Imaginary Friends

Chapter Five

The grass was damp when I came back. And I was alone.
"Jackie!" Emily yelled in my ear jumping on my bed. "Wake up!"
"I cannot," I mumbled into my pillow.
"And why not?" She retorted.
"The blankets have accepted me as one of their people and if I leave now I will break their trust," I said back a smile on my face.
"Your so weird, Jackie," She replied.
The blankets shifted off of me as I sat up. A chill in the air made me shiver. "What happened did Mom put AC on?" I asked.
"Better, Gretchen made it snow!" She exclaimed, "Snow Day!"

I pulled the large plastic button through on Emily's coat and she slipped on her mittens. We were so bundled up that we were more colored Vynyl stuffed with cotton then anything else. The air was biting cold as we opened the door and trudged along the porch. A glistening world of shimmering crystals, packed so tightly they were a blanket to the ground below. Emily bounded forward and landed face first in a mountain of snow. She began crawling along the surface, not heavy enough to break the frozen snow. I quickly followed breaking the snow like glass and trudged through roaring like a monster. She grabbed a frozen piece and hawked it at me with poor precision. I ducked and it shattered behind me.
"That's it!" I threatened.
She squealed in delight as I scooped her up and put a small clump of snow down her jacket.
"Jack! Stop it!" She whined tiny tear droplets forming in her eyes. A sound of a door slamming came from somewhere distant.
"Crazy weather, huh?" Mrs. Newson
asked sweetly.
She was a heavy woman with a light step and a sweet manner. "Yah, didn't think we'd get weather like this so close to summer,"
"Well lets hope it doesn't happen again, my poor lilacs will be dead come next week," she muttered, "Now aren't you two cold, especially you, Emily. I saw what your dreadful brother did to you."
Emily chuckled. "Well did you see what she did to me! She almost took my head off!" I protested.
"Well alright my sweet angels, come inside and get warmed up," she huffed.

Mrs. Newson was in fact a widow. Her husband who passed on from cancer was a writer and he wrote young adult books. They had one child, a boy named Billy. When he was fifteen he died in the shower because of a heart problem no one knew he had. She hated adults. Mrs. Newson loved kids, especially Em.
"Alright honey, don't drink it all at once," Mrs. Newson said chuckling softly.
"Its the best I've ever had," Emily replied licking the chocolate ring around her mouth.
"Have you made any new friends yet, Jack?" Mrs. Newson pried gently.
I began to open my mouth to reply but Emily beat me to it "Yeah he has actually."
"Oh has he now," Mrs. Newson pried harder
"Her name is Gretchen, and she was my friend first."
My cheeks flushed a soft red. "She means her imaginary friend."
"Oh I understand," Ms. Newson replied.
Emily held her tongue but I could tell she was annoyed.

Mrs. Newson waved as we left the porch and stumbled through the snow.
"How was your hot chocolate?" A voice said softly.
"It was the greatest yet!" Emily sang falling into a drift.
"I can tell," Gretchen answered back.
"Except for the part where Jack called you imaginary!" She laughed.
The wind stayed still for a moment, then picked up again, "I'm sure he just didn't want to be seen as delusional."
Em stared at very cautiously and silently nodded, "I'm sure that was it."
It was strange talking to nobody. But hearing a reply back. Strange but familiar.
"Can you please bring us to another memory, something happy," Emily whined.
"Alright, I just got some new ones," She said joyfully.
We sat down in the backyard our pants getting damp in the process. She began to sing the haunting song once more.
There was barely a difference when I woke up. It was still cold. My pants were still wet. My hand was still squeezing Emily's. I didn't realize it was over until Emily let go and I heard the snow crunch. I opened my eyes slowly and Gretchen stood there, chuckling.
Gretchen looked enough like a human, at least her form did. She looked like any other girl my age. Except for the fact that her skin was a dark grey and her hair was a silver white. Her skin transitioned into white as they got nearer. I could see why she could be classified as an imaginary friend if Emily had described her. In ways, Emily was a genius.