Dust Bunnies

Glass shattering and the almost silent sound of soft feet bounding down the hall leaked into Timmy's room. Timmy was under his blue rocket sheets, peeking his head out to watch the grey blurs run past his room between the crack in the door. Mom had always warned him that if he didn't clean his room the dust bunnies would become real, but he didn't listen. Timmy hid under his sheets again upon hearing a banging on the door. It wasn't his, but the one across the hall. They were hunting. They wanted blood.

Timmy's spaceman pajamas were sticking to his skin and dread was starting to set in. His mom and dad left to go to a concert and Jenny put Timmy to bed early so she could go out with her boyfriend, Justin. Timmy was all alone and no one was coming to save him. 

Bang! His door slammed against the wall. Timmy closed his eyes and laid still, curled up in his bed. He could hear the air entering their little lungs as they sniffed around his bed. Three, maybe four of them. One jumped up on the bed, next to his foot. Timmy slowly moved it away, trying to not change the position of his sheets. The bunny hopped closer, pushing the sheet down. It hopped again and landed on his leg.

"Aggghhhh!" Timmy squealed.

Throwing the sheet off himself and kicking the wrapped up bunny off the bed, he bounced off his bed and fell into his closet. The puffy grey bunnies surrounded him and moved in like a pack of wolves. They showed their white teeth and growled. Their beady red eyes stared into Timmy's, void of any emotion other than pure rage.

Timmy backed up and his clothes covered his face. His right hand grabbed something with a handle and it came alive. It whirled and grew louder once it stuck into the carpet. He lifted it up and the suction broke from the carpet, yet still made the same whirring sound. He moved the clothes out of his eyes and the bunnies hopped away. In his hand was a little hand vacuum his mom gave him to clean his room. He got to his feet and held the vacuum up like he found Excalibur. 

"Time to get cleaning!" Timmy declared and marched out of his room.

The bunnies all ran around in terror at the sound of his vacuum. Timmy chased them all over the house, sucking them up one by one. Each one squeaked in fear as their bodies got squeezed into the small opening, disappearing into the void. He vanquished them all, until there was only one left. Cornered against the red oak entrance door, he moved in closer. The bunny had nowhere to go and covered its eyes with its fluffy paws. Timmy was about to strike when the vacuum stopped. He slapped it a few times, but it refused to come back to life.

The bunny removed its paws and locked eyes with Timmy. The bunny roared while Timmy stood there still trying to wake up his vacuum. It lowered its body, ready to spring into action when the door came swinging open. The bunny was smashed into the wall behind it and turned into a cloud of dust. In the doorway, Timmy's mom and dad stood in their fancy clothes.

"What did you do?" Timmy's mom asked.

Timmy looked around at the giant mess in the house. Vases and their contents spilled on the couch, the TV was face down on the living room carpet, and the horror in the kitchen that would be best described as the aftermath of a hurricane was all that was left for his parents to witness.

"I was just cleaning."

Truce of Flames

"Lord Verdan, please be reasonable?" Princess Regent asked.

Lord Verdan's piece of steak was almost to his lips. The salty gristle called his name, but turned to char in an instant. His fork glowed red with his anger.

"Reasonable? You made a fire station right outside my Kingdom!" Lord Verdan said, pointing his fork, flinging the burnt meat into his cobblestone castle wall. 

"Your fires were getting out of control. I had to protect our forest."

"Those trees could use a good pruning."

"TipTap Forest is a sacred place for my people. Nowhere else can you find such strong and beautiful hardwoods."

"And that fire station is an insult to mine. In my father's time, it would have been a declaration of war."

"You know my intentions."

He cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. "Do I?"

"Come on, Vernny.”

"No!" He pounded the dark oak table, leaving scorch marks in his fist's wake. "You don't get to call me that anymore."

Princess Regent pushed away from the table and got up. Her red and black dress contrasted with her blonde hair. She walked around the table toward him. Her hand ran along the oak table, feeling every imperfection against her soft hand. Lord Verdan got up as well to meet her. Their footsteps echoed in harmony within the chamber until they stopped inches from each other. His eyes flickered like a wood fire roaring from a dose of gasoline. She stared back at him, determined to find the truth.

"Why don't you tell me why you're really mad?"

"Because you don't trust my people."

"You know that's not true."

He scoffed and walked away from her. She followed him, unwilling to let him get away.

"Come on. I'm trying to stop a war here. But we can't do that if you won't be reasonable."

He spun around, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"I am being reasonable. You remove the fire station. It is simple as that."

"But I have no guarantee that you will protect the forest."

"And you won't get one."

"Do you not see the problem?"

"I don't see a problem with that forest burning down. Brought enough pain to my family."

"You weren't the only one who lost a mother that day."

"I didn't just lose my mother that day," he said, unable to look at her anymore. 

"I didn't know you had more family in the forest that day."

