May Bird Among the Stars by Peter Ferguson, Jodi Lynn Anderson, Sammy Yuen Jr., Christopher Grassi Page A

“How unique. Most spirits stopped coming here a long time ago. You must be a singular sort of spirit.”
    â€œI guess you could call me that,” May warbled.
    â€œI see.” The stranger nodded, then smiled, seeming to approve. “I see you are a loner. I like to be alone too.” He laughed, and his laughter crackled with bitterness. “Two peas in a pod …”
    May realized he was waiting for her name. She cast about, trying to think of one. It didn’t occur to her to use her own. Instinct told her not to. She looked toward the circus tents. “Dumbo?”
    â€œDumbo?”
    May nodded, wanting to throw herself over the cliff for how
dumbo
she really was.
    â€œA singular name for a singular boy,” the man said.
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œI like you.” He nodded. “Yes, yes I do. And, you know, I don’t really like anyone.”
    May didn’t know what to say to that.
    The stranger drifted right up to the cliff’s edge and kicked a stone over the side, watching it drop. His shoulders sank slightly. “Vast,” he muttered. Again, May had the curious feeling of being sorry for and scared of him all at once.
    He turned back to her. “Aren’t you going to ask what brings me here? Make conversation? That’s what spirits do. Don’t you find me interesting?”
    â€œUm, what brings you here?” May asked obligingly
    He rubbed his chin scar with one grimy, weathered hand. “Looking for something.”
    â€œWhat?” May asked, her stomach churning.
    â€œA
little
thing, really. A girl.”
    â€œOh?” May said. A tiny, almost imperceptible movementdrew her eyes toward one of the tents. There, crouched and peering around one of the flaps, was a pair of green kitty eyes, in a hairless kitty face. May’s heart did a high dive.
    When she returned her gaze to the stranger, he was eyeing her thoughtfully. She could see just the faintest glow of his eyes from deep underneath the shadow of his hat.
    â€œShe’s alive.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œShe’s very small.”
    â€œReally?” May squeaked.
    â€œAnd she’s got black hair.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œShe is traveling with a cat.”
    May couldn’t find her voice to say one more thing.
    The man watched her for a moment, frowning. His fingers jumped and danced at his sides, agitated.
    â€œThere’s a house ghost with them. And maybe a couple of others.”
    May managed to nod.
    â€œI’ve been told she’s been destroyed. On the edge of the City of Ether.”
    The stranger scanned the horizon again, and May’s eyes shot to Somber Kitty. Only his nose protruded from the tent flap now, sniffing.
    The stranger sighed. “I
feel
that it’s not true. But then”—here, his mouth became slack, unsure—“the girl is probably nothing. I tend to be somewhat … paranoid.”
    His voice, as it fell on the last word, filled May with a deep, strange sadness. May couldn’t find the thoughts or the wordsor the voice to say anything. Her heart danced an achy-breaky jig under her ribs.
    â€œThere, Dumbo.” He took hold of May’s shoulders, his icy hands sending cold chills straight down her spine, and turned her toward the precipice, pointing to the dots of light in the distance. “There’s Earth.” May squinted, but she couldn’t tell which one he was pointing at. “We are
connected.
We are Earth’s shadow, like the negative of a photograph. But one day Earth will be
my
shadow. I’ll be very popular. And then I’ll never be alone. Which reminds me …” The stranger lowered his arm.
    â€œReminds you of what?” May asked, turning back around.
    But the stranger was gone.
    May looked about for several seconds, then clutched the front of her bathing suit with one hand, breathing deeply.
    She walked over to Somber Kitty and lifted him into her arms,