Page 43 of Found in Obscurity

Lorin quirked his mouth in a wry twist. “Tell me about it.”

“I’ll make some calls about your ghost, see what they can do,” Glenn said.

“I’d appreciate it,” Lorin said. “Thanks.”

“What are neighbors for if not to burst into your home uninvited and help you with your hauntings?” Glenn winked.

They finished lunch with some small talk, Glenn talking and talking and talking, never seeming to run out of words even when Lorin didn’t have any to offer back. He was an easy presence, if a little overwhelming, but Lorin had been so isolated that he found it wasn’tterribleto chat to someone who wasn’t his grandma. Glenn filled him in on some town gossip and talked about flowers endlessly like they were poetry.

It was…nice.

Lorin couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat and just chatted to someone unrelated to him.

Except Kit.

His gaze moved to the familiar, taking in his intelligent eyes flicking between them like he was following the conversation himself.

Lorin could whisper any and every thought to the familiar, had bared his rawest soul to him and spoken aloud words he’d never voiced before. Kit was comfort. Something about him opened Lorin up like no one had ever been able to before.

But he was only his familiar, and while they were intrinsically interconnected, he was still just an animal, so he felt like it was a little sad to admit that the closest person to him other than his grandma wasn’t actually a person at all.

Glenn helped clear up the dishes, checking on Forrest often to see how he was doing. It was as Lorin was drying the plates that he noticed the snow had stopped falling outside.

The blanket of white had muffled the world a little, but it wasn’t too thick just yet.

“Snow’s stopped,” Lorin said, turning.

He found Glenn by the chair, flipping through the book The Owner had given him. Snooping again. Lorin rolled his eyes.

“This is a nice journal,” Glenn said, flipping a few more pages absently before admiring the cover.

“It’s a book,” Lorin said.

“Sure it is. Are you manifesting or something?” Glenn asked with a smile. “Visualizing the words on the page.”

Lorin frowned, not understanding a word of what he had just said. “Um…no?”

Glenn put the book back down. “Whatever works for you, man. We should probably get out of your hair before the snow starts again, otherwise we really will be spooning.”

He walked to the coat rack to grab his things, putting them on as Lorin padded over to the book. He flipped through, scanning over all the complicated lines of text and depictions he didn’t understand. What the hell was Glenn talking about?

Glenn picked Forrest’s basket nest up, wrapping him tightly as he headed back to the front door. “The other basket is for you to keep. There’s some seeds I left you for planting next year. Some foxtail and foxglove. Also a sprinkling of that delphinium for some extra encouragement. Though it looks like you’re doing all right.”

He winked and opened the door, the rush of freezing air stealing the warmth from the cabin immediately. He left as quickly as he’d arrived, and Lorin watched him go, shaking his head.

What a weird day.

Kit

Lorin was the slowest reader known to humankind.

Once the nice-smelling human had left their cabin, Kit had insisted Lorin continue reading the familiar book and was very pleased when it only took a few nudges and claw swipes to make him comply.

But then it took Lorin a million years just to get through one page. He read and then went back, then spaced out, staring into nothing for minutes before Kit could manage to draw his attention to the book again. He tried with kisses, cajoling, whining.

It was taking forever, and at the pace he was moving he’d get to the part of the book Kit wanted him to see in about a century.

So Kit paced. He wound his way around Lorin’s legs, behind his back, under his arms. He made himself as visible and present as he could, taking any opportunity he could to try and swipe at the pages and make Lorin skip ahead just a little bit.