“Look, Mr. Penumbra,” I say, flipping through my rainbow-tabbed binder labeled ‘MONSTER MATCHES LLC.’ “Your qualifications are impressive. Great with knock-knock jokes, expert at cloud-shape identification, and your references from the Boogeyman’s Union are stellar. But—”
The massive shadow beside me shifts, his glowing eyes dimming. Even in the bright afternoon sun, surrounded by playing children and the squeak of swing sets, he looks like a rain cloud at a birthday party.
“But what?” His voice sounds like rustling leaves. “I’ve been practicing my silly faces. Watch!” He contorts his shadowy form into something between a pretzel and a giraffe. What the heck is that, even?
I manage not to roll my eyes, but I can’t stop the sigh. Running an imaginary friend placement agency isn’t easy, especially when you’re ten and have math homework due tomorrow. “The thing is, most kids need their imaginary friends most at night. You know, when the shadows under the bed get scary, or that weird tree branch scratches against the window.” I press my lips together as I run my finger down the list of kids who need imaginary friends the most. Kara, Jessica, Liam… No. None of these are right.
Mr. Penumbra deflates, quite literally, until he’s just a puddle of inky blackness among the dandelions. “But I’m afraid of the dark.”
“Exactly.” I click my sparkly pen closed. “How can you chase away monsters from under the bed if you’re more scared than the kid?”
He perks up, his white eyes widening. “Wait! What about kids who are afraid of other things?”
I pause, my pen hovering over my notes. “Like what?”
“Well…” Mr. Penumbra stretches tall, casting a long shadow across my binder. “What about kids who are afraid of going to school? I’m excellent at hiding in backpacks. Or kids scared of swimming lessons? I can float! Sort of. And doctor’s offices! Those fluorescent lights make the best shadows for puppet shows.”
I tap my pen against my chin. He’s not wrong.
I flip to my purple tab labeled “SPECIAL CASES” and scan the list. Tommy Peterson, age 6, refuses to go to the dentist. Maria Chen, age 8, won’t get on the school bus. And then there’s —
“Oh!” I sit up straighter. Yes, this could work! “What about the new girl on Maple Street? She just moved here from California and won’t leave her house during the day because she’s scared of meeting new people.”
Mr. Penumbra’s eyes grow so bright they’re almost blinding. “During the day? I’m fantastic during the day! The brighter it is, the bigger and stronger I get!” He demonstrates by stretching himself into a towering shape that makes the nearby kids point and whisper.
“Maybe…” I drum my fingers on the binder. “Maybe I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. You’re not the wrong kind of imaginary friend.” I grin up at him. “You’re just a very specific kind of right.”
Image made with Midjourney.
Prompt provided by NoGENver, GoOnWrite.
Flash Fiction written by S. J. Pajonas with assistance from Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Listen to this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/8RZR1ONcq5c