"I didn't," he said quietly.

"Then who did you lose that meant so much to you?"

"You."

Her mouth opened like she was going to say something, but nothing came out. She froze there while the crackling of the fire lit lanterns above claimed the brief silence. 

"When our mothers died. You were whisked off to the castle to rule your kingdom and I was left with my father. He was bitter after she died and took it out on me. You were the only light in my life and just like my mother you were taken from me. That forest only reminds me of that day."

She reached her hand out to him. "I never knew. You never wrote.”

"Oh I did. Every night. I found out later my father's manservant would burn them. By the time I took the throne, I figured whatever relationship we had sizzled out."

She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "Well a sizzled out fire just needs to be stirred up a bit.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him past his seat to the balcony. The moon shined like the sun upon the land as people below danced and music rose up to them.

"How about a dance, Vernny?"

He smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist. They swayed back and forth with the music, holding each other like long lost lovers. Nothing was spoken for two songs, but each minute they danced together it was like getting back a year they lost. When the last song stopped, they just looked into each other's eyes, playing a game of chicken on who would speak first.

"I had a wonderful evening," she said.

"As did I. And I was thinking...about that fire station..."

"Consider it gone."

"No. I was hoping it would stay."

"Really?"

"If you don't mind some of my people working there. I'm sure they would appreciate the new job opportunities."

"I would like that."

"And besides. How could I take away your dream job as a ballerina-princess-firefighter? That would be cruel."

She laughed and hugged him tight. "I'm glad I came tonight."

"Me too."

Life and Death Go On A Date

A chill filled the air and brought with it the echoes of the undead yearning to return to the land of the living. Death was pushing a rotten head down, trying to return it to the patch of wet ground it had sprouted up from.

"Push it down!" Life said, holding her lantern up.

"I'm trying!" Death said, still struggling to push the zombie under the ground.

The zombie's arms were flailing about until it grabbed Death's pristine cloak, pulling him into the dirt.

"No, Death!" Life said, running to his aid.

"No! Don't!" Death said.

She ran to the tombstone and pushed it over. Death rolled to the side and the tombstone crushed the zombie with a muted crack. He got up to his feet and brushed the dirt off his cloak, almost slinging mud on her blue and white dress.

"I thought you were going to touch the ground again." 

"I learned my lesson. Don't touch cemetery ground. Check."

Death chuckled and shook his head.

"I didn't realize you could reanimate the dead," Death said.

"I didn't either. I guess I'm full of surprises."

"So...what do you think?"

"About what?"

He gestures to the rows of tombstones. "About this."

"I have never been to a cemetery before. My mother never really approved of such a place and it's not exactly a normal spot you ask a date out to."

"Oh…"

"But I'm glad you brought me. It is peaceful...besides the zombies."

"It really is...Hey, I want to show you something."

Death took her hand and led her past the rows of graves to a small stone circle in the center of the grounds. His hand was still wet, but she didn't care. It was the most assertive he had been all night and she was curious to learn what made him tick. The stone circle had text engraved into it from a language she did not recognize.

"What is it?"

"I'll show you." He stood on top of it and it started to glow green.

"Woah."

"Come on. The best part is standing on it. It feels good."

She walked to it and tripped on the edge. Death caught her before she touched the ground. 

"Watch your step.”

She looked into his eyes and saw something she didn't notice before. A kindness, soft and gentle. His white eyes looked more like puffy clouds than the soulless void she saw earlier at dinner. He stood her up and she immediately felt a tickling sensation run up her legs.

She giggled. "It tickles."

"Yeah it does. Whenever I'm in the mortal world I come here to relax. Get away from the hustle and bustle of death."

"Aren't the dead...you know. Dead."

"Not in my experience. On the other side I get to deal with who you saw earlier. Dead people after death are a wild bunch. Lot of work. But here. They are peaceful and at ease."

"That's fascinating. I always figured when people die they stopped living."

"No. They just torment me...that's actually why I wanted to go out with you tonight. To thank you.”

"For what? Taking away your job?"

"Every person you save is another second of rest I get. I wouldn't even be here if you weren't so good at your job. You're pretty amazing to take more on just so I can enjoy things like this. Like going out with a beautiful woman.”

Her cheeks turned scarlet and patted her skirt down. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Life is the most beautiful thing in the world. Without you there would be nothing. I would be nothing."

Life stood inches away from him, eating up every word. She leaned in close before a shockwave shot out from the stone they were on. Green smoke rose from the dirt and the moans of the undead surrounded them. 

"Uh oh," Life said, looking down at her bare foot on the stone. 

"That can't be good."

Zombie arms punched out of the ground and their cries became louder as they emerged. Death's mouth dropped. He could feel his father's rage banging inside his head. His stomach turned thinking about breakfast with him tomorrow.

"Look on the bright side. You have less work to do now.”