Pocket Stories: Character Charts

Prompt: Use the following characters in a scene: a floating skull, a headless man, an apparition.

Darkness was just beginning to descend upon the sleepy town, signaling to the supernatural creatures that it was safe to leave their havens, for the humans were at last abed.

Dale poked his head around the corner of the cemetery, his body-less head bobbing gently with the breeze. Mark and Steve hadn’t arrived yet. He clicked his tongue impatiently.

“Come on, fools, there are places we need to be,” he grumbled to himself.

A ghostly apparition appeared right in front of Dale.

“AH!” Dale screamed. “Mark! Stop doing that to me. I know you can control it, so stop popping up when I’m not expecting you.”

The misty being just shrugged, a smile barely visible on the faded face.

“Do you know when Steve’s going to show up? We’ve got places to be.” Dale asked Mark the Apparition.

Mark just shrugged again.

Dale floated up until he was higher than the cemetery walls. There were plenty of creatures about, but none of them had the ambling, lop-sided gait that belonged to Steve. Dale returned to the ground and bobbed closer to Mark.

The two remained in a comfortable silence until the crunch of nearby leaves had them both turning towards the noise. The crunching grew louder, and more defined. Whoever was walking paid no attention to what they were walking on. Rocks were kicked carelessly in every direction. Sticks of all shapes and sizes were snapped with the same indifference. Pebbles and leaves were not spared either.

At last Steve appeared. His headless body shuffling and stumbling around like a bumbling oaf.

“Oi, Steve, over here you lump.” Dale called. As the only one with a voice, he was always tasked with giving Steve directions, not that the body paid any attention to him.

Steve marched over and stood nearby Dale and Mark.

Dale floated up until he was the tallest of them all. “Now that you are all here, we can begin. In the next town over there is a sneaky witch who owes me a favor, a favor that we will be cashing in on as soon as we get to her.”

Mark waved his arms to get Dale’s attention.

“What is it, Mark?” Dale asked.

Mark used exaggerated sign language to get his point across. He kept fading in and out, but Dale was able to get the gist of what was meant.

“That’s right, Mark. We are going to be whole again. The witch will attach me to Steve’s body and then infuse us with your soul. We’ll have to share the head space a bit, but it will be worth it to be a whole body once again.” Dale closed his eyes and smiled. The memories of his life with a body were sweet and joyous.

Steve stamped out a question in Morse Code.

“No Steve, this is not the same witch. Why would I send you to the witch that cursed you to lose your head in the first place? Really, morons.” Dale answered.

“Now,” he continued, “if there are no more inane questions, let’s get on our way. It will be daylight soon and I’d like to get as far as we can before then.”

The trio took off into the night, the apparition guiding the floating head and headless body through the dark and onto the path of their future.



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