The Merry Dredgers by Jeremy C. Shipp

Author:Jeremy C. Shipp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Meerkat Press
Published: 2022-11-26T23:48:52+00:00

EIGHT

By the time I wake up in the morning, Nichelle’s already gone and her bed’s made. The only evidence that she’s been here at all is that the spoon pendant she was wearing yesterday is hanging on her tree sculpture. Eventually, I also find a note resting on my suitcase that reads: Oops, I forgot to tell you yesterday, there’s a door to the bathroom by the skee-balls. We only have a toilet and a shower. Sorry if you prefer baths.

Minutes later, I lock myself in the bathroom and let the shower run while I make my call to the hospital. I’m not sure if the running water will actually prevent someone from listening in to my conversation, but spies do this in movies, so it’s worth a try.

The doctor tells me what she always tells me. Eff still hasn’t woken up.

Showered and dressed and somewhat mentally prepared for whatever the hell Ernie’s planning for me today, I take the stairs down to the dining area and I find Nichelle writing notes on an extra-large sketch pad. A tiny cat sits on the medieval table, wearing rimless sunglasses and a neon windbreaker, a miniature stuffed version of our lost prize.

“Is that who I think it is?” I say.

“Yep,” Nichelle says, tapping the cat’s head with her orchid-print pen.

“Was he hit with a shrink ray?”

“Wow, how did you guess that?”

“Seriously though, where did you find this little replacement?”

“Replacement? I don’t know what you mean. This is the same cat hit with a shrink ray.”

I take a seat and say, “Hi cat. So it didn’t work out with you and the spoon?”

“Oh no, Spoon’s here too.” Nichelle lifts her spoon from off her half-eaten plate of scrambled tofu and homestyle potatoes. “They both felt that moving a little closer to LA would help with Spoon’s career.”

“That’s probably a good idea. The moon is a bit far from all the action.”

After I eat, I stick the minuscule version of Sunglasses Cat in my purse, and we head out.

On the way to Ernie’s analysis room, I remind myself that I’m supposed to be excited about today. I should smile. I should show them that there’s absolutely nothing I want more than to spend an hour or whatever alone with a filthy-rich cult leader with a Peter Pan complex who wants to crack open my soul and see what’s inside.

As we approach the fallen giant, Nichelle says, “Are you nervous? You’ve been a little quiet.”

“Oh no,” I say. “Just thinking.”

“I was nervous before my analysis, but there’s really nothing to it. You just answer some questions, and Ernie does the rest. And this process will do you so much good. I promise you that.”

We walk around the head of the giant, and there’s a wooden door on the back of his skull similar to the one at the entrance to the park. Someone’s carved a spiral of intersecting shapes into the door.

I say, “I thought Ernie said there was no room in the head.”

Nichelle grabs the doorknob shaped like a cluster of eyeballs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.