VooDoo Follies Read Online Free Page A

Those eyes used to glint and sparkle with
laughter for me.
    We were walking slowly, awkwardly, I think. I
notice the lines in the road kept moving this way and that. It
wasn’t the lines, it was me. I was beginning to stumble a little as
I shuffled my feet. They were like heavy bricks strapped to the
rest of me. I didn’t want to move them any longer. So, I sat, right
there on the side of the road.
    “...you’ll get hit by a car.”
    I heard the last bit of what Stephen said and
managed one semi-coherent thought back to him. “Already
dead.”
    Yes, I was. Crazy math girl new best. I
shouldn’t be here.
    “Seraphine.” I said it out loud, the name
rolling off my thickened tongue like a dew drop. She sounded like
an angel to me.
    I smelled funny. The sun was too hot for
October. I needed a bath. “Dead. No bath for me.”
    “A - what’s going on?” Stephen looked at me
with worried eyes again.
    “Dead.” I managed to say again. More thoughts
traveled at light speed through my mind, only now they were just a
jumble of pretty images going by. For a moment, I had a clear
thought. Maybe, this is what it was like when I died. I saw all
these images from my life flash before my eyes.
    “Come on,” Stephen was saying to me. “Let’s
get you hidden in the trees by the cemetery, while I go find some
help.” I stood awkwardly, tripped over my own brick-heavy foot and
realized I had scraped the side of my toe as I did it. I felt no
pain, but bent awkwardly to pick my little toe up off the ground.
It had come off when I scraped the concrete.
    Stephen’s eyes were filled with horror as I
held up the little digit and examined it. Then, I stuffed it in my
pocket with a shrug and followed him into the tree line. He was
gone before I knew it. I was left alone, sitting on the grass that
had already begun it’s change into a wintery death. Dead, like me.
Everything. Shiny white headstones peered at me from beyond the
trees. Then the leaves began to talk. “Crunch, crunch,” I almost
giggled at their voices. Singing. I heard... no. Not singing.
Mumbling. Leaves mumbling to me about their beer. Something wasn’t
right with the leaves.
    “...lost my beer, found a pretty
girl.”
    Crunch, crunch, went the leaves.
    “Mmmm, hello pretty girl.” Silence filled the
air for a minute and then, “Hello?”
    “Hello, leaves,” I was touching the dead
things beneath my fingertips as a hand touched my shoulder.
“Stephen?” I turned in time to see a dirty bearded face dropping
quickly to mine. The man smelled worse than I did. Garbage and the
sent of fresh, hot urine found my nose, then a hungry, bearded
mouth found mine. He was trying to bite me, I thought. So, I bit
back. I bit his lip, pennies dropped in my mouth. Heavenly droplets
of velvety pennies were exploding on my thickened tongue.
Screaming. The bearded man was screaming and holding his face in
his hand.
    I pounced on him, wanting more heaven. I tore
into his throat and ripped and chewed and sucked the beautiful
pennies. No more screaming. They were magic to me. They filled me
with... thoughts. I could remember now. Everything was coming in
clear where before there was only static. The accident, the car
skidding, swerving. Screaming. I remembered the screaming, looking
over into Stephen’s panicked eyes. “Oh, Stephen, you were there
too!” The words were out of my mouth before I knew I spoke them.
Then I remembered him telling Seraphine that he had been in an
accident.
    I saw Stephen coming across the cemetery,
heading my way. I wiped the blood away from my mouth as best I
could. Most of it ending up on my sleeve. I was going to go hug
him. “I remember,” I said to him as we drew closer together. His
speed fell to a slow crawl as mine picked up. “I’m so glad you were
okay.” He was looking at me, it was not a kind look. He was, mad,
or maybe afraid. “Stephen?”
    “What have you done?” He asked me, taking in
the blood that was soaking into my shirt. I