Harvey stood at the edge of the peer, marveling at the colors of the sky. “Grandpa, can we go back tomorrow?”

He bent down to pick Anna up. “By morning the carnival will be gone, just another memory for us all to cherish.  Next year, Punkin.”

Anna smiled at the nick-name. “Will I be tall enough to ride the Swinging Hammer?”

“If you drink your milk you will be.” He gave the light of his life a final kiss, then handed her over to his daughter.  “Love you.”

Anna yawned, putting but smiled as she closed her eyes.”I love you too Grandpa.”

Harvey sighed. “There are no sweeter words in the universe.”

“Are you sure you can’t stay, dad?”

He shook his head. “You know the rules, you have since you and your sister were her age.”

“I know, it’s just that it would be nice to have more than one week a year with you.”

Harvey scoffed. “How many people get what I get? This is a blessing.” He turned towards his son-in-law. “You keep treating them right, got it?”

Jack nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Harvey looked back toward the brilliant colors of the sky.  “It’s sunset. You know what that means.”

“Love you, Dad. See you next year.”

“Love you too.” Harvey faded from view and did in death what he had been unable to do in life; he battled the demons that patrolled these waters.

~~~~~

So, this is a bit different this week. This was originally set in Anna’s bedroom, though Harvey was always a ghost. But then I read this really great entry from a fellow writer, Mike Gagne. I was inspired by how well written it was, so I moved the scene from Anna’s bedroom to the carnival itself and kind of tagged off of it. Please visit Mike’s story, it’s pretty great.