Dark Spirits by Rebekkah Ford

scared Carrie to tears. No joke. Thanks to my sharp immortal mind, I could clearly see her clutching the leg of the table for dear life and the horrific look she had on her face when she opened her mouth to release an earsplitting scream. She had refused to let go of her position until her dad came and rescued her.
    “Thanks for the fried bread,” I said as we threw our trash away. “But I wanted to pay because you always pay for everything. You even pay for our groceries.” I frowned at him, but he didn’t seem to notice, he was too busy looking around.
    We joined the swarm of people roaming the street in the center of the tents. Some were pulling little wagons full of fruit, produce, and bags of stuff, while others had their dogs with them. A cute little brown and white Chihuahua pranced past us. He had on a little blue sun visor that matched his blue and white camo shirt.
    Nathan curled his arm around my waist. “I don’t mind. I love taking care of you.”
    I pointed to the Chihuahua. “Look. Isn’t he cute?”
    Nathan chuckled. “He is, but I think it’s ridiculous to dress up a dog.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Because they’re dogs, not humans.”
    “So,” I said, looking up at him. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”
    “Maybe not.” He shrugged and left it at that when I stopped at a tent with a table lined with handmade jewelry.
    I ended up buying Carrie and me matching hemp anklets with ceramic beads and her mom a couple hand painted wooden bangles with bright floral designs on them. Then we wandered around some more, only stopping at the vendors that caught our interest. Nathan couldn’t resist buying some apple turnovers, pumpkin bread, and monster cookies. His sweet-tooth was one of the many qualities I loved about him. We also bought eight ears of sweet corn and some fresh herbs.
    “Do you want to sit on the bench by the river?” Nathan asked me a while later after we finished looking at some paintings done by a local artist. There was this one I absolutely loved of Peter Pan and Wendy flying hand and hand to Neverland in the star-filled night over the bright lights of London. But I tried to seem indifferent about it, hoping to fool Nathan, even though I couldn’t resist wandering back to it.
    “Sure,” I said, taking his hand.
    It was nearing three o’clock, and the vendors started packing their things, but I had us stop to get a corndog before they shut everything down. The crowd was much thinner now, and we were lucky enough to claim a bench all to ourselves. Nathan slung his arm around my shoulders while we ate our corndogs.
    “What a nice day,” he commented. “I enjoyed myself.”
    “Me too.” I rested my head on his shoulder, staring at the distant boats moving across the river. “I wish you didn’t have to go out tonight.”
    He kissed my head. “I know, but soon it’ll be over, and then we can start building a life together. Just you and me. Forever.”
    I rose and stuck my hand out for him to give me his corndog stick. He handed it to me, and I went to the overflowing trash can a couple yards away. Then my ears began to ring. I looked at Nathan, and he hurried to me at a painfully human pace. We looked around, but the few people strolling by were immersed in conversation and paid no attention to us.
    Nathan took my hand and steered me in the other direction. “C’mon, let’s get back to the truck.” As we rushed off, Nathan kept glancing over his shoulder, his posture stiff and alert.
    Our ears continued to ring, but still nothing out of the ordinary caught my eyes. When we reached the parking lot, there were people filing into their vehicles and exiting the premises. I wondered if one of them could be a dark spirit. I was just about to get inside the truck when a soft crying noise tore at my heart. It sounded heartbroken and lost. I followed the sound while Nathan stuck our bags in the backseat. I moved to the front of the truck and there sitting on the curb was the most