Baby Heather Button (unfinished)

November 2024

Heather drummed her fingers on the table as she waited for her parents to finish having a rather boring conversation with Nell. Her sister was five months old now, and Heather was quite underwhelmed by her conversation making skills. Besides, she took up so much of her parents' time. Completely unfair.

A slight movement and a grunt of pain caught her attention.

Humphrey's head.

She was four, now, and old enough to know better. She'd had more than enough accidents to learn that ghosts and livings, as they affectionately called her, were not able to touch. Regardless, she was fed up, so slid off her chair and wandered over to him.

"Hello," she said.

"Give us a hand, will you?"

"I'll try."

"You alright, Heather?" Mike called over. She glanced up.

"Mmm." She bent down and reached out towards Humphrey's head. He closed his eyes and her fingers brushed against his cold skin. She jumped a mile. "Ahh!"

"What's up?" Mike asked.

"Nothing," she lied, and crouched down again. She lowered her voice. "Did you know I could do that?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to?"

"I'm alive!"

"You are?"

"You were here when I was born."

"I was born once too."

"Not four years ago."

"Who knows, anymore."

"Not four years ago. I was born four years ago."

"If you say so. Look, can you just pick me up and go and find my body?"

Heather paused. "Alright," she said, and slid her fingers under his head. She lifted the decapitated head, which pressed coldly against her chubby fingers. He was heavier than she'd expected, and she hurried out of the room as quickly as she could, in the hope that her mother wouldn't notice.

"Right, so my body?" Humphrey said hopefully. Heather ignored him. She had better plans.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Humphrey asked dubiously as Heather wound her way up staircase after staircase, heading straight for the attic. The Captain had claimed the room for himself after Alison and Mike had cleared it out, seemingly attached to the boxes of his stuff that he could no longer rummage through. Heather didn't really care why - she was headed for the bookshelf in the corner. It was securely attached to the wall, and she'd worked out that if she climbed it, she could easily reach the top. And, after a lot of practice - and several tumbles, generally scaring the Captain out of his skin - she'd managed to perfect the art of climbing the bookshelf one handed, which allowed her to place and receive things at the top.

Things like Humphrey's head.

"Yes," she said, "your body is friends with the Captain now." She smiled brightly.

"How does he - I mean, I - get up the stairs?"

"Cap's veerrrry strong."

She couldn't see, because she was still carrying him, but Humphrey raised his eyebrows in appreciative surprise. "Interesting," he mumbled.

Heather knocked lightly on the door - no response. Result.

She pushed it open and stepped inside, giggling to herself as she quietly closed the door. She padded lightly over to the bookshelf, scaled it quickly, and placed Humphrey's head on the top shelf, patting his hair.