Chantelle listened to her mother coughing. It had been going on for a week now.
She looked at the cupboard door. She was not supposed to use the night hinge. Tonight, though, she was.
Opening the door the wrong way needed some pressure, but it gave way, and opened into a hallway of quiet magnificence. Provided you ignored the mess of scuffed and filthy shoes by the door. Although, as scuffed and dirty as they were, they were of the finest construction that she had ever seen.
There was a table by the door, simple and unadorned, but constructed with absolute perfection. Upon it was a small pile of money. Unfamiliar to her, but clearly money. She left what few coins she had, and took the pile. The door gave way easily to her hand and she went out.
She had been here before, but always with her mother. It was night. The cupboard door only opened at night, and it was always night where it opened.
She walked down the streets, lit by strange yellow lights that hurt the eyes to look at. Carts rushed by at impossible speeds, with bright lamps shining ahead, and red lamps behind.
Ahead, two people walked towards her with fierce determination. A man and a woman, dressed strangely,. She dropped her head as they approached. They greeted her with a bright cheer that was at odds with their determined walk. She made a small noise. It may have been a squeak.
Just a little ahead was her destination. A shop, lit up as though it was day.
She went in. Doors opened with unseen hands.
All around her were a bewildering array of shelves and jars and boxes. Ahead was a counter, with a girl around her own age.
Swallowing, she went up. "Pardone, ma mere, elle tousse."
The girl frowned for a moment "Ma mere?" and then her eyebrows went up "Oh! Your mother! Uh, tous?"
Chantelle coughed.
"OK, your mother has a cough."
What followed was a combination of mime and two languages. The girl at the counter knew a handful of words that Chantelle spoke, but no more.
Then the girl got out a slab of black glass, and made words appear on it. And then the slab spoke! And she could understand it!
A little while later, Chantelle left the shop, carrying a small bag. Inside were some pastilles and a potion. Along with strict instructions about the potion.
She re-entered the house, and went through the cupboard door in the hallway.
Back in the room at the pension she shared with her mother, she gave her a precisely measured amount of the potion.
The cough eased, and her mother slept at last.
-----
Warwick paused on his way out to the shops, and saw that the grocery stash was about half what it should be. In amongst it were some old coins. "Hey Mum! Our ghost is back! She's nicked about thirty bucks, but she left some really neat old coins!"
He picked one up, and inspected it. "They look French!"
"We'll take them to a collector next week" his mum called back.
#SF #SFF #Scifi #TimeTravel #GhostStory #microfiction #microfic #tootfic #IAmWriting
