The Face Under the Mask

Friendship Is Magic

"Fuck!" uttered the man as he hit his head on the low attic ceiling. "Boy, why did you even bring me up here?" he said as he rubbed his scalp, looking down at a ten year old boy.

"The ghost," he replied simply, holding the middle aged man's hand, leading him to the darkest part of the attic. Dust floated through the air, making it hard to breathe. "She said she wanted to meet you." The man chuckled.

"Meet me? Now why would she want to meet an old crusty man like me?" The boy stopped and looked at him, his eyes slightly sorrowful.

"She wanted to see what a real-life daddy looked like."

The man ducked his head down so that he did not hit his head off of a beam again, and his heart seemed to break. Instead of replying to his son, he just followed his boy, wondering how he was going to encounter his imaginary friend. When they got to the dark side of the house, the man turned on his flashlight to see.

"Turn it off!" screamed the boy. "Turn it off before you hurt her!" The boy lunged at his father's flashlight, grabbing it and turning it off. Suddenly, the air around the two dropped drastically in temperature. Huh, must be a draft over here. I'll have to fix that, thought the father.

"She says you look nice," said the boy, suddenly releasing the father's hand. The man squatted down to straighten out his back.

"Well I wish I could see her, I bet she is very pretty."

"She is."

"So what is this girl's name?" The boy was silent. "Kyle?"

"My name is Mary," Kyle replied, his voice seeming to be slightly higher. The father got chills. I need to stop letting him watch horror movies.

"Well, nice to meet you." the man played along, sure that Kyle was just going through a phase. "Can I talk to my son, though?"

"No!" screeched Kyle, his voice unnatural, and his father tried not to shake with fear. What the fuck? he thought to himself.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Mary, is he in any pain?"

"No, Kyle is my friend. I couldn't hurt my friend. Friendship is magic...." Kyles voice began to return as Mary made a reference to his favorite show, and soon, two voices began repeating "friendship is magic"

The man shivered, now riveted with fear. Is this ghost real? Is Kyle possessed?

"I see you both like My Little Pony." The father tried to hold back his fear, and let out a chuckle. "Has Kyle showed you any of his toys?" There was a moment of silence.

"Daddy, can I go downstairs and get my toys?" said Kyle, and the man smiled, relieved.

"Sure son." The father and son left the attic, and the father grabbed his son, running out the door. As he ran off the portch, the attic burst into flames, and the man fell to the ground, his body protecting his son from the falling prices of the roof. When he looked at his son, an unnaturally large grin was plastered on his face.

"Friendship is magic!" the boy screeched, and a piece of the roof peirced through the man, barely missing the son.

"Friendship is magic."