.
"Just not Chutes And Ladders. I get enough of that at home."