The Bottom of a Stack Doll

It was blusteringly cold this November. It was sunny though, and birds and insects weren't buried somewhere out of flight or sight. Todd Wilkinson, still a highschool senior, was walking home with his friend Henry following an early dismissal. The neighborhood where they passed amazed them with their Fall color, short trees and bushes bejeweled with purple and black leaves. Pretty blue lady bugs searched for people to cling on to. Todd shook one off before 

passing a barricaded yard, fenced in by an oily black railing.

A prepubescent screech stopped Todd and Henry cold.

"Let me out! I'm stuck behind this wall!" A boy yelled. The boy's location was a confusing blur to Todd, he was unsure until a clang sounded and banged on the oily railing hard.

"Boo!" yelled the boy, inches from Todd's face.

"Fuck off!" Todd replied, "Halloween's over." He continued home, visibly electrocuted.

"What was that all about? Todd mused.

"Nothing man," Henry replied, "Just idiots. What will you major in at university next year?"

"I'm thinking business administration of robotic engineering, like my dad and grandpa did," Todd Wilkinson believed.

After a little while Henry was home so they parted ways. Todd walked another block to his house.

Todd unlocked the foyer door and took off his shoes. He threw his backpack down in the mud room and went upstairs to check on his mom. Her drinking had been getting worse since grandpa Wilkinson died a month before. Dad was around all he could, but knowing his dad's career, mom was Todd's responsibility. 

The evening sunshine lulled, beaming purple and orange through the window facing the staircase. The dolls decorating every step of the ascent, Russian Babushka dolls, smiled in the violet light, boisterous and unrestrained. Todd knocked on his mother's door.

"Mom?" Todd asked.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Are you doing okay?"

"I'll be okay after you talk to dad. He has something today to tell you. After work," She said.

Todd ordered some food that night and watched some football on T.V. He wanted to know what his father had told his mom, so he stayed up until his father was home. He waited until 10 O'clock until he heard the garage door open and his dad pull in.

The dog was in his pen, the candles were still lit, and mom was probably asleep. The two cats they had were prowling. They always were.

Todd's dad sighed as he walked on over to the living room. Todd acted like his eyes were glued to the T.V.

"Son?" Todd's dad said in an exhausted exaltation. "How bad did the Pats lose?"

"I don't know the final score, but dad, I think they won't make the playoffs."

"Oh!" his dad exclaimed while slapping his head. Dad walked to the couch while untying his tie. He sat down.

"Todd, I know it's been hard for you the last couple of months. None of us wanted Pop to die, I know-"

"What do you know dad?" Todd burst.

"You're going to college in a few months, and I want to talk to you, like a father," He pleaded. the boy felt grief wash over his body at the thought of never seeing his grandpa again. The door leading out to the porch began to signal droplets of light rain. Dink, dink, dink.

"If you cared so much why haven't you invented a robot, you know, at your plant, to help the living talk to the dead," Todd asked.

Spellbound at the question, Todd's father took a brief breath before answering.

"That's not what kind of robots we create. We've created robots that replaced bank tellers. It made us billions for us to take care of you." Dad said.

The sound of Todd's mom coughing was soon audible.

"Listen. Son I know you miss your grandpa but he's gone. He's in a better place. What I want from you is this:" Todd's father paused long enough for Todd to realize that outside, it went from sprinkling to just short of monsoon. A bolt of lightning must have touched land somewhere because the thunder was long drawn out and shocked the house.

"The plant is not producing bots," he continued. "We're losing money by the day. I want you to join the family business after you graduate college."

"Dad I'm going to start my own business even bigger than you and grandpa's. That's what important for me to do! To prove myself that I can do it alone! 'Todd's robots' will be bigger and do everything humanly possible. You'll see..." He didn't wait for a reply from his father. He strutted up the stairwell, lighting flickering, revealing in his vision the 20 Babushka dolls placed on every step. The lighting ceased and he walked in darkness to his bedroom.

It came time to greet the day. Todd got up and got ready for school. He met Henry on the way there and they walked together. He told Henry about the conversation he had the previous evening.

