March 2009

The cold wind rattles the manor's windows, each blow sighing and crashing.
That is till my own feet prob in measured steps.

I turn and lean on the doorframe, the piano glaringly silent. A small blonde girl sits on a stool dragged to the front window.

She only stares into the glacial glass, her hands clasped against a fencing blade.

She even has Matthew's love of fencing.

"Hey, Henry," she says, still not moving.

"Hullo, Kathleen." I stray away from the door and enter the solemn room. A room that is far more suited for me than for a child of three-and-ten.

A lost ray of sunlight strides in, causing a gleam on the smooth blade. I brought her blade from the modern Edenfield's fencing court, thinking it might help with adjusting to an unfamiliar atmosphere.

And I was so very wrong.

Months have passed and not a single wrinkle of emotion has stricken upon her features. Only a cold dismissal, something that even I cannot fathom.

"Did you practise today?" I ask.

Kathleen nods, but says nothing more.

Matthew and Belle are much better with children than me...

"Doing something familiar but not too reminiscent often helps nostalgia."

The right hand in my trousers pockets travels upwards to rub my chin.

"Would you like to go skating outside? The pond is frozen throughout, I assure you." I smile, waving my index finger to the side.

Do children still skate in the modern era?

Kathleen turns for the first time. After a few moments, she mutters,
"You really look like Dad and Dylan." I blink; she shakes her head.

"I will agree on that, but let us admit they will always use more contractions than me." I wave a hand.

She smiles and says,
"What about skates? Where will be get those?"

I turn on my heel, my voice trailing behind me.
"You know where the pond is. Go there and I shall return with skates."

For a moment, I remain in the adjacent corridor till smaller steps prob on the floor as well.

After tying the skates, I glide onto the frozen pond. Bits and pieces of snow scatter on its edges, while a few unaware skaters wander nearby.

Kathleen looks down at her hands, them not turning blue despite the weather.

"Ghosts don't feel the cold in the same manner humans do, Matth-- Kathleen."

She jerks her head up, nodding as if out of a trance. The girl then rubs her hands on her black trousers and stands up, the white of her sweater. interlacing with the scene.

Like my own attire.

Truth be told, Kathleen learning to change the nature of her attire so quickly surprised me.

"Matthew was your brother, right?" Kathleen says as she comes onto the ice.

"Yes, he is my brother." My hands stay claspes behind my back. Excluding the two of us, only a few unaware humans are here.

Kathleen tilts her head to the side.
"You always use the present tense for him, for everyone in fact."

"Matthew always uses the present tense for me and our family. So, I shall do the same."

The only sound that comes afterwards is the wind chatting with the snowy trees.

"Did you skate with your family, as well?" My gaze stays straight, while she stays in my peripheral vision.

"Mum and Dad used to take all ice skating, but they started staying by the rinks when Lindsey was born. Then I skated with Dylan.

Lindsey watched with the biggest of eyes when we skated." She smiles, but it soon fades away.
"How long have you been skating?"

"After my death, which was a hundred and nineteen years ago."

Kathleen wrinkles her nose.
"You're so old."

The corner of my mouth turns up.

"Why after your death?" Kathleen takes a large stride and ends in front of me.

"I did not indulge in physical activities much because of my heart disease."

Her skates stop and screech, while I continue skating ahead.

"Sorry for asking." Kathleen's voice stays still, making me turn to look at her.

"My life was not your fault. There is no need for anyone to apologise." The brusque reply results in her only tilting her head to the side and nodding again.

I move forward and near by her shoulder. Kathleen says,
"Henry, can I ask you something?"

She fiddles with her finger, biting on her mouth. I nod.
"Mum told me about this before, well, passing away."

My head tilts forward, urging her to continue.

Kathleen sighs,
"I've noticed that I'm growing in height."

"Ghosts grow till adulthood, Kathleen. I have told you that." A brow of mine raises.

Kathleen rolls her eyes.

"I know, but..." She chews on her lips.
"Do girl ghosts still get the red flag?"

"Excuse me." I blink.

The girl grumbles,
"Will I still get my bloody period?"

