Getting Back to Normal Read Online Free

mumble, trying to convince myself. But it doesn’t work. My vision has adjusted to the darkness. There are no trees or shrubs around to hide Archie from sight.
    I suddenly remember Robby. He’ll be frightened if he wakes up and finds himself alone in the cottage. I’m about to run back when I think of how much he’d love the dish Archie told me how to make. And so I hurry off to Greystone for my supplies.
    “That Archie is one strange dude.” I shake my head as I race-walk toward the mansion. “Comes out of nowhere, knows all this stuff about MG, but won’t answer my questions. And does flips and handstands like an acrobat, when he’s not sprawled out on the bench.”
    The bench! I stop dead in my tracks when I remember having seen the bench through Archie’s body. That’s when he started flipping around.
    To distract me? Make sure I didn’t touch his hand?
    And, come to think of it, he sure was in a rush to end our conversation. As if he was afraid he’d disappear into thin air.
    Which is exactly what happened the moment I turned my back.
    Suddenly signs of his strangeness fill my mind. Like his old-fashioned name. And using “whom.”
    And saying he visited at Greystone when no one but Aunt Mayda’s stayed there in almost twenty years.
    My next thought so totally amazes me, I spin around, my arms slicing the air like the rotor blades of a helicopter. “Archie’s a ghost,” I announce to the tall trees along the path. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
    “A ghost!” I repeat, and shiver with excitement. “I just had a conversation with a real, live ghost, and he didn’t scare me one bit!”
    *
    The kitchen door to Greystone is unlocked, as Archie said it would be. I switch on the light, probably the only light not already on. “Hello?” I call out.
    I’m relieved when no one comes. Quickly, I gather up cheese, eggs, bacon bits, and a jar of dried onion flakes. I put everything into a plastic bag I find in one of the drawers. I consider leaving a note for Aunt Mayda, telling her what I’ve done. No, I decide. I’ll tell her when I see her.
    On my way back to the cottage, I run through the recipe again. It’s easy enough. I’m pretty sure I can make it come out right. I realize that, ghost or not, I can trust Archie, though he clearly doesn’t trust me.
    “Why didn’t he tell me he’s a ghost?” I wonder aloud.
    “He was probably afraid he’d scare me to death,” I answer myself, giggling. Still, that’s no way to start a friendship.
    I leave the bag of food on the kitchen counter and tiptoe into Robby’s room. He’s snoring gently, with his thumb tucked in his mouth. “Now I’m going to make you a real supper,” I whisper.
    I wash my hands at the kitchen sink and boil water for the pasta. While the spaghetti’s cooking, I beat eggs and cut up cheese. I line up all the ingredients the way Mom always did, ready to mix them into the pasta as soon as it’s drained.
    I set the table for two. It’s a quarter to seven. When Daddy gets home, he’ll have already eaten. Eating’s one of the things they do at those meetings.
    I’m spilling the spaghetti into the colander in the sink, when Robby calls out, “Daddy, Vannie, where are you?”
    He startles me and my hands shake. Hot water splashes on my fingers. I nearly spill the pasta all over the sink.
    “Daddy! Vannie!”
    “I’m here!” I shout. “In the kitchen.”
    “Come and get me, Vannie. I’m frightened.”
    When I pour the spaghetti back into the pot, some slides into the sink. I leave it there. “Just a minute.”
    “Hurry up, Vannie!” Now Robby’s sobbing. “I need you.”
    I rush to his room and turn on the light. I want to comfort him, but then the spaghetti will cool off and the dinner won’t come out right. I force a smile on my face.
    “Go wash your hands and come into the kitchen. I’ve a surprise for you.”
    “What kind of surprise? A food surprise?”
    I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe. You’ll