6. Books

The Doctor's library, as I recall, was extensive. It wasn't large, but it was full of books on Monstrumology, mythology, and medicine. As such, many of the books were non-fiction, but there's one I remember vividly. Although I was young at the time, I will never forget the when I first stepped into the Doctor's library. To a 5 year old, it seemed gigantic, the walls stretched into space, the books piled un top of one another in the millions, and the desk against the far wall seemed so puny compared to it's literary company. And I don't know why, but the first book I touched was a compilation of Edgar Allen Poe's works. The words meant nothing to me back then, and still don't now. For no matter how many times I passed it, I never read it. I never even asked to. It was simply there, but the Doctor never asked me to fetch it. He didn't even seem to acknowledge its existence. It just sat there, on the bottom of the bookshelf closest to the door, calling for someone to pick it up. But whether I regret never doing so, I can't even remember.

7. Old

"Your Uncle is getting old." Will Henry said to Lilly Bates one Autumn morning.
She scoffed. "Nonsense! My Uncle may be old, but he is not getting old. He can still do anything."
"Well it's not like he's as limber as he used to be..." Will said softly.
Lilly snorted and stood up, grabbing Will's wrist and pulling him down the stairs.
"Wait... I didn't mean it! I take it back! Please don't hurt me..."
Lilly pulled him into the living room, where her Uncle and Will's Doctor sat disscussing what seemed like Monstrumology, but could honestly bleed into anything (much to Pellinore's disdain).
"William says you're getting old, Uncle!"
Von Helrung chuckled, placing his tea on the coffee table. "Is that so?"
"Yes!" Lilly exclaimed.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Von Helrung is just as capable as he was at YOUR age."
"That's what I was saying!" Lilly cried.
Von Helrung stood up, rubbing his knees. "Will Henry is right, I am growing old."
Everyone seemed taken aback, even Will.
"Nonsense, Meister Abram!" Said Pellinore.
"Oh no, mein frund. I'm so old, I could keel over and die at any minute!"
And with that, he collapsed to the floor.
Lilly screamed, and Pellinore immediately jumped to his feet, spilling tea all over the sofa and his lap.
Will simply stared, his face snow-white. Oh, how he regretted saying anything!
Just as the Doctor was kneeling at Von Helrung's side, the old Monstrumologist sat up, laughing.
"Oh, I gave you all quite a scare, didn't I?! I feel like John!"
Pellinore glared at Will Henry, who got the message: One should NEVER tell a Monstrumologist that he is growing old.

8. Circle

"A circle, Will Henry, I said a CIRCLE!"
"But this IS a circle, Lilly!"
"No, you idiot, that's an OVAL!"
Will sighed. This was a complete waste of salt anyway.
"If we don't want to get possessed or haunted for eternity, it has to be a circle!"
"Why are dead people so specific anyway!?" Cried Will in frustration.
"Because they're dead and have nothing better to do! Now, circle, SNAP TO!"
Great. Now she was becoming the Doctor!
Lilly had the seance set up perfectly: A table covered in white cloth, set with candles at 4 different points. At the center was a page with letters on it. Her neighbor had said the spirit would move the glass set in its center to spell out its response. I was the best way to preform a seance when you lacked a medium. She had also heard that you had to surround the summoning area with a circle of salt, which her friend seemed to be terrible at.
"Now it looks like a deformed polygon."
Will threw the salt down in frustration. "What does it matter, ghosts don't exist anyway!"
Lilly scoffed. "Fine! Become possessed by an evil spirit for all I care! But when it launches you out the window, don't come calling for me!"
Will glared at her, and she glared back.
"If you're so good at making circles, do it yourself!"
"I shall!"
Lilly snatched the salt away and stepped carefully around the table, frowning when she couldn't make a circle.
"See?" Snapped Will.
Lilly frowned. "Well, I suppose it is very hard to make a circle around a square table that's pressed to the wall."

