Dan Kim's Schrankgeist

Collette hummed quietly to herself as she spread a thin veil of strawberry jam on her toast.  She liked jam, especially strawberry.  Collette had something of a sweet tooth, and the nice man who worked weekends always went out of his way to sneak her in something.  The man that worked there weekends was the best.  He always brought her strawberry jam.  She took a bite as she dropped a sugar cube into her orange juice.  Those were both his, again.  He had brought it in for her for breakfast, he said, but he didn’t manage to get it to her until early evening.

Taking another bite, Collette pulled the blanket around her tighter.  It was a thin summer blanket, but it was the best available.  She was lucky he snuck her in a blanket.  It was amazing any of the others managed to survive in this cold.  The Yukionna aside, that was.  Winter was coming on, and with the recent budget cuts, it was getting harder and harder for the shelter to support so many.  She shivered as she reached for the orange juice with blanketed hands, managing only to tip the glass over.

“Ah,” Collette sighed, trying to wipe up as much of the spilled juice off the cold concrete as she could.  She wished he had given her socks.  She’d ask him when he came to take her for her bath.  Righting the glass, she managed to salvage a good quarter of the juice.  She went back to humming a particularly tuneless song as she set to sipping what was left.

She had a good life down at the shelter, she decided, finishing.  She could do with a jacket, socks, a thicker blanket, maybe.  But they fed her twice a day, and always had a warm bath ready at six.  And then there was the man that worked weekends.  Even if she didn’t have any of that throughout the week, those two days would still be worth it.  Collette pulled the blanket closer to herself, trying to avoid the parts soaked in orange juice.  As if it felt her pain, an old heater rattled to life on the other side of the room.  It would take it nearly an hour to reach her cage, and even then, it wasn’t running as well as it had when it was brand new.  Nobody at the shelter could remember how long ago it was that the heater was new.

Pulling her blanket around her again, Collette laid her head against the wall and tried to sleep.  There wasn’t much room inside the box – she couldn’t even extend her legs all the way out, but that was fine with her.  Schrankgeist like enclosed spaces anyway.  It was only half an hour until bath time.  She’d be warm then, when the man who worked weekends came to get her.

-

She couldn’t have been asleep for more than ten minutes when a loud voice woke her.

“Oh!  Can we see those, mom?”

It was a little boy.  His footsteps grew louder as he ran past the room, then fainter as he overshot it and head for the Pontianak cages.  A softer pair of feet followed.  That must’ve been his mother.  The cages rattled in the next room.  The Pontianak smelled young blood.  Collette could still hear their shrieking through the soundproofing.

“Wouldn’t you rather have a Schrankgeist instead?” the mother asked.  “They’re so much quieter.  And less dangerous.”

The door opened.  Collette hoped she didn’t get chosen.  That would mean that she wouldn’t be able to see the man who worked weekends any more.

The gate on her cage slid open.  Collette squinted.  The lights were always so bright whenever the gate opened.  Being in darkness for twenty-three hours a day would do that.

“Oh, I want this one, mom!  This one!”  The boy hopped up and down from behind the peeling red line painted on the floor.

“I don’t know,” she said to herself, trying to think of an excuse to say no.

“Please, mom?  Please?”  He tugged at her sleeve.  Collette huddled tighter in her corner, praying the mother would find her excuse.  “I’d never forget to feed her, and I’ll play with her every day, I promise.”

“Are you sure you won’t get bored of her?”

“I’m sure, mom!  Really!”

The man who worked weekends spoke up.  “She’s a great choice, ma’am.”  Collette looked downward.  Was he trying to get rid of her?

“See, mom?  He thinks so,” the boy smiled, boasting.

“I still don’t know.  I might have to call your father,” the mother said, fishing around in her purse.

“Please take her,” the man said.  He leaned over and whispered something Collette couldn’t make out.  “Please.”

Didn’t he like her?  What about all those days he’d slide her door open and bring her a snack?  “Here you go, Collette,” he’d say, and pat her on the head.  “Don’t tell anybody, though.  I’m not supposed to be doing this.”

“I won’t,” she’d say back.  “Thank you so much, mister.”

She buried her head in her arms, dabbing her eyes with the blanket.

“Fine then,” the mother said.  “Do you have one in brunette?  This one’s hair will clash with the drapes.”

“Yeah, right this way,” the man who worked weekends said.  He bit his lip as he slid her door closed.

-

A few hours passed.  They left with the red-head across the room.  Collette couldn’t remember her name.

Her door slid open again.

“Come on, Collette, time for your bath,” the man who worked weekends said.  He didn’t sound as happy as he normally did.  Was he that disappointed she was still here?

Collette didn’t move.

“Come on, Collette.  You love bath time.”

“Why do you want to get rid of me?”  She asked, staring at the ground.

“I, well,” he started, hesitating, stopping, starting again.  “It’s that, well, you know, it’s a long story.”

“Don’t you like me?” Her blanket was still wet. She was going to ask him for a dry one, but she wasn’t sure anymore.

“Of course I like you,” he said.  Lied, probably.  “It’s just that…” He trailed off.  Biting his lip again, he pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket.  “I’ll let you have this if you come out.”

Collette looked at him for a second before pushing the candy away.  “I’m not a dog, you know.”

“I know,” he said, giving it to her anyway.  The chocolate bar slid down the front of her blanket and landed on the floor.  “It’s just that, we’re going to have to…”

“Have to what?” Collette asked.  “Have to what?”

“We’re going to have to move you to a different shelter tonight,” he said, looking at the peeling red line on the ground.  “I thought they’d be a nice family.”

“Is the different shelter not nice?” Collette asked.

“I’m not sure,” the man said back.  “I hope it is.”

Collette stared at the floor some more.

The man reached in and scooped her out, pausing a second so she could grab the candy.  Collette peeled the wrapper open and nibbled at it as he carried her down the hall.

“I won’t see you again at this new shelter, will I?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh.”

Collette took another bite of her chocolate.

-

“Will they still have warm baths?” Collette asked.

“I’m sure they will,” the man said, washing her hair.

“And will they have a heater?” Collette asked.

“A heater?  Oh sure.  Personal ones too.”

“And what about the food?”  Collette asked.

“All the strawberry jam you could ask for,” the man said.

Collette smiled.  She thought the man was smiling too, but she couldn’t tell.

He washed her back.

-

The man toweled her off and carried her back into the hall.  Most of the lights had been turned off by now, and there wasn’t a sound throughout the whole building besides his footsteps.  Even the Sirens were quiet.  They had spent a lot longer than usual, and with the boy and his mother spending so long choosing, it must have been at least nine or ten.  Everybody else had left long ago.

“We passed the Schrankgeist room,” Collette said after a while.

“I know,” the man said.  “We’re sending you off tonight.”  He was biting his lip again.

“Oh,” Collette said.

He turned into a small room with a metal door and laid her down on a small metal table.  There wasn’t a heater in this room, and Collette could feel the cold nip at her back through the towel.

Opening a drawer, the man who worked weekends pulled out a syringe.  He flicked it twice, then pulled off the cap.

“What’s that?” Collette asked.  She didn’t like needles.

“Just medicine,” he said.  “It’ll help you sleep.”

“When I wake up, I’ll be at the new shelter, right?”  Collette asked.

“Yeah,” he said.  “You’ll be at the new shelter.”

“So I won’t see you again,” Collette said.

“No,” he said.

“But it’s a good shelter, right?” Collette asked.

“All the strawberry jam you could want,” the man who worked weekends said.