A Paranormal Toymas
Deep in the TSU bunker, Dashanka Karakova bustled around her lab, working to perfect the most important concoction in her stores—hot chocolate. She was close now; the sweet smell of marshmallows and cocoa filled the room. Her other project, the ParaPortal, stood neglected in the corner.
“Only a bit more marshmallow…” She scooped some mini marshmallows into a spoon and held them over the steaming pot. “Not too much….” She tipped the spoon, and—
“AHHH!”
The spoon flung into the air, and Dashanka fell backwards. Dr. Malice caught her with one arm, and held a sprig of mistletoe above her head with the other.
“Did I scare you?”
“Yes! And now there are marshmallows everywhere!”
Dr. Malice sniffed the air.
“Hot chocolate? What about the ParaPortal? You were planning for spirit contact by Toymas Day.”
“I know…I got distracted.”
“Keep at it, it’ll work before you know it! Take this for inspiration. I have to go work on some music.”
Dr. Malice handed her the mistletoe, planted a kiss on her head, and left the lab. Dashanka shook her head and threw the mistletoe over her shoulder. Little did she know, it landed right into the ParaPortal, along with a hot chocolate soaked marshmallow!
In the corner of the lab, the little hamsters were plotting their own experiment. One hamster wore a tartan scarf, the other a top hat. They comprised a plan in little hamster squeaks.
“MMM….that hot chocolate smells good!”
“I have my eye on the mistletoe.”
“Why? So Sally would kiss you? She’d rather kiss a drop bear.”
“Shut up. You get the hot chocolate, I’ll get the mistletoe.”
“How? That human will see.”
“HHmmm….OH! I know! Psst! Psst!”
Midnight, the black cat awoke from her slumber and stretched her legs. She saw the hamsters and made her way to their corner.
“Hello there little friends.”
“Good evening, Midnight. We were wondering if you could help us.”
“Help you? What’s in it for me?”
“A Toymas party…with all the humans’ stuff! All the human goodies you want.”
“Hmm… sounds nice. What are you after?”
“The hot chocolate and the mistletoe.”
“Easy enough. Take my lead.”
Before the critters could make their move, the lab quaked. Dashanka stared wide eyed at the glowing Paraportal.
“It’s working!”
A flash of light filled the room. When her eyes were no longer blinded, Dashanka saw three silvery ghosts. The first wore a top coat and hat with a necklace of holly berry. The second was dressed in a TSU scout uniform. The third wore an odd outfit made of wrapping paper and bows. She frowned, disappointed at the sight.
“Who are you?”
“We’re the ghosts of Toymas past, present, and future! At your service, ma’am.”
“Service? Get out, I wanted different ghosts!”
The one in wrapping paper scoffed.
“Well, aren’t you rude! You’re the one that summoned us!”
“I did no such thing!”
Meanwhile, the critters made their way toward the lab table. Midnight jumped onto the table surface and batted the mistletoe onto the floor.
“Hurry, carry it away!”
The hamster with the top hat collected the sprigs in his mouth and ran away, quite pleased with himself. The tartan scarfed hamster squeaked at Midnight.
“How do we get the hot chocolate? The pot is too heavy.”
“Call a robot.”
“Is there time?”
“You don’t know Dashanka. She can argue for hours.”
“Humans often do. I’ll be right back!”
The hamster scurried through a hole in the wall as Dashanka became more irritated by the minute. The TSU uniformed ghost sighed.
“Look lady, if you put mistletoe and hot chocolate in a ParaPortal, you’ll get Toymas ghosts; it’s not rocket science.”
“How dare you—wait. You know how it works?”
“Of course we do, we’re ghosts.”
“Why wouldn’t it work before?”
“We didn’t know you were here!”
“You mean I have to put something in?”
“Well yeah. We can’t do all the work. Besides, how would we know who you wanted? There are a lot of ghosts in there and it’s not like we have iPhones.”
The little hamster scurried back toward the lab table, robot in tow. Midnight purred. The human girl had no idea, and the ghosts—if they noticed—didn’t care.
“Hmmm….ok I think I got it now.”
“Good because Toymas is coming and we have shit to do. There are a few misers we need to haunt…Dickens style!”
They waved goodbye and stepped into the portal. Dashanka scratched her head and sighed. She needed some comfort after that experience. She turned to the lab table, gasping at the absence of her hot chocolate.
“What the…?”
Midnight lounged on the lab table, innocently licking her paws, watching the hamster and robot sneak out the door with the steaming pot over Dashanka’s shoulder.
“There are a few misers we need to haunt…Dickens style!”
That’s gold, that is.