#be nice to me please I am a snivelling pathetic forest creature with an anxiety disorder

[squirreltastrophe]

SO I WROTE A SILLY SHORT STORY HEHE!!!! :3

OK SO UHHHH. REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT POSTING THIS BUT I GOTTA WORK ON PUTTING STUFF I MAKE OUT THERE SO!!!!

I wrote this little short story for a class and it;s silly and I kinda like how it came out so I went "hmm why don't I post it!" it's about my silly ocs that I post about a lot :3. oh also it has illustrations! oh and disclaimer I'm not the greatest writer ever I just like to get silly with it. I have fun :D.

BUT UH anyway I'm proctrastingating now oops story time

 Even the most mundane tasks are so different when you’re dead. Jinny knew this all too well. Sometimes it was convenient; no more need for doors when you can phase through walls! But other times, being dead was extremely lonely. Like when 99% of the human race can’t see (let alone understand) your ghostly form.

But Jinny would never in a million years admit she was “lonely”. How could she be lonely when she had such awesome living friends? Jinny thought about her best friends, Ophelia and Albert, a lot. The three of them were always acting on Jinny’s stupidest ideas and going on adventures. Or, more accurately, Jinny and Ophelia would act on an adventure and drag a begrudging Albert along.

The awesome friendship adventure plan today was to take Albert’s beloved bike to the largest hill they could find and ride down it without using the breaks. At all! When Jinny brought this idea up with her friends, Ophelia had enthusiastically volunteered to be the one on the bike. This was surprising, given how Ophelia had the courage and mind of a field mouse. Jinny figured she was trying to prove something to herself. She tended to do that sort of thing.

Jinny fidgeted with her hair in excitement. Sure she wasn’t actually the one riding the bike, it’d take her too much energy to not phase through the dang thing, but as long as Jinny’s friends were having fun, so was she!

After a walk through the winding streets of suburbia, the three friends arrived at a large hill. Jinny could see Ophelia tense up as they walked to the crest.

“What’s wrong?” Jinny asked, her voice startling Ophelia a bit.

“Uh, I’m fine.” Ophelia replied. “Just a bit nervous. Are you sure I can ride a bike down this hill without breaking my neck?”

“I’m sure whatever happens, it’ll turn out fine. And if you did break your neck, we could be ghost buddies! Pal-tergiests!” Jinny said. Her favorite coping strategy was bad death-related puns. Despite the eyeroll, Jinny could see Ophelia smile a little and relax her shoulders.

The helmet Ophelia was wearing (at Albert’s insistence) cast a shadow over her face, making it sorta hard to see her expressions, but that wasn’t the biggest issue. Jinny could read Ophelia very well— Which made sense, given that Jinny’d known Ophelia for pretty much her entire afterlife! They’d grown up together in the Underworld because of Ophelia’ unique kidnapped-by-demons-when-she-was-a-baby situation. Jinny and Ophelia had run away and come up to the living world for the first time recently. Ophelia’d been positively giddy with all the new creatures and plants they’d found. Before she could zone out even more, Jinny was pulled out of her thoughts by Albert’s reedy voice.

“I still think this seems like a horrible idea.” He said. Albert had a way of doubting Jinny’s plans, though she didn’t see why.

“Even if my impeccable idea ends badly, at least we got to see this view!” Jinny chimed.

The breeze had a tinge of Autumn sweetness to it. The steep hill they were on overlooked the small forest-surrounded town. Jinny could see tiny people and cars on the streets, all living their lives. The town reminded her of an ant colony, always moving and changing. 

The Underworld wasn’t like that. Sure, it was full of activity, but ghosts or imps didn’t change in the same way actual living people did. The bustle up here felt… different.

Jinny shook her melancholy away and turned to Ophelia, who was climbing on the bike now. 

“Are you ready?” Jinny asked, grinning. Ophelia nodded, her lips pursed together. On the count of three, Albert and Jinny pushed the bike with a heave! Ophelia bolted forward, letting out a squeak. Jinny watched as Ophelia barreled down the hill, the bike bouncing every which way.

“This was probably a terrible idea, huh?” Jinny said.

“Definitely.”

As if on cue, the bike crashed into a crag on the hill and Ophelia flew over the rock like a candy wrapper. Jinny yelped and sped down the hill after Albert. 

Ophelia sat at the bottom of the hill, holding a scraped knee, tears rolling down her face. Jinny felt a pit of guilt form in her stomach. She floated next to Ophelia, asking her if she was okay. Ophelia shook her head and blubbered in the same manner as a sopping wet cat. Without speaking, Albert whipped a small first aid kit out of his backpack and started to put some sort of ointment on Ophelia’s nasty-looking cut. 

How the heck is he prepared for everything? What does he keep in that backpack? Jinny thought. One time, Ophelia had needed something to dig with, and Albert offered an egg beater he’d had on hand. Not a hand shovel. An egg beater. It also seemed that Albert had a never-ending library of his favorite comics in his backpack. Jinny thought about Albert more than what was considered normal. Or completely platonic. But Jinny was getting lost in her thoughts again. 

Ophelia was still sniffling when Albert pulled her to her feet. They were all in agreement that Ophelia should never get on a bike again. And that they should all go home.

That night, the house was still and quiet. Too still and quiet. The house felt like it was holding its breath, waiting for everyone to come back to life in the morning. 

Jinny laid on the living room floor, turning the events of the day around in her head. Jinny hated silence. It unsettled her. The quiet drone of the tv— still on even though Ophelia was asleep on the couch— mingled with her self-deprecating thoughts.

