I See Dead People: Roy Pulls Tricks and To All a Good Night

What a crazy week or so. I guess I forget from year to year how busy this season gets when I am both writing and also taking care of holiday preparations. I love having family at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and especially transforming the house with the Christmas decorations. But each year, I like to try a few different things, and this year is no different. Lots of work and time involved, though…
…especially when one of your ghosts decides to be a prankster! Roy, the new resident, has evidently decided to hang around for a while. I opened a door a few days ago, but he didn't cross over. I'd get mad at some of his pranks, but he thinks they are so funny, I don't have the heart to do more than half-way threaten him and sometimes join in his enjoyment of the situation.
At first, I wasn't sure the new ghost was behind some of the incidents. I've been known to mislay things like anyone else. And it didn't happen that frequently, maybe once every couple days. I'd put down a book, find it in a different place. In the bathroom, things would be moved around a bit.
His latest trick had to do with my espresso machine. My morning ritual in order to get the day on the road involves having a latte. I make my cup of espresso, usually with a flavored coffee. I heat some flavored creamer and milk in the microwave and combine them. If you want the entire recipe, I also add a dollop of honey and some whipped cream. Yum. Not quite Starbucks, but close.
Well, one morning last week, still half asleep because I hadn't had any caffeine, I filled the espresso machine with water, then stuck the pitcher under the drain thing where that wonderful brew comes out. But the pitcher wobbled. I looked, and the entire bottom part of the pot was missing, that inch high plastic piece with the metal drain over it where any spillover coffee happens to land.
What the heck?
I heard someone chuckling in the background, but I was too groggy to pay any attention to one of my resident ghosts. I managed to sit the pitcher in so it would catch the coffee and get my brew for the morning. Later that day, I questioned both Sis and hub, but both denied seeing the missing part of the espresso machine.
For three mornings, I had to put up with a wobbling pitcher. Then Sis and I were in the midst of baking and I was in the pantry, digging out plastic containers for our wonderful baked goods. I reached up on the second shelf, which is piled high, and took off the top container. It was above my eye level, so I didn't see until I pulled it down…
…that the missing parts of the espresso machine were inside it!
I took them over to the machine and they fit perfect. And in the background, I heard that chuckle that by then I was learning to recognize: Roy, my new ghost.
"Hey," I said to him. "You're getting close to the edge. I know you don't want to cross yet, but I can make you unwelcome here." His chuckles "died" and then I felt bad.
"All right," I went on. "It is sort of funny. And I can write about you in my blog. Just don't mess with my espresso machine again. O.K?"
O.K. Promise, he told me. And he hasn't.
I also got my annual Christmas story up for y'all to read: To All a Good Night, a Short Story. It has another dynamite cover from Angela Rogers, and that's actually my own fireplace in the background. Through the title, you can glimpse my new Christmas village. No, that's not my dog and tree; I got that photo on line. However, my niece Tammy tells me that looks like her new dog, which I've never seen.

So far, the story has made its way up for Kindle and through Smashwords, where it will eventually be available for Itunes and Sony. I hope it's up for Nook, but the Barnes and Noble sites have been giving us fits. No, it's not Roy causing funny things there. It's their own technical problems. They've started opening up in the United Kingdom, so maybe they got overwhelmed. Anyway, by the time you read this, I hope my Nook readers will be able to get the story. It's at: