Lay Me Down to Sleep

Chapter 29

"It's you."

Macau sharply turns his head when Kim says those words to the levitating woman who is NOT mama. She SHOULD be mama! It's not fair! He wants to kick the table, cry, and scream all at once. 

But Kim doesn't seem to have the same urge. He seems to be a weird combination of intrigued and annoyed. 

"That's the woman I saw when I died!" he says, pointing up at her, "She's the one who told me things were going to be strange after I went back to my body, but she wouldn't tell me what would happen!"

Auntie Dao squints and walks closer, "That IS her! I saw her when you demanded to see me! I was under the impression I wouldn't get to reunite with you in the afterlife for another seventy years!"

The woman slowly descends from the air until her feet are planted on the table, "To be fair, that was the information I had at the time. I didn't lie. Even fate is not concrete. The woman who did this to you has a knack for manipulating it. However, she does it in a way that is…extremely entertaining. To be honest, none of us are even trying to stop her. It's all been compelling to watch. You could call me a fan." 

Macau lets out a sound of panic when Aree growls and recklessly climbs up onto the coffee table to glare up at the woman, her hands on her hips. 

"You're a fan of someone who turns multiple people into toddlers?!" Aree says, "That's silly!"

The woman shrugs, then lowers herself into a seated position, "I can't help it! It gets depressing watching wars, school shootings, spouses murdering spouses, and parents killing their children! I just dealt with a murder suicide in Canada. A father drowned his eighteen month old baby! Do you know how upsetting that is to deal with? Even the deaths from natural causes can be a downer. I'm pretty desensitized by this point, but some cases still get to me. Watching your predicament is a good outlet for escapism. I mean, come on. Who wouldn't want to watch a group of precocious pseudo-toddlers have a seance? And a semi-successful one too!"

Aree stomps her feet, "It would have been completely successful if you would have stayed out of it and let us talk to her longer!" 

The woman lets out a sigh, "It wouldn't have. As fun as it would be to watch your ritual be a success, bringing back the dead is complicated. It will likely take years to ascend to the level needed for you all to bring her back." 

Macau feels his eyes water, "But I want Mama back now. She didn't deserve to die. She should be here. With me, Hia, and Grandma." 

Macau can't hold it in anymore. He covers his face and stifles his sobs into his hands. Even though he feels Aree jump down and hug him, he doesn't have it in him to hug her back. 

"I'm sorry, Macau!" Aree cries, "We'll keep working on it though, okay? I will try my best to get better so I can bring her back!" 

"What use are you?" He hears Kim say, "You wouldn't tell me I would wake up as a toddler and you won't tell us how to bring Auntie Milan back sooner!" 

"Kim! She's probably powerful!" Porsche hisses from across the room, "Don't say stuff like that!"