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DIMENSION: JULIE MARS' DIMENSION
Place: Julie Mars' front porch
POV: Julie Mars
I cried, bringing my hands up to wipe my tears. Mommy cuddled me, comforting me about Mister Kitty. "I don't want Mister Kitty gone, bring him back. I'll be a good girl and you can bring him back on my birthday. Please?" My mother stroked my head and tried to tell me he couldn't come back. I nuzzled against her until I saw someone coming up our front walk.
He was the oddest person I'd ever seen. He walked with an umbrella like a cane. He wore an odd black hat and a suit. He approached me and bowed. "Greetings, Jewelsy."
Jewelsy? My name had been Julie. I wiped my eyes once more and looked at the funny man. Mommy hadn't even noticed he was there.
"I am a friend that only you can see," he said, "and I am here to make you feel better about Mister Kitty."
A friend only I could see? I slightly moved away from mommy. A friend only I could see.
I had fun with the man that couldn't be seen, but when it came to a name, he said I could call him whatever I wanted. I decided his name would be Mister Umbrella in the Sky. He grinned, saying he liked the name. We had tea parties, played games, and became friends. I tried to tell others about Mister Umbrella, but they just said he was my 'imaginary friend'. Well, imaginary friends couldn't do the things Mister Umbrella could do.
But then, one day, he had to leave. He didn't even say goodbye to me. I never saw him again. As I got older, I slowly forgot about him altogether.
DIMENSION: BLUE ORIGIN DIMENSION
Place: Clouds
POV: Mister Umbrella in the Sky
It might sound funny that I have an umbrella, but I live in the clouds. That's one reason I love it. There are actually several reasons I have an umbrella, but those aren't serious right now. I have quite a predicament in front of me.
Watching from above, I can sense the pain of a child I once knew.
I love kids. That is, of course, part of the job description. You see I am a selectively seen comrade. Well, that's the politically correct name for me, but the name is known commonly as 'imaginary friend'. More than a little silly if you ask me. I am living and breathing of my own will, not because of someone's imagination. Some of the selectively seen are testy about that, so they become the 'Ididntdoits'. I don't particularly love or hate, the 'Ididntdoits', but the name sounds worse.
'Ididntdoits' charm themselves by getting people (mostly children) into trouble. They steal the last cookie in the jar, get paint on the walls, and stir up any other trouble that makes someone shout "Well, I didn't do it!"
No, the Ididntdoits did. Quite a mouthful. I've actually been an Ididntdoit a few times, but it's quite rare. Children do sometimes need a lesson, but often I don't associate with the kind that need a lesson. Keeping your nose clean, and choosing your comrades. An important lesson.
I had just lost my newest little friend two days ago. Her name was Amy, but I had called her My Ami. She sorted herself out and began to make friends again, so I wasn't needed anymore. After I lose a friend, I often find another city and town. The farther I distance myself from her, the less she will sense me. Then before I know it, my little friend will no longer even remember me. I'll just be a vague memory on the wind.
In the meantime, I must sit on this cloud with my umbrella and a lovely muffin. I am waiting for a signal, the next child who is ready to make a friend with me. I've done this more times than I know, but something is different today.
My mind won't concentrate on someone new. In fact, it is an old connection that had never truly disappeared. You see, I didn't solve a particular little girl's problem. I was in the middle of it when I was told I could not associate with her anymore. I did not even get to say goodbye. That connection remained and it had been the only feeling of regret that had lingered upon me. I had learned to ignore it over the years, but the feeling was three times as strong today.
Jewelsy. Her name had been Julie Mars, but I had never called a child by their name. Too dull. In fact, Jewelsy had been the one who had named me. Before, I would go by whatever the child wanted. George, Bob, Fairy, whatever they wanted to call me.
When I told her what I was and where I was from, she said she'd call me Mister Umbrella in the Sky. I fell in love with that name, and started going by Mister Umbrella for short. That's another reason for an umbrella. Otherwise it's an absurd name. Our connection time was short, only about two weeks. Even after I left to other places and befriended others, I could still feel her.
It seemed that I was destined to be tied with her in some way, so associating at such a young age would jinx something. Preposterous as it seemed. Wouldn't knowing her better over time tie us better instead of separating us?
A few years ago, I sensed the largest disturbance ever from her. I wanted to see her, but was still instructed not to. That day, I felt great sorrow as a large part of what had been Jewelsy had disappeared. All I could feel was darkness from her direction anymore.
But this morning, it had been so heavy. My heart could barely smile. I wanted to see her so much.
Jewelsy would be over twenty now, so her imagination wouldn't allow her to see me. The meeting would be one-sided; I'd simply be a ghost in the room as I had been with every other person. I have never looked in on the children after they grew up. It was almost an unwritten policy among the selectively unseen.
Yet, Jewelsy needed someone. What if that darkness completely consumed her? No, I just couldn't ignore it. Not anymore.
DIMENSION: JULIE MARS' DIMENSION
Place: The house of the Aunt of Julie Mars.
