FIC: Coloring, 1/1, G
Title: Coloring
Author: Tara Keezer
Rating: G
Notes: A wee ficlet in the kid!fic ’verse, because I couldn’t get this notion out of my head. Set about four years after A Common Life, Another Friday Night and Weekend Calls and a good eleven years before Family Story.
Warnings: Lisa is Ray’s kid, no doubt about it.
~*~*~
Lisa was, for the first time in five days, feeling well enough to sit up in bed and color, and color, she did. So far that morning, she’d made three self-portraits - one of her with Daddy, one of her with Papa and one of her alone - and she was getting ready to draw their cabin when she heard someone clear their throat.
She cocked her head and frowned, because Daddy hadn’t said anything about a Mountie coming to see her today. “Who are you?”
The old man in the corner smiled. “I’m your grandfather.”
“Nuh-uh.”
His smile fell a little. “Yes, I am.”
“Are not.”
“I am, too.”
“Are not.”
“Am -” He took a step toward her. “I assure you - I’m your grandfather.”
“Nuh-uh.” With that, she turned back to her paper and drew a careful line to make the first wall.
“But -”
“Grandpa K was here last summer, and he’s shorter and fatter than you,” she said decisively. Lisa finished drawing the rest of the cabin then thought about whether to make the picture for winter or summer. Her black crayon was short enough to decide her, and anyway, summer was prettier. “And he smells funny. You don’t.”
“I’m your other grandfather.”
Since he kind of sounded like Papa when him and Daddy were talking, she looked up again and studied him carefully. He had the same smile and kind of looked like Papa, so maybe he was her Grandpa Fraser after all.
“You’re dead.”
“Well, yes.” The man took another step forward. “Am I scaring you?”
“Nope.” Lisa picked up a green crayon and drew a careful sawtooth pattern across the front of the cabin.
“I’m not?”
“Nuh-uh.” She picked up a blue crayon to draw the outline of a cloud.
“The fact that I’m dead doesn’t bother you in the slightest?”
“Nope.” Lisa added a second cloud for good measure then exchanged her blue crayon for the black one, so she could draw a raven in the sky.
“Why not?”
Lisa sighed and put down her crayon. “’Cause you’re just standing there. And your head’s on the right way, and you’re not dripping blood all everywhere, and you’re not covered with scabs, and you’re not trying to eat my brain.”
He blinked. “All that would frighten you?”
She thought he was kind of dumb, but Papa would get mad at her if she said it, so she just said what he should have already known. “No, Grandpa. ’Cause you’re dead, and Papa and Aunt Maggie told me ghosts can’t ever do anything more than talk to me.”
“Oh.”
He seemed kind of sad, so Lisa pointed to the end of her bed and said, “Sit down there, and I’ll draw your picture.”
“You will?”
“Uh-huh.” She pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, happy to have someone new to draw.
Author: Tara Keezer
Rating: G
Notes: A wee ficlet in the kid!fic ’verse, because I couldn’t get this notion out of my head. Set about four years after A Common Life, Another Friday Night and Weekend Calls and a good eleven years before Family Story.
Warnings: Lisa is Ray’s kid, no doubt about it.
~*~*~
Lisa was, for the first time in five days, feeling well enough to sit up in bed and color, and color, she did. So far that morning, she’d made three self-portraits - one of her with Daddy, one of her with Papa and one of her alone - and she was getting ready to draw their cabin when she heard someone clear their throat.
She cocked her head and frowned, because Daddy hadn’t said anything about a Mountie coming to see her today. “Who are you?”
The old man in the corner smiled. “I’m your grandfather.”
“Nuh-uh.”
His smile fell a little. “Yes, I am.”
“Are not.”
“I am, too.”
“Are not.”
“Am -” He took a step toward her. “I assure you - I’m your grandfather.”
“Nuh-uh.” With that, she turned back to her paper and drew a careful line to make the first wall.
“But -”
“Grandpa K was here last summer, and he’s shorter and fatter than you,” she said decisively. Lisa finished drawing the rest of the cabin then thought about whether to make the picture for winter or summer. Her black crayon was short enough to decide her, and anyway, summer was prettier. “And he smells funny. You don’t.”
“I’m your other grandfather.”
Since he kind of sounded like Papa when him and Daddy were talking, she looked up again and studied him carefully. He had the same smile and kind of looked like Papa, so maybe he was her Grandpa Fraser after all.
“You’re dead.”
“Well, yes.” The man took another step forward. “Am I scaring you?”
“Nope.” Lisa picked up a green crayon and drew a careful sawtooth pattern across the front of the cabin.
“I’m not?”
“Nuh-uh.” She picked up a blue crayon to draw the outline of a cloud.
“The fact that I’m dead doesn’t bother you in the slightest?”
“Nope.” Lisa added a second cloud for good measure then exchanged her blue crayon for the black one, so she could draw a raven in the sky.
“Why not?”
Lisa sighed and put down her crayon. “’Cause you’re just standing there. And your head’s on the right way, and you’re not dripping blood all everywhere, and you’re not covered with scabs, and you’re not trying to eat my brain.”
He blinked. “All that would frighten you?”
She thought he was kind of dumb, but Papa would get mad at her if she said it, so she just said what he should have already known. “No, Grandpa. ’Cause you’re dead, and Papa and Aunt Maggie told me ghosts can’t ever do anything more than talk to me.”
“Oh.”
He seemed kind of sad, so Lisa pointed to the end of her bed and said, “Sit down there, and I’ll draw your picture.”
“You will?”
“Uh-huh.” She pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, happy to have someone new to draw.