The Tidings - [Ghost Huntress 0.5 - A Christmas Novella] by Marley Gibson Page B

Gallaxhar!” Since Patrick and I’ve watched “Monsters vs. Aliens” a hundred times, I’m not surprised his ghost is fighting with the movie quotes.
    He scoffs at me, though. “First off, I’m not really your Patrick. I’m just a figment of your imagination or a dream, or whatever. Secondly, I’m just showing you one conceivable future.”
    Panting, I try to slow my rapid breathing. “Is there a third point?”
    The ghost—who represents the guy I’m in love with right now—smiles and points for like the fortieth time. “Third? Sure. You look pretty damn perfectly happy.”
    All the blood rushes to my head and I feel as though I might faint. I can’t, though. Instead, I take a peek at the possible future family I could be a part of. Those cherubic faces. That hot, sexy man. The perfect picture of a happy family. I’m treacherously somewhat jazzed by it. Only for a moment, though.
    I hug myself to the phantom before me, his satin cloak encompassing me. “But I want to be pretty damn perfectly happy with you, Patrick.”
    The ghost’s lips brush the top of my head. “You very well may be. Only the future will tell. It’s up to you, Kendall.”
    “I want to go home,” I whine.
    “In due time.”
    “In due now.” I snuggle deeper into his arms. “I’ve learned a lot of lessons tonight from you, Celia, and Taylor… or whoever you all are. Do I have the power to change anything?”
    Patrick nods his head. “We have the power to change every moment of every day.”
    “I get it. I’ll do what I can. I’ll be a better person. I’ll take care of others. I’ll protect my family. I’ll love fiercely and live passionately. I’ll speak my mind and be the best person I can be.”
    He sets me back and lifts my face so that our gazes sync up. “That’s all any of us can do, you know?”
    I close my eyes, secure in the knowledge that every day brings new opportunity, hope, excitement, friendship, support, and most of all… love.
    When I lift my lids, Phantom Patrick and I are back in my bedroom, standing next to the pink and silver Christmas tree that lights everything in its soft glow.
    “I know you’re leaving soon. So, what’s next?”
    The ghost smiles down at me. He clears his throat. “‘Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.’”
    I snicker hard. “Oh, dear God. You’re quoting Ebenezer Scrooge to me.”
    “Why, yes, I am.”
    “Dude, I’ve been Scrooged enough for one night.”
    “The message is still the same, Kendall. You know what you have to do.”
    I certainly do, so I quote a little Dickens myself. (Mr. Rorek would be so proud of me.) “‘I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me.’”
    Phantom Patrick bobs his head. “ Very impressive.”
    Coyly, I twist a bit and say, “I had to learn it for my oral exam. Got an A.”
    “Of course, you did.” He escorts me over to the bed and turns the covers down for me. I climb underneath the blanket and smile up at him.
    He blows me a kiss.
    I catch it, and then I fall back into a deep, deep sleep.

S TANZA 7: T HE T IDINGS
     
     
    The alarm on my phone sounds its electronic beeps, alerting me that it’s nine a.m., so I slowly come into the land of the conscious.
    I swallow hard and peel my eyes open, almost afraid of what I’ll see this time. Remarkably, it’s nothing more than Buckley, Eleanor, and Natalie all curled together next to me with cat tongues racing in a three-kitty bath-fest. The morning sun spills through my curtains, providing a golden pathway toward the door. My little pink and silver Christmas tree still burns brightly, representing so much more to me now than just a mere seasonal decoration.
    My bed. My room. My tree. My cats.
    It’s Christmas Eve. Radisson, Georgia. Present