9. Sakura

Pellinore sneezed.
Again.
And again.
So persistently, in fact, that his lover felt like plugging up his nostrils with a hankercheif and calling it a day.
"What has you so sick?" She asked, turning to face him.
"I don't know." He said, immediately sneezing again once he finished.
Muriel rolled her eyes. This was going to be a pain in her arse.
"Let me see your face, darling."
Before Pellinore could respond, she had his face in her hands, and was closely examining it.
"You seem to be being irritated by something."
"Yes. A woman named Muriel Barnes."
Muriel snorted and pushed him away. "I meant the air."
"What of it?"
"There's something in the air that's making fluids leak out of nearly every cavity in your face."
Pellinore smiled. "Pollen, I should think. Now let's move along."
Muriel shook her head. "Not until I find out what it is."
The young Doctor rolled his eyes. "How did I ever end up with such a stubborn woman?"
His lover laughed and kissed his cheek. "It appears you got lucky."
She turned on her heel, scouring for any flower, bushel, or grass blade that could be causing her Pellinore to be sick. She HATED it when he was sick. Not because she felt sorry for him, so much that he whined. And it was quite hard to sleep next to a man who whined so much.
She eventually came back with a handful of plants, but none that she held under his nose got a reaction. But then, something caught her eye.
Cherry blossoms.
They were standing next to a row of blooming cherry trees, each one blowing petals into the air at even the lightest breeze.
Muriel plucked one and held it up to Pellinore.
"How about this one?"
He took it, holding it under his nose. "Alright, but I don't see how-"
His words were cut off by a sneeze.
"That's it!" Muriel chirped.
Pellinore sighed and wiped a stray tear from under his eye. "Wonderful. Now may we continue?"
The young woman furrowed her eyebrows, then grabbed his arm and pulled him across the street.
"Yes," she said, taking his elbow. "we may continue."

10. Geisha

Reggie was absolutely fascinated by street performers. He loved to see jugglers, magicians, musicians, anybody who was willing to show their talent on a public street, really.
But there were no street performers he loved more than the geishas. He could tell you that they came to the park every Sunday from 10am to 6pm, and they would do wonderful dances to beautiful music all day long. He admired everything about them: their clothes, their hair, their make-up. He even once got a hold of a stray slipper, and held onto it until he found the exact girl it belonged to. There were four, but he didn't know their names. All he knew of them was one wore pink, one wore purple, one wore green, and one wore orange. He loved them, but not because he fancied them. He loved them because he thought they were amazing, and looked up to them.
And it was a warm Summer's day in 1992 that he decided he wanted to be a geisha.
He announced this to a room that contained his parents, sister, and Uncle.
His mother looked flustered.
His sister looked amused.
His Uncle smiled warmly.
And his father promptly took him outside of the kitchen and clipped him on the ear.
But the reactions of his family didn't stop Reggie; he went up to his Uncle's trusted friend the next Sunday evening, and said "Can you get me what a geisha wears?"
Pellinore waved him off (he liked children about as much as he liked being shamed by someone other than himself), but told the boy he would "see what he can do" before going to Von Helrung and suggesting several mental care facilities.
Reggie, however, got his way.
He got slippers and a kimiko, which made him the happiest boy in all of New York.
The less happy boys in New York got themselves to his level by kicking his arse.
But he persisted, and got his make-up as well, which his sister proudly did.
Mostly because she had Will Henry test the products first.
"You're a geisha too!" Reggie had told him.
By the time he was ready, it was January, but the geishas weren't there in Winter, so he had to wait until April.
When April rolled around, he ran up to the geishas and said "I shall dance with you today!"
The women were amused, and a bit befuddled by a BOY being a geisha, and corrected him that he would be a Taikomochi.
If this was the modern age, he would've said "Whatever", but back then he just shrugged.
And that is how Reggie Bates made his father have -figurative- stroke.
And also became the first drag queen.