My skates almost slip from beneath. But my arms widen and grip me.

Kathleen puts her hands on her hips.
"Look, I wouldn't have asked you if I knew where to get pads and tampons."

"Pads and tam... pons?" After bringing my arms together, they cross my chest.

Did I not lastly skate fifty years ago?

"Modern female hygiene stuff," she sighs.
"I thought you had a sister and mum."

"I do, but these kind of topics were not something we discussed during breakfast, especially in my time." My head shakes.
"But I will ask a female acquaintance of mine about this. Also, thank you for confiding in me your... private matters."

This is the first time my gender puts me at a disadvantage.

At the mention of acquaintance, Kathleen's eyes brighten with a childlike gleam.
"You know other ghosts?"

"I do; you can interact with them if you want.
But please do not ask them how they died. It is not something a ghost will want to talk about often."

That childlike gleam then lessens into a small but ardent spark.
"I won't, I promise! But..." Kathleen rubs her chin.
"But... are there others who became ghosts because of a curse..."

"We are a rare sort, lass."

Her elation tones down into a solemn response.
"You mean the cursed ones..."

Another gust of wind blows, changing the patterns of snow beneath.
"You are only damned if you believe it, Kathleen. Only then."

She keeps looking down at the small flakes, till a reluctant smiles comes onto her face.

Take a lighter tone now, lad.

"And by judging your relunctantness by telling me, I am going to assume that people of the new time still do not speak freely of the matter." I give a nod.

The smile immediately replaces itself with an eye roll.
"At least, we don't get married at sixteen anymore." A scowl comes forth, but it is only playful.

A grin also accompanies me.
"On the contrary, most people of my time married in their mid or late twenties. Though, I admit marriages of participants six-and-ten or younger were not due to favourable conditions, especially for females."

The grin remains, but it is more solemn than before.

As a result, Kathleen only sulks and I laugh.

Taking a step forward, a squirrel runs before me like a bullet.
My foot falls back and the skates slide against the ice.

Making me fall on the ice.

That only confirms I skated fifty years ago.

A giggle resounds.

Which later turns into a chortle.

"Oh amuse yourself with my attempt at saving a squirrel, Kathleen." My arms flick about, still sitting on the ice.

Through the laughter, she manages to say,
"Sorry, but I never thought you'd ever fall." She wipes a stray tear from her cheek.

"The last time I skated was fifty years ago and yes, one can fall even with a posture like mine."

At that she bends down, untying her skates.

"What are you doing..."

The girl straightens with a posture much more lean than before. She takes in a whiff on air and crosses her arms.
"Brooding flu, brooding flu
Oh where is it found?"

Oh Lord... why...

"From our ends, you'll see a beasty manor
From our ends, you'll see a brooding feller."

"Let me only assure you that you will not be knighted for this colloquialism."

"An older'll breathe down your neck.
How else will you get the brooding flu?"

Kathleen struts forward, walking with an exaggerated vigor and scowl.

"Dear God, what have I done to deserve this..." I run a hand through my hair.

My speech only succeeds in the opposite.
The area echoes with her laughs to the point she clutches onto her stomach. She even wipes a stray tear from her cheek.

Even I almost laugh.

That is till her knees buckle.

"Kathleen...?" I say, untying the skates and putting them aside.

Her face turns down, strands of hair falling through her plait. The girl's mails scratch the ice, and no longer her laughter echoes. She sniffs.
"I, I'm sorry..." No more words as if wipes her tears with a harsh wave.

"Let yourself feel, lass."
Don't do what people of my time did.

I then do something that I least expect.

Standing up, I go to her side and sit where she does. An arm of mine wraps around her shoulders.
The small girl clutches onto me as I'm a long lost friend who has returned after years.

An immeasurable amount of time passes, only two ghosts remain as the unaware leave the forest and return to their homes.

"Why does everything change?" Kathleen's voice comes shredded at the edges.

"Because change is the only constant of this world," I say.

She scoffs from under my chin.

Removing an arm, I pull away. Her own are under her underarms, chin downward.
"All the love in the world won't matter if you keep damning yourself, Kathleen. Remember that."

