The Paper Girl and the Stilt-Walker

Mina, Monk, and Lettuce

Another night passed in silence, while Mina lay awake in thought. The image of the frail and feathery moon lilies still hung in her head against the blackness of the shadow of her room. And the beautiful loneliness of the cemetery, and the words of Monk as they sat upon the gravestones. It was all so strange. She had always been afraid of the city, the disease that had driven her friends away and the crows that had eaten the rest. Ghosts had always seemed to linger in the alleyways, in the empty streets. Dregs of old memories, replaying time after time beneath the watching gaze of the clock tower, where she hid from them all. But now...

Mina turned on her side and thought some more. Monk was in the next room, not far away from the door. His presence had been a comfort, strange though he was; the ghosts seemed to fade away when there were two of them. Her room was full of old memories, warming her up, a long-awaited embrace she had dreamed about since that horrible day three years ago, when everyone left.

When everyone died.

She opened her eyes. The memory of the faceless woman made her blood run cold. Where was the faceless woman now? Had she been eaten by the crows, too? Or was she still waiting under that tree, abandoned just like her?

Suddenly she didn't want to be alone anymore.

Creaking her door open, Mina peeked out of her room. The candles had all been blown out. The room was cast in a deep shadow. Monk was there, in the same chair as always, slumped over. He was probably sleeping. Quietly, she went back into her room and shut the door. Crossing her arms, she stood there, looking around at the darkness. Her eyes lowered to the floor. It was strange, not living with anyone...well, alive anymore. She wondered about all of the dead people, and where all of the living people were now.

As night dragged on, the haze hovered like spirits across the dead city. Mina looked around at her room, at the old lamp, the old bed, the old rug. Everything was as it had been before all these terrible things happened, her father's death, her time with her uncle, the faceless woman...and then the abandonment. She looked at the glass rose beside her pillow. It felt so strange, to be in this familiar place, like visiting the grave of a loved one. But then she thought of Monk's words as they sat in the cemetery. "You see? This place is more beautiful than you think, Mina. This city is not dead, like you think it is. The others keep it alive. Beautiful things live here."

Then it hit her. Maybe she was scared of nothing. After all, did she really have a choice? Could she really follow everyone and leave the city? No, she thought, her eyes downcast. Who would take care of the clock? Who would wind up the clockwork girls? Besides, she wouldn't be able to find everyone. They'd scattered to the winds, like snowflakes in a storm.

She knew that she couldn't stay in bed. She had to go outside, where the others were.

Quietly, in case she woke up Monk, Mina creaked past the living room, down the empty stairs, past the glass display cases, and into the hazy night. It was so still, just like when she'd gone out for a walk. But tonight she would be alone. She didn't want to be afraid anymore. She would have to be brave, if she decided to stay here with Monk.

Outside, down the crooked sidewalks, the lanterns glowed dimly and cast long shadows in every direction. It was a little disorienting, tripping past so many dark corners and wondering if crows would swoop down on her. But she kept walking, her goggles around her neck, the crocheted bag slung around her shoulder, the glowing fairy wand out. But there was no movement at all, just that deadly silence that always settled over the city like dust.

She ended up walking a long distance, just wandering along, looking curiously at everything as if she had never looked closely enough before. She looked up at all the windows in the houses, which she had been too afraid to look at before. Now that she looked, she thought they were not terribly empty. If they were, it wasn't a scary kind of empty. It felt like someone probably lived there, but they were away right now. The shadows inside moved a little.