"Wow!" Henry exclaimed. "Just imagine you a C.E.O. of a billion dollar company!"

"No. Though." Todd snapped. "I'm going to be C.E.O. of my own company!" He said. At the same spot they passed a day earlier, blue lady bugs flew off a perfectly shaved hedge. Todd brushed a couple off.

"You know," Henry said after a couple of blocks of thought. "There's an easier way to contact the dead other than robots. It's called a seance. My mother knows a medium that can do it. I can get you her number to start an appointment."

The rest of the walk to school felt light and fluffy, as if Todd were in a cloud. A weight had been lifted from his heart. He was going to do a seance to contact Papa.

Two weeks passed. Todd made an appointment with the medium during that time. The refreshing weather turned icier. There was even a short snowfall. The date to commence with the lady soon came.

It was a Friday afternoon and the sun disappeared and its light went with it before Todd even realized it. School let out and he went briefly home to change into some new clothes. He was surprised to see his mom in the kitchen. She stopped him before going to his room. 

"I heard you were trying to contact grandpa, I have something important to show you," She said. She brought out a purple Russian Babushka doll from a paper sack.

"While you are soul-searching in this life remember this."

She popped the Russian doll open and popped each successively smaller one, all the way down to the littlest one.

"Every one of us carries a younger version of ourselves inside of us. Don't ever lose sight of that child. And most importantly, if that child is wounded, heal him and let him roam free." These words from his mom were never forgotten.

The medium's house was in the outskirts of town, a mobile home advertising "Psychic Readings" through a window, an electric red light. He opened the door and stepped in. The immediate aroma of sweet smoke made its way to Todd's senses.

"Hello," Said a raspy voice. She was a short woman, and she was sitting on a table with cranberry red table cloth. A tarot card deck lay in front of her. 

"Come on in," she added. Todd nervously sat down in a chair across from her. "We'll get you to communicate with your grandpa but firstly I have to do some research on your family tree. Of course, with the help of the spiritual world. We will ask this tarot deck a question, and it will answer through the top card drawn." Todd began to see shadows in the corner of his eye.

"What sort of a person was Todd's grandfather?" asked the woman while shuffling. The light bulb above the table began to swing without the presence of an air current. It gained momentum every moment.

"Slap!" The medium revealed the card on the red table cloth. It seemed to be a photo of his grandfather in his younger years wearing a crown. Todd had time to notice that despite the crown on his head, his grandpa bore an extremely sad expression. The bulb overhead came loose from its chain and crashed into a million pieces on Todd's head.

The dynamite pain eased him into a tumultuous sleep. He dreamt. Shocking light and dark cocreated limited visibility of Todd driving his car down a road through 

the woods. It was familiar to Todd. Here was the road leading to his grandpa's lake house in Northern Minnesota. The Sun illumined the whole forest into the habitation of all lifeforms. Obvious oblivion. Every little droplet of matter was shooting out beams. It was like daybreak after heavy nocturnal rain.

Soon the winding road came to an abrupt stop. The black, oily gate barricading grandpa's house into itself and out of the world, forced Todd to brake.

Todd warped away from his car and through the gate, to the courtyard. He immediately saw Pop, looking tired, sitting on a wicker chair next to a small tree. It was full of little peaches.

That sight of grandpa still alive in Todd's dream forced an inescapable fear. He approached his grandpa. 

"Grandpa, why aren't you at peace? You seemed so happy while you were alive, you had money, parties, and cars!"

His grandpa replied: "I was a billionaire and avaricious. That means I was selfish all my life. I was happy, but I hurt alot of people

along the way. I assure you, you can win in this life, but you can also win in the next."

Suddenly, Todd heard a young boy crying out down by the gate.

"Let me out! Let me out!" The little boy wailed. Without a further thought Todd sprinted down the driveway to the gate. The boy was clothed in a tattered and grey undergarment. 

"Here." Todd gasped. He used all of his strength to move the black gate down its track. There was never any lock. The little boy ducked through, avoided the road, and ran into the forest. He never said thank you, but judging from that youthful mobility, he was happy, gone, and ready to live life free. 

Todd woke up.