Soul Searching: Chapter 12


Sitting alone by himself outside the ice-cream truck, the squirrel finished the last of the Hot Tom and Jerry. He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he looked up he saw two cats and two pine-cone creatures emerging from the woods. He shook his head again, and the number of cats and pine-cone creatures was reduced by half.

 

    

 

     “Alas, we waited too long!” Tulip exclaimed. “It was too late! Hick!”

 

    

 

     “The pyromaniac has struck again!” Cedric wailed. “The Allerton School is on fire! It is all my fault! I am to blame for everything! What shall I do?”

 

    

 

     The squirrel led his friends inside the ice-cream truck.

 

    

 

     “Crick-crick, crick-crick,” the squirrel said, meaning “Try to get some sleep. We will talk about it in the morning. Everything will seem clearer then, and we can decide what to do.”

 

    

 

     Cedric and Tulip followed the squirrel’s advice, but none of the three slept very well that night. When the morning arrived they all had horrible headaches, that not even the squirrel’s strong coffee could ameliorate.

 

    

 

     “You must guard that baby-food jar with your life, Cedric,” Tulip said between sips of coffee. “If those souls escape three innocent girls will die.”

 

    

 

     “What do you mean?” Cedric asked.

 

    

 

     “When a soul is roaming free, and the owner’s body is not nearby it will head for the afterlife,” the cat explained. “In other words, the owner will die. Marvin is safe as long as his soul is inside your body, thus I’m more worried about the girls. You must never open the lid, or you will be a murderer on top of everything else.”

 

    

 

     “Now you frighten me, Tulip,” Cedric said. “How come you know about this?”

 

    

 

     “It’s common knowledge among us cats. It happens to us at least nine times over the course of our lives. You must trust me on this one and be very careful until the time comes when you can return the souls.”

 

    

 

     “Crick-crick, crick-crick,” the squirrel said, meaning “I’m afraid he’s right. Unfortunately, there is more bad news. I heard that the school was completely destroyed and that all the students have been evacuated to another town. It could very well be, that those souls are your responsibility for a long time to come.”

 

    

 

     Cedric looked at the baby-food jar with the smiling infant face and the text “mashed peas” on the label. He then began to cry.

 

    

 

     “What have I done? What have I done?”