Dragonfly

We trekked through the woods, Fox leading. "We can do all kinds of--Oh, Lordy. My house." White wispy things filled the interior of the house.

"Are those cobwebs?" I asked.

"Yup. Let's go."

Hey, bud! I figured you'd appreciate the Halloween feel in your home.
You're Welcome! --Oak
Read a note on the door.

"New plan. I'll kill Oak, you go sleep at Spectre's place." He said in a very angry Scottish accent before taking off.

****

"There you are! Where's Fox?" Spectre asked, his gray jacket pulled tightly around him.

     "Something about a prank. Um... Spectre? Do you ever feel trapped here on the island?" I asked.

     "Me? No. This is all I've ever known. I washed up when I was three. Now? I'm 19. It's not like we can go back to what we don't know about. Why?" 

     "No reason."

     He sighed. "Dragonfly... All of this depends on you. Your attitude. If you look out that window," he said, pointing, "you could see a horrible monster or the branch of my favorite tree here. It's all in your head. Do I want to go back? See what we left behind? Sure. We all do, but the point is that we can't, so why try? Just give up." He laughed. "It's a terrible message to send, but it's the truth. We will never be able to go home, so... Um... You get the point, right? I don't have to spell it out?"

     "I do, but please spell it out."

     "Fine." He stepped up into my face. "Give up on going home. The sooner you do, the more you'll enjoy life here. I won't sugarcoat it.

     "Spectre...?"

     "We tried for years to get back to where we were, but never succeeded. So we moved on."

     "Spectre...!"

     "Focused our souls into projects that are worthwhile. It's not so bad here. Besides, how do you know that there is better than here? What if it's not, and you end up disappointing you--?"

     "Spectre!!"

     "What?!" He asked angrily.

     "Behind you...!" I gasped. He turned to see a strange bearded man in his shrubs. His soul was a muddy brown.

    "Get behind me. Brown souls are notoriously unpredictable and dangerous because they contain all of the soul colors mashed together!"

     So you did notice me, kid. How nice! He grinned.

     "Telepathy. So a brown-souled wizard. Fun, fun." Spectre rolled his eyes.

     So perceptive. You are just like HIM. You know who I'm talking about, right?

     "Yes. Shut up."

     Rude.

     "Shut it!" Spectre shouted, quite suddenly losing his cool. "Who are you? How could you possibly know so much?"

     You boys may call me The Merchant. I'm your best friend! I'm just traveling the lands, selling my wares.

     "It wouldn't matter if you were called Queen Elizabeth! Go away, you madman!" He bellowed, a ball of blue magic forming around his closed fists.

      As you wish, but don't I'm not going anywhere soon, best buddy. He vanished into the night.

"Yeah! Shoo, you raving lunatic!" He shouted, punching a hole in his wall and immediately surveying the damage.

"It's not over. He isn't done harassing us." I gulped.

"What makes you say that?"

"Did you see his dialogue?! Bold and italics! It's way too interesting for him to not be significant. Don't look at me like I'm delusional! It's a thing!"

"While I do think we should tell the others, especially the kingdom, I also think we need to take a step back and get a bit of shut eye. Nice and far away from the windows." He smiled. "Come on. Want a drink?"

"Of...?"

"Warm Chocolate Milk!" He grinned. "It's a guilty pleasure from my childhood."

"I'd love some. This is gonna sound rude, but I find it hard to believe you had a childhood."

"I did, don't worry. It was full of minor mishaps and total bloody disasters that always seem to come with experimentation." He set the cup on the table in front of me. I took a sip and instantly felt sleepy and nostalgic.

"What did you spike this with?" I asked.

"That's what I said the first time my br--best friend made it for me."

I knew he was hiding something, but decided against pushing him. Together, we climbed the steps to go to bed. He slept in a wooden chair so that I could have the bed. I vaguely remember feeling terrible, trying to convince him into some other sleeping arrangement, but he wanted none of it. After half an hour of arguing, I finally dozed off.