By Harun
ONE
It was late November in the Evergreen Forest, and Melissa Raccoon was picking up another bit of food to bring back to her tree house. She looked out the small window of Willow's General Store, to the gray skies that spread over the tops of the trees. A massive storm was drawing near Evergreen soon, and residents were told to brace themselves. Gusts were already reaching the small community, and some damage had been reported.
Melissa was not concerned with the weather at this moment, however. She merely wanted to get home, to pass another night in solitude. "Thanks, Mister Willow..." Melissa said. She gave him a hint of a smile as she opened the door, bag in hand, for her journey home. The wind immediately made the cheap paper sway, and wiggle about as it fought with her grip. As she held the door open, she looked back into the store at a group of youths by the magazine rack. One small raccoon girl was holding a comic book, pointing out a picture to her friends. Another, older bear boy was talking with his teenage friend. "Did you hear about it?" The boy said. The second shook his head. The bear then took a small book from the stand. 'Ghost Stories'. The sight of those words made Melissa turn away, and start in a hurry toward the house.
It was there to remind her every day. It would never leave her, even when she did not mention it to anyone. The wind pushed against her, and a few oranges tumbled from the bag. They rolled along the ground, and Melissa looked at them as the wind moved them along. There would be no way she would be able to catch up with them. She decided to allow Evergreen to claim them. The community had already taken a chunk of her soul, what were a few oranges?
She could see the Raccoondiminium in the distance as she turned down the small path. Her home was the one place that she felt safe, against Evergreen. She passed several of its residents on her way, but none of them nodded to her or said hello. She felt as if she had died along with Ralph that night. Some part of her wished that she had. 'Ghost stories'... That image stuck in her head as she opened the door to her dark house.
Melissa wanted to set the bag onto a table, but she had none. She wanted to relax in the armchair that the two had once snuggled in, but she could not do that either. Anger threatened to bubble out from inside her, and she threw the bag onto the living room floor, watching its contents fall. All the amenities of her former life were gone to pay for his funeral and the resulting trial. Would tomorrow be any better? A small part of her took solace in thinking about Bert and Cedric. Those two had helped her when she needed it. Her only regret was that she could not keep Bert as a house guest. The onset of his illness took everyone by surprise. She would see him tomorrow, and bring him the same basket of fruit and cakes she had been sharing for the past six months.
The wind howled outside, and Melissa turned on the radio. '-intense syst me frontal du pacifique s'approchera de la for t des Sapins Verts cet apr s-midi. Des vents du sud-est de 80 100 km/h-' The radio started to break up. Melissa double-checked the windows, making sure they were closed tight. She was startled by the sudden burst of noise as the radio kicked in. '-inds of 80 to 100 kilometers per hour are expected overnight. Stay away from windows, and be sure to have emergency food and water ready, should power be cut.' She drifted in and out of the news program. The fruit on the floor seemed to mock her. It had gotten through the storm just fine.
She took one last look out into the gray gloom before noticing a VHS tape on the counter. Nicole had brought it over with some food yesterday. She and George had tried to support her with what help they could, but it was not sufficient for her to live on. She pushed the tape into her VCR, then turned on the TV. Three boys standing by a tree greeted her. The camera was shaky as the director, a very tall raccoon girl, yelled 'Action!'.
"Bam!" A high-pitched anteater said. He waved his hands in the air for emphasis while his nasal tone brought on his friends beside him.
"Green eggs and ham!" The director's little brother twirled around, holding a pie.
Both paused for a second, waiting for their third friend to say his lines. "Peanut butter and jelly!" The third's voice trilled in the air while the other two looked at each other. The aardvark in glasses nodded to the boy in a blue shirt, who slammed the pie into Bert Raccoon's face.
"Cut!" Lisa Raccoon shouted. The camera shook a bit as she placed it on a tripod. She came over to Bert with a towel. Bentley and Cedric were still laughing. Bentley's laughter stopped as his sister bopped him on the head. "Don't encourage him!" She shouted.
Melissa laughed. At first, she did not believe that she could make those sounds anymore. As the director, with an angry look on her face, stormed back to the camera, the words 'TAKE FIFTEEN' shown on a title card.
The screen flashed and went blank for a minute before her heart sank in her chest. "So, you nervous, little brother?"
The camera asked to a man dressed in a formal suit. "Is squirrel shit nutty?" The two laughed.
It then swung around as George Raccoon leaned in to his brother. "This young pup's getting married!"
Ralph chuckled, and looked into the camera. "I love you, Melissa!"
George laughed again, very close to Ralph's ear. "Cut it out!"
He pushed George away, and the camera fell. The screen went black, and Melissa found herself reaching to push the 'rewind' button. "Oh, Ralph..." Those words... She needed to hear them again. Just as he smiled at her, his mouth opened, and the room went black. Evergreen would not let her have her request that night. The power went out.
She felt dejected. There was one place she could retreat to, where it could not menace her. One place where they could be together again. Her dreams would be a great leveler of sadness, as tonight they could not torture her. She mixed her tea, and waited for it to take its effect. Bliss would come soon enough, and take her into slumber until the storm passed.