Perry stood back to survey his work.
He had to admit, it looked pretty good. Even though the house was falling apart, the paint really brightened it up.
"It's wonderful." Arthur, the ghost of half an alligator, said happily. "I love how you painted the swampy marsh at the base of the house… oh, and my other half! How I miss it! And my old friend Toucan Sampson… he looks wonderful. How did you know to paint that?"
"I looked through your memory photos in your house." Perry said. "I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all! It's so good." Arthur said.
"You think that's good?" Said Teresa, a cat ghost who happened to be Arthur's neighbor. "He painted my house with all my favorite insects."
"And he painted my tree." Regina Lynde said.
Arthur looked at Teresa's house. "Why are there only praying mantises on your house?"
"They're my favorite insects." Teresa said.
"Why?" Arthur said.
"Because they will suck the juices from the people who disrespect life." Teresa said darkly.
"…Okay." Arthur said.
"That weirdness aside, do you guys think I did an okay job?" Perry asked, wiping his hands on his hips. "I mean, some of the subjects are kind of out of proportion. I'm not as good at painting as I am at drawing."
"You did excellent." Arthur said.
"I love mine." Teresa said.
A rattlesnake slithered up to Perry. "Caaannnn yoooouuuu paaaiiinnnttt aaaaa ddeeeaaaddd huummmaaannn onnnn mmyyyy hhooouuussseee?" She hissed.
"Um… sure, I guess. Don't you want something more cheery, though?"
"Deeeaaaddd humaaannsss arrreee cheeerrryyy." The snake said. She slithered away.
"Wow, even Ruby wants you to paint her house." Teresa said. "She barely talks to anyone." She lowered her voice. "She was murdered by humans. It's a really sad story."
"Some creatures have no respect for other creatures." Arthur said, shaking his head.
"Seems like mutual dislike if she wants a dead human on her house." Perry said, setting down his paintbrush. "Tell… Ruby I'll paint her house as soon as I've had a chance to work a little more on mine. I'm gonna go get some more flowers for the front."
"Thanks so much." Arthur said.
"See you soon!" Teresa said happily.
...
Perry opened the door to Willow's home. He was surprised to see another person besides Willow inside.
"…stingy, stubborn!" The man was shouting. He had a mustache and thick eyebrows. "You may as well just accept it and move on! You can't just take everything!"
"Get OUT of my home!" Willow snapped. "I'm not taking this verbal abuse, and neither are my flowers! GET OUT!"
The man shoved a flowerpot over. It crashed to the floor. He shoved past Perry with a grumbled "Excuse me" and ran down the stairs.
Perry closed the door behind him and slowly approached Willow, who was kneeling over the broken flowerpot with tears in her eyes.
"What a jerk." Perry said.
Willow wiped her eyes with her arm. "What do you want? If you don't need anything, beat it."
"Are they okay?"
Willow narrowed her eyes and ran her fingers along the petals of the flowers that were lying in the scattered pile of dirt. "My sunflowers."
Perry couldn't tell the difference between sunflowers and other flowers, but he didn't mention this. "We could put them in another pot."
"Get a pot." Willow demanded.
"You're welcome." Perry said silently. He found an empty pot on a shelf near the door and handed it to Willow.
She carefully scooped up the sunflowers and remaining dirt and placed them in the new pot, gently packing the soil in place.
"You're good with flowers." Perry said, trying to help her feel better.
Willow looked at the spot above his head. "They deserve more than people give them."
"They're beautiful."
Willow stroked the stem of the largest sunflower. "They're persistent. They're tough. They never give up."
"I thought that was weeds." Perry said.
Willow looked at the front door. "Weeds are persistent, too. But their aim is to rid of the flowers. The flowers don't try to rid the world of anything. They just are. That's why I like them."
Perry nodded. "I guess that makes sense."
...
Perry did not expect seven people to be sitting at his dinner table when he arrived home.
"Surprise!" Said Mr. Brownie, holding up a chocolate brownie cake.
"Surprised." Perry said wearily. Spending time with the villagers of Gluum was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He just wanted to eat and take a nap…
"We made a dinner party for you." Teresa said. "To thank you for painting our houses."
"And my tree." Added Regina Lynde.
Ruby hissed in approval.
"Uh… great, guys." Perry said. He smiled at Terrence, who he had just noticed standing in the back of the group. "Mind if I talk with Terrence for a second?"
"Okay, but it won't be a party without the guest of honor!" Mr. Brownie said.
Perry led Terrence into his bedroom and closed the door.
"I like what you've done with your place." Terrence commented.
"Terrence, I beg you." Perry said. "Tell me how to get back home. I'm so homesick I think I'm going to lose it any moment now. I love being with you. I like Arthur, and Teresa, and Willow, and I kind of like Mr. Brownie, and I'm not quite as weirded out by Ruby and Regina as I was at first. But please. I have to get home."
Terrence looked sad. "I want to help you, Per. I really do. But unless we can figure out what happened to you… don't you remember anything at all?"
"I remember some guy holding me and saying something about Carl. That's it."
"I guess we'll have to ask Daly what to do."
"Will he be willing to help? Daly doesn't like me."
"I'm sure he does." Terrence said unconvincingly.
"Fine, we'll ask him. I just… I hate to think of everyone back home worrying about me. I miss them. So bad."
He felt tears slipping into his eyes. Stupid tears. They made your throat feel funny and made you look helpless.
Terrence thought for a moment.
Daly shimmered into existence by Perry's bed. "You called, Terrence?"
"We're trying to figure out why Perry's down here." Terrence said. "Could you…"
"Fine, not like I had anything else to do." Daly muttered. He padded over to the wall and placed his paw on it.
The floor separated from the wall and began to sink into the ground. Perry looked up as the wall and ceiling got higher and higher. Dirt and bones surrounded them.
Finally the floor stopped. The dirt turned shiny and black, like a television screen. A new ceiling closed over them.
It was pitch-black.
"Um… Daly?" Perry began.
"Hush." Was the reply.
The screens lit up. They began to play a movie.
It was raining. Thunder crackled. Cars were speeding down the road. People were walking down the street.
A clock was lying face-up on a street corner.
A black car spun around the corner, out of control. It swerved and smashed into the clock.
The screen went dark again, and the ceiling lit up, as though lightning struck. A clock tumbled down and landed at their feet with a crash.
Perry yelped.
The clock was golden, and wet as though it had just been in the rain. A picture of a mountain was carved into the top.
The face of the clock was cracked. The hour hand pointed at ten. The minute hand at twenty-two.
Terrence stared at it. He looked like he wanted to touch it, but was unsure if he could.
Perry was shaking. He didn't like the way the clock had dropped down out of the ceiling.
Daly casually picked the clock up and looked at the back.
He turned it around and showed it to Perry.
Inscribed on the back of the clock were the letters K.O.M.A.
"You were hit by that car, on that street corner, at the exact time that this clock stopped at." Daly said. "You are not dead. You are in a coma."
Perry was breathing hard, trying to settle his nerves.
"You are not dead." Daly repeated. "But your time is running out."