Underland Arcana 8 by D. T. O'Conaill

Author:D. T. O'Conaill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Underland Press
Published: 2022-08-21T17:12:44+00:00

That evening at the dinner table, Eamonn and Mundie exchanged looks over Red's head, wanting to approach the subject of Charlie in the best manner possible. At no point should Red feel as if they were accusing him of anything. They would simply ask him about Charlie, then decide if they needed to make an appointment with a child psychologist. Perhaps their pediatrician could prescribe something. Most likely Mrs. Featherstone and Miss Kinders were wrong about Charlie belonging to Red's imagination. Red would tell them it was someone's nickname or another child's creation and they'd all breathe easier, maybe even laugh.

"I'm done," Rederick said. "Can I color?"

"May I," Mundie said and Red shimmied off his chair until his toes touched the floor, then went running for paper and crayons. The Thumans eyed the crayons, happy to see they were all solid colors— just the way the manufacturer sold them. It gave their faith a boost: all would be okay.

"Hey, bud," Eamonn said, picking up a crayon. "Tell us about Charlie."

"Charlie's silly." Rederick drew a sun, colored it purple.

"Have we met Charlie?" Mundie said.

Rederick shook his head. "You can't see Charlie."

"Because we're grown-ups?"

"No. ‘Cause Charlie's imaginary. Like the wind."

Both Thuman parents inhaled sharply. Mundie urged her husband to ‘go on, ask' so he said, "Wind is a real thing. Did you mean imaginary as in something that's made up, like you made Charlie up, or invisible as in something you can't see with your eyes?"

"Charlie's invisible."

The Thumans sat back in their chairs. This wasn't going according to plan. Mundie braved, "Is Charlie a friend? From school?"

Rederick tilted his head as if considering the question or listening. "He says he is."

Eamonn looked at Mundie. She looked at Rederick, mouth tight. "Did you read about Charlie in a book?"

Their son stopped coloring and giggled. "You're silly. Charlie's not in a book. Kids can't read. Charlie's in the sky. Is the sky invisible or imaginary?"

The Thumans could see their approach wasn't working. Red wasn't about to confess to making up a prankster persona. Eamonn decided to dig deep and coach the answer out of his son. There had to be a reason Red was pretending about Charlie and if they could figure out what that was, then they could cure their son and he'd turn into a happy, well-adjusted pre-schooler with a bright education ahead of him. It took a few tries to pry Red's attention off the sky's realness. Eamonn wanted to take the crayons and paper away from his son—but that's what his father would've done so he knew it wasn't the right thing to do. "Mrs. Featherstone told us about the paper dolls, son. You know it isn't right to rip up other kid's work. It might hurt their feelings. You wouldn't want anyone to rip up your drawing, would you?"

Red looked at his dad. "You're gonna rip up my drawing?"

"I'm not going to do anything to your drawing. I just want you to understand that you have to be respectful of people's things.

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