Epilogue
Everything looks so big. The house, the trees, the broken fence. I guess that makes sense now that I no longer tower over everything. Well, not quite as much. I’m still pretty tall judging by the size of the door I’m now facing.
I adjust the plaid scarf around my neck and pull the beanie back a little bit more. I want her to see my eyes. Need her to.
I knock, marvelling at the layers of flesh and skin where once there was only bone. I hold my breath, because I have lungs now, and marvel at the feel of it in my chest. My newly pumping heart beats in my chest, once, twice, and on the third beat, she pulls the door open.
The moon takes that moment to emerge from behind a cloud, highlighting her face in its glow.
Her warm brown eyes are still swimming with tears behind her puffy lids. There’s a trace of Halloween makeup lingering along her jawline. And I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful.
She dashes a little hand under her red tipped nose and sniffles. Everything else may look bigger, but she still seems so tiny to me. So perfect and pink and soft.
My newly-formed heart aches behind my ribs, and I reach up and rub at the one that stands out just a little too far. The sight of her so beautifully heartbroken causes an ache there, because I know what she’s feeling. When I thought I was going to lose her, I felt the same way.
“I thought you could use a beer,” I say, holding a bottle of pumpkin porter out to her.
The seconds of waiting for her to recognize me hang between us, heavy as the harvest moon shining down on us.
She blinks up at me, trying to process my words. She clears her throat as if searching for her voice. It comes out a little gravelly, like when she first wakes in the morning, and says, “A what? I’m sorry, do I know you?”
A grin stretches across my face. “Hello, Tori.”
She pulls back a little, alarmed at a stranger using her name.
I flicker hearts into my eyes, and she gasps, then reaches out towards me with a trembling hand.
I take one step forward and grasp it in mine, bringing it to lie against my chest over my pounding heart so she can feel that it beats for her. Then I slide her fingertips to drift over my crooked rib.
Her eyes shoot to my beanie, then run down over the scarf, over my body, and finally down to my boots. They shoot back up to mine, wide with wonder.
“Mr. Bonejangles?” she breathes out like a prayer.
I flicker the LEDs off and let them change back to my boring human eyes and nod my head at her.
I barely have time to catch her in my arms when she launches herself at me. Barely, but I do, marvelling at the way my hands are so small now that I can’t just lift her up in one of them. But she feels just as good with my arms wrapped around her curves, pulling her body tight into me.
When she smashes her mouth against mine in a hungry kiss, I realize that being this smaller size is worth the tradeoff of having a body made flesh to worship her with. Our lips dance and tongues glide over each other as we learn each other all over again.
Squeezing a double handful of her luscious ass in both hands, I can’t help but think that I could get very used to this.
I pull back to meet her eyes, both of us breathing hard, and say “Happy Halloween, Tori.”
She gives me the most beautiful smile I’ve seen yet and says, “Happy Halloween, BJ.”
She gives a delicious little wiggle, and I slide her down the front of my body to set her on her feet. Taking my hand, she pulls me in behind her, then closes the door and locks it. After she flicks off the porch light, she says, “So, you want to watch a movie and share this beer with me?”
I nod and say, “Throw in one of those Hawaiian pizzas you like and it’s a deal. There’s so many things I want to try with you.”
I throw her a wink, and she laughs. Things may look different now, and I certainly feel different with all this muscle and skin and guts, but her laugh? It’s exactly the same.
She stands and stares at me for another moment as if she can’t quite believe this is real. That I’m real.
And I don’t mind. I’m just basking in her presence. Because Tori? She’s all I’ve ever known and all I’ve ever wanted.
It was enough to be near her. Enough to have stolen nights full of carving pumpkins and movies and so many kisses. More love than I had any right to.
But when I saw those headlights shining on Tori, when I realized all of her softness and life were about to be extinguished by rage and hate, there was no decision to make.
It was an instinct, as easy as loving her.
So even though it was enough to have had one magical month to have known her, to have loved her and been loved by her in return, I still had one wish.
As I threw my skeletal frame around her, bending and breaking my plastic bones into a protective cage though sheer will alone to save her from that damned Lois, the wish pulsed through me.
Please. Let this not be the last time I hold her.
And somehow, on a moonlit Halloween night, love proved stronger than hate. There was enough magic left in Halloween that not only did Tori’s wish come true, but mine did, too.
Tori gives herself a little shake and steps back, motioning me to follow.
My eyes greedily take in everything inside her house. It’s like I’m finally a part of her world. I see facets of her everywhere. Cameras and photographs. So many Halloween decorations. Each piece of her wraps around me, warmer and softer than even her kiss, and I realize what this new feeling is.
This is home. She is home.
And that’s the true magic of Halloween.