It had been a fine day earlier, when Marley had been shopping in the card store (the same stationers where she had bought her winning lottery ticket) - (or at least believed she had won it there) - and later went to purchase the store itself with some of the prize money she had received.
Today she was looking for a novelty card to give Puck. It was coming up to their anniversary of a whole year. She was browsing for something with whimsy that they could open together and share a laugh about.
As she stood in front of the card aisle trying to find the perfect sentiment, she reminisced over the times that he had been there for her when she had needed him.
It did not enter her head that he and her had differences at all - it seemed very natural, incredibly natural - almost second nature, for her to be with him.
And as she was standing there, seeing far past the cards with their powerful inscriptions inside, a small child, no older than three, ran up and wrapped her arms around her legs tightly.
She was a 'spirit' child (a ghost of some kind) yet dressed in modern clothing wearing a pink t-shirt with a fairy on the front, very small blue jeans and glittery sneakers with pink Velcro trims.
"She can't have been long gone" Marley first thought pityingly, looking down at the small figure still clutching her thighs.
Marley had grown used to seeing apparitions and otherworldly phenomena. Sharing her life with Puck had given her this vision, which was convenient because she could see now the folk that he would talk to, and he could no longer return to invisibility within the physical world and be unseen by her.
It was a little difficult at first - finding just how crowded every place truly is within the world - with characters of all kinds.
Yes, there had been diversity issues for her and not to mention the uglies that had faces so foul it took moments to get over them.
But once she had got past her own judgements and comparisons Marley found she could flip quite ordinarily from this world into the ethereal and just accept it for what it is. Not only could she see the folk there but now she could hold a conversation with them too.
Marley expected that the child would disappear out of there, for most human spirits very quickly come and go; but instead she followed her from the store into the hairstylist, and the cafe, the grocer, to the refuge where Marley dropped off a dozen bags of groceries - she even followed her into the bathroom in-between.
-Gabriel Brunsdon, Puck in Hell, Azlander Series
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