I shouldn’t have even made Ophelia get on that stupid bike, Jinny thought. She got hurt because of me. Jinny’s thoughts continued to spiral like this until she realized she kept coming back to one thing: Ophelia bled when she scraped her knee. Jinny couldn’t do that.

Sure, it was trivial to mull over the fact that Jinny couldn’t bleed, being a ghost and all, but this fact just felt like yet another barrier between Jinny and her friends. Another piece of evidence that Jinny was only a paranormal puppet, pretending to be like everyone else. Jinny smiled as she came up with yet another immaculate idea. 

I can make myself like them.

 -   -   -

As soon as Jinny saw the morning light stream through the window, she popped up and started to poke Ophelia awake. 

“Rise and shine!” Jinny said in a sing-songy, overly-peppy tone. Ophelia simply responded with a series of grumbles and rolled over. Jinny shrugged off Ophelia’s less-than-friendly greeting. “I’m gonna go out! Be back soon!” 

Jinny had originally planned to bring her friends on her people watching/mimicking mission too; that was, until she realized they’d probably question why she was taking notes on everyone she saw. It’d be better for everyone if Jinny did this particular activity alone.

Jinny bounced out the front door, notepad in hand. She’d already planned out her entire day, from the places she’d go to the weather she’d expect (lacking the ability to sleep well will do that to you). The main place Jinny had planned to go to was the local park. She floated down the street in that direction, passing through the occasional person. 

Jinny arrived at the playground as the sun was approaching its climax. The park was very nice today! The forest encircling the park had a rusty fall time hue. People chattered and wandered like absent-minded mice. Jinny found a bench under a shaded tree and sat. Her leg bounced up and down as she forced herself to focus on the people passing by. 

She noticed a woman in a blue coat, leading an eager child to the swingset. She observed the way the sun’s rays bounced off of the fleshy faces surrounding her. She took note of how the people mingled with each other. How they all seemed to effortlessly fit together.

Jinny heard a mischievous laugh from behind her and whipped around. She saw a group of three older kids, plotting together. 

“We can’t explore the forest now! My sister’s still watching!” The smallest of them squeaked. 

“Oh c’mon! We won’t ever get a chance if we keep stalling! It’s not like she’s paying attention anyway.” The third child ignored the first two, simply reading a book off to the side. 

These kids striked Jinny as eerily like her friends. She wished they were with her right now. As the group ran into the forest, Jinny felt inclined to follow. It wasn’t too creepy if she was looking out for them, right?

Jinny followed the kids through clearings and thickets, dandelions and thistles. The forest was teeming with life and sound. Birds sang disjointed songs, creatures skittered everywhere, and ferns swayed with the gentle breeze. Jinny knew the kids couldn’t see her, but she found herself occasionally hiding behind  trees anyway. I guess I’m more tense than I thought. Every once in a while, Jinny smiled or giggled to herself when the kids would start bantering with each other.

Jinny found herself distracted by the canopy above her as she floated along. There wasn’t a sun in the Underworld (obviously), so Jinny was endlessly fascinated with how the sunlight danced through different things. Ophelia actually helped her notice this— Ophelia was always realizing little beautiful things around her.

Just as Jinny pulled her thoughts back to reality, she noticed that the quietest of the children was staring straight at her. Or, more accurately, through her. 

“Have you guys been hearing that?” The small girl squeaked, turning around to face her friends. “That rustling sound behind us.”

Jinny looked down and realized she had walked right into the middle of a bush while she was lost in her thoughts. Of course the kids could hear her now!

“Now that you mention it, I’ve been hearing it too.” The adventurous one replied.

Jinny felt an alarm begin to blare in her head. It’d be extremely embarrassing if she was caught by  5th graders! And it’d be even more embarrassing if she had to admit she’d been taking notes on socialization from these 5th graders!

Jinny bolted away from the little adventurers. She knew she was causing a ruckus, but at this point she couldn’t care less.

-   -   -

Jinny phased through the front door, walking in on Ophelia and Albert playing a video game. Ophelia was losing repeatedly, as usual. Jinny felt the shame and embarrassment set in as she approached her friends. She’d definitely have to tell them what she’d been up to now. And Jinny hated talking about stupid sappy emotions!

Albert greeted Jinny as Ophelia threw down her controller in frustration. 

“What the heck have you been up to all day?” He asked with a chuckle. Jinny’s face got uncomfortably warm. With a sigh, she plopped herself down between her friends. No way she could get out of explaining herself now.

“I… I was observing living people because I thought I could be more like you guys.” Jinny fiddled with her fingers. “I know it’s stupid and it wouldn’t work anyway but-”

“What? Why would you do that?” Ophelia asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

“I dunno!”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out so blunt. I was just wondering why you’d do something like that when you’re so awesome already!” Ophelia continued. Jinny further shrinked into herself with the praise.

“I, for one, think being a ghost is cool and sick and tubular.” Albert said. “Tubular” was an… odd choice of words. But the meaning came across the same.

Jinny smiled a little. Now she just felt silly for worrying so much before. Jinny felt love swell up inside her and pulled her friends in for a hug. She thought back on the experiences she’d had with her pals: watching ice cream drip onto the sidewalk, laughing through badly made rom coms, attempting to befriend stray cats. Jinny realized how warm she felt right now. Not temperature wise (Jinny wasn’t even sure she could feel temperature), but warm in an emotional way. 

Jinny had been too wrapped up in mimicry and expectations to realize who she was. But she knew when she found herself, her friends would be waiting with open arms and unending warmth.

YIPEE YAHOO THATS IT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT A LIL BIT :3 this is one of the first writing things I've finished in a hot minute so it's very close to my heart!!!! writing is so silly I wanna get better at it hehe