Giving her a pat on her back, I stand up and gather both of our skates from the ground.

Slowly but surely, Kathleen glances at a couple with their child before nodding.

Night cascades down as we return from the pond. Though, the air seems less stifling that it was before our trip.

Kathleen immediately goes to her room.

Were my words too harsh?

Now I am at her door, knocking.

"Come on in."
Sighing, I turn the silver doorknob.

The room has been illuminated with candlelight and Kathleen sits in her bed, reading a book she probably took from the manor's borrowed library. A blade lies fastened to the side.

The girl looks up and closes her book.

"Do you need anything?" I ask.

She flicks her head towards to the chair nearby.

With steady steps, I move towards it while Kathleen fiddles with the book.
"Thanks for the eh... pep talk. I needed it."

Sitting on the chair, I lean back into it and look at the candle.
"You do not say thank you to family."

"You show it?" she asks and I nod.

"It seems as though my lessons have not been in vain." Turning away from the candle, my hands fold in my lap.

"Will you read with me?" Despite the nature of the sentence, Kathleen holds out the book in front of me. Though, she blushes at the request herself.

A sudden angle shows me the author's name:
M. V. Penrose

An involuntary smile comes forth, at remembering the author I only met two to three times in my life. Though, it is strange how much my brother affected Penrose's stories. Though, it was always positively.

"Of course."
I take the book and open it where she says she has left off.

The length of the candle melts more and more with each chapter we finish.

"And I knew that with every ending, a new start will always be there to welcome me."
Closing the book, I lean back in my chair. The candle has melted more than a quarter.

Placing the book on the bed side table, I glance over at the girl now asleep and folded in her bed.

Shaking my head, I stand up and drape the blanket at her feet over her person. She only shuffles a bit, but does not awake.

Today has been quite tiring...

With soft steps, I walk away from the bed after blowing the candle. I reach the door when an almost inaudible voice mumbles,
"Goodnight, Dad."

Whipping around, my mouth open but it closes. Not having the heart to correct her, I say,
"Goodnight, Kathy."

I pass through the door frame and close it with a soft click.

Even with each day turning into months and each month into years, I still cannot believe this realisation:

After all the things the curse has taken from me, I never thought it would gift me a daughter.

Oh hi there everybody!
Don't mind me, just looking at the flowers.

Actually, I just wanted an excuse for using that GIF somewhere other than Tumblr.

Also, I've started watching Shadowhunters recently and well, it's become my guilty pleasure. Ik the show Jace doesn't act like the actual one and show Clary is a bit meh. But Alec and Izzy ❤️
Honestly, show Alec and Izzy's relationship is like my own with my brother. XD

So, here we are with our first ever deleted scene! I can't tell you how much I wanted to include, but couldn't. The reasons:

1) It didn't match the pace of the original story and served no purpose to the plot.
2) Finding a way to incorporate the timeline of 2009 was getting a bit difficult.

Anyways, I still wanted to write this to show y'all a little BTS of Henry and Kathy's relationship.
And if you're wondering, then yes, you get your period if you're a ghost.
Why you ask?
Because my ghosts grow till adulthood and for that, they need to go through puberty.
That includes your period.

And yes, that rhyme/song Kathy sang was one of those infamous ones with which she used to wake Dylan before popping the clogs.
Also, I just really wanted to show how Henry is when he's a bit more relaxed than usual.

Don't worry, this isn't the last deleted scene. I have more coming up!
Meanwhile, why don't you go and check out my short story feature over at FANTASCI's 'Winds of Winter' anthology.
I had the pleasure to be a guest author there this quarter and would love if you clicked on the link given in the inline comment and external link.

P. S. A big round of applause for Mishi_And_Books for editing my sleep deprivation.
I seriously don't know what I'd do without my partner in crime. ❤️

Spoiler alert: It includes me breaking the fourth wall with TGD characters, along with an announcement ;)

Music: 'In My Arms'-- Plumb
              Edit by YouTuber: The        Nameless Doll

Have a great week!
Love,
MS Zame