From Beyond The Grave

Mom runs inside, frantically looking in her supply cabinet. She is a registered nurse, but she only does house calls when the family doesn't have the money for an actually hospital. She manages to throw out anything not useful and stuffs her bag. It's been almost a day since she has been at her friends house. This is the third time she has come home like this.

I only watch as she runs back out to our neighbors. I just sit on the couch watching a documentary on UFOs, not really paying attention. Jasmine and I don't have work because the store is closed. Jerry got a horrific case of food poisoning. Like everyone around us. There isn't really a reason behind why it spread, I'm just glad I did not catch it. To be safe I only been consuming red soda and animal crackers.

I shoved another large handful of crackers in my mouth; I'm sure PETA will be stomping down my door any second. It's like murder. I pretend the crackers are calling for help, so much my growling attracts unwanted attention. Jasmine appears, hands on her lips. I grin, crackers still in my mouth.

"Turn to channel six, pudgy." Jasmine sits down beside me, taking a handful for herself. I frown, but change the channel. It's our local news channel; I never cared for it. Too much drama for a little town. Oh no, Timmy fell down the well! A bunch of bullshit if you ask me. Before I could complain I spot something. It's Alex's mom. I sit up; I haven't heard from him since he asked Jasmine and I to go to the dock. Since he was playing with that weird object that washed ashore.

Alex's mom was crying, the tears were falling on the reporter's microphone. She looked so sad, the reporter was even tearing up. Dear gawd. Our other friend's parents were surrounded around her, all their eyes red. Something was off here. They all hated each other, so they shouldn't be together.

I stand, "TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" I demand from the television.

The reporter looks into the camera. "Tell us, Ms. Heckle, what happened to your son." Jasmine pulls me back onto the couch, her eyes stuck to the screen too. Alex's mom just sobbed. The reporter repeated herself.

Among sobs she answers. "He got sick, he got so terribley sick. The same goes with his little friends. They all have that food poisoning that is going around." I frown, that wasn't enough to make someone cry. Alex is just shitting out his stomach. Not that bad; I had it last year. His mother lets out a wail. "He won't wake up now!" She screams.

Jasmine and I look at each other. Food poisoning shouldn't do that. Knowing Alex's mom she would have held him down and forced fluids into him. This is more serious than food poisoning, something much more serious. The reporter confronts her and they click back to the news room. The ancures say half the population on Cumberland Island now have the same case of food poisoning. I turn off the television.Neither of us speak.

Jasmine only sends a text message. My stomach turns just thinking of Alex. I was so rude to him, now he is seriously sick. I wish I could have be nicer. My stomach heaves, I fly over the couch and bolt for the door. Everything was coming up. Luckily I explode in the toilet. The lid is a comforting cool. As I lay my head on the rim, Jasmine holds my hair back. After a few more heaves, everything is gone.

"It will be okay. I'm sure Alex will be fine. You know how his mom is, she's fucking nuts." Jasmine smiles, we both know its a complete lie. I take it anyway and curl up in her lap. She just smooths my hair softly, humming. It's always been this way with us. I comfort her, she comforts me. We are extremely close. It's hard not to be close, we have twin telepithy going on.

The phone buzzes. Jasmine flips it open, reading the text. She gasps, and holds the phone down to me to see.



It's from Murray. I force myself to stand, letting her run out the bathroom. "I got to see him," Jasmine yells from across the apartment now. I just stand there, all alone. It's not like I don't care about Murray; I'm just tired of being alone. It's a traumatic phobia I have. I cannot stand it.

I listen to Jasmine saying goodbye and the front door slamming shut. I just sit back down, laying on the toilet. Screw this.