Stretch sat in his bedroom looking out over the grounds of Whipstaff manor. He sighed placing a hand on the glass. The ghost stared at the newly blossoming flowers that he had allowed Kat to plant in honor of Amelia.
"Care to share Stretch?" Dr. Harvey asked gently, bringing Stretch out of his thoughts"
"Hey Doc, thanks but I don' feel like havin' therapy right now. Maybe later"
"I understand." Dr. Harvey said nodding, he knew not to push Stretch for answers.
As he made his way to his office, he ran into Casper who looked quite sorrowful"
"What's goin' on Casper, I just ran into Stretch, he seemed... different." Casper nodded.
"Uncle Stretch gets this way sometimes. He won't say why. He doesn't like to talk about his feelings.
It's best to leave him alone when he gets his way."
"how long does this mood usually last?"
"It depends... We never really know for sure. You can expect Uncle Fatso and Uncle Stinkie to be more settled too." Casper said as they parted, leaving Dr. Harvey to wonder about the situation at hand.
Stretch floated slowly over to his bed and laid down staring at the ceiling above him blankly.
"You... okay?" Stinkie asked cautiously.
"Yeah, fine. " Stretch answered softly
"Fatso an' me.. we thought we'd hang around here today in case you needed anything. We'll be... ya know around" He floated towards the door.
"Hey," Stretch called out from the bed causing his brother to turn back.
"Thanks" Stinkie nodded and left him to his thoughts. Stretch focused his attention on the ceiling once more. He felt a deep sadness come over him, A terrible loneliness that, if he'd still had a heart, would have shattered it, he was sure.
Casper watched from the doorway. He was unable to hide his own worry for Stretch, who was the strongest entity in the house, lying there helpless and seemingly lost.
He wanted so much to help the older ghost but had no idea what could be done.
Casper, feeling somewhat defeated returned to his daily chores without a word.
Stretch closed his eyes allowing himself to try to forget the feeling.
"After all this time... ya'd think that I wouldn't feel this." He whispered into the empty room.
He allowed himself to drift off not wanting to feel any longer. He would just have to wait it out as usual.
"One of these days yer gonna learn ta stop this, block it out an' be done with it." He said to himself as he faded into darkness.