POV: Julie Mars
The clock chimed its hourly alert to get me up. I managed to hit the sleep button. It was probably past lunchtime, but I didn't care. Why get up? It was just another boring, ordinary day. Wake up, eat, and go to sleep. Nothing special.
Life used to be special to me. When people loved and took care of me, life was easy. When they left, then easy left with them. Everything does, except the pain. 'Wake up', my mother used to say when I slept late. My father would have said to buck up and not be so down. My sister would have ripped the blankets off of me.
"Julie, get out of bed!"
I guess that was the best form of caring I would get. It was enough to make me sit up. I grabbed some frumpy clothes and headed downstairs.
My Uncle Charles looked above his tablet. He only ever stopped working to give me that usual disapproving look. Sweats and a sweatshirt weren't becoming, but I didn't care. I sat down in my chair, waiting for my Aunt Merissa.
"Nice apparel for lunch," he said. "Didn't you wear that yesterday, and the day before?"
I looked at him in his irritating suit. I had always thought suits could be more whimsical, or that people in suits could be fun. That was until I met my Uncle Charles.
My Aunt Merissa sat down a plate with a pancake on it. "It's cold, but it's late. Warm it up if you want." She held the spatula toward me. "Today, job. As soon as you eat, you are getting dressed in something more appropriate, and you are finding another job."
I poked at the pancake on my plate. "Not my fault that the economy sucks."
My Aunt Merissa looked like she could spit acid from her mouth at me for that statement. "No, Julie, when you look like you don't care about anything, that usually means you don't care. When you show up late and do a lousy job, it means that you aren't going to keep your job. There are people that are hurting in this economy. Don't use them as an excuse. There's a huge difference between the two! Your Aunt Margaret lost her job at the bank and found a temporary one. She is working her way up. You? You'll go through another job in a month at this rate because you simply don't care. A lot of people would love to have the opportunities you have."
Sure, everyone is dying to work at low paying fast food jobs. I poked my pancake again. "I'm out of gas."
"Then walk," my Uncle Charles said. "Use those feet for something."
"I want you out there finding a job within an hour," my Aunt Merissa said as she moved the spatula out of my face. "Today. No excuses."
It looked like my day had been planned. I didn't blame my Aunt for the sharp tone, she had put up with me ever since I dropped out of college. She was sympathetic and patient, but only to a degree. She had two important rules I had to follow. The first was to keep a job. If I lost it, I had to go get another one. The second was unbreakable, she made it clear several times. No drugs, no alcohol, and no tobacco of any kind. The moment she sensed anything was wrong, she'd have my Uncle Charles pack my bags and she wouldn't say goodbye. I believed her too. If it were a threat, she couldn't do it. She would leave the house and leave it up to my Uncle Charles. He would never be afraid to kick me out, he'd probably even smile and whistle while he trotted back to work.
Oh, but there was one drug I could take. My depression prescription pills. I quit buying it some time ago, it was just a waste. I never even took one, never wanted to get hooked. I'd seen enough of those lawyer commercials to know that I didn't want that in me. My Aunt Merissa believed I took them though, and if she knew the truth, she might send me to something like therapy.
"Here." My Aunt Merissa sat down a hundred dollar bill at the table. "Your Uncle Charles has covered the rest of the month for your medication, but that's it. Remember our agreement."
I didn't answer back, and she was making me too bitter to even eat the cold pancake. Now they were wasting their own money buying that medication for me? I got up and headed out the door, I couldn't take much more.
***
I should have grabbed a jacket, it had been colder today. Some people stared at me as I went by. Beauty wasn't something I cared about anymore. Make up, or no makeup. Death didn't care in the end. I glanced back as I heard a bunch of guys actually laugh as I passed. A waste of breath to tell them anything. I moved toward the gas station, my first stop. They didn't have any sign, and didn't seem to care to tell me about any other opportunities they knew of. As they helped another customer, I slid the hundred out of my pocket and placed it into a random charity jar for something or other.
I looked at the label afterward. Muscular Dystrophy. Yeah, that had been a better place for it. I headed back out, not really thinking about where to ask for a job next. Surprisingly, the weather had grown warm enough that I was glad I had left my jacket after all.
I looked up toward the sky. It was something stupid I had done as a child, look for shapes in the clouds. I had been obsessed with clouds when I was younger. I used to see ancient grand castles, more majestic than any painter could capture. I used to see mighty dragons and the gorgeous Pegasus flying across the sky. If only I could find that anymore. Instead, I saw a pair of handcuffs. To the left were bars similar to the front of a jail cell. A group of ten clouds created a foreboding cemetery…
A curse escaped me as I felt a tug around my shoulder, and slammed into a building. When I looked back, there had been a car laying on its horn. It had stopped, but two feet in front of where I had been. No more cloud staring for me.
I think someone just saved my life.
I think someone that shouldn't exist saved my life. "Mister Umbrella in the Sky?"