DOWNTOWN: Mason Park

     A drastic change from the dull grays and blacks of the surrounding downtown 
area, the park offers instead rich, flourishing greens, reds, yellows and a 
multitude of other colors rested against rich greenery. The park itself is 
pretty simple in design, hardly intricate or difficult to move about through. A 
single path, wide in girth, winds its way through the park, lined with rich 
green grass and flourishing, flowering plant life. The path itself is paved 
simply in cement with asphalt poured atop it to provide a softer, more cushioned 
surface for the daily joggers to run about and for bikers to ride along. Much of 
the park surrounding the single, winding path is made up of rich grassy green 
knolls, where families and couples have their picnics or simply for children or 
adults to play a quick game of football or throw a frisbee. The predominate 
species of tree found throughout the park are majestic oak trees, which have 
been around for some time according to their wide trunks and thick branches. The 
park itself is pretty simplistic with the occasional information plaque spotted 
here and there and easy to navigate. The path itself continues westward through 
the park, and in the far western distance the likes of a massive fountain can be 
seen, a popular attraction of Mason Park.

Contents:
Molly
Train
Obvious exits:
Fountain  Exit to Venus Avenue


      It's a beautiful, crisp cold dawn- the kind only the middle of October 
could bring. The sun hasn't risen yet, and the grass makes a slightly audible 
crunch if when someone steps on it. The park is somewhat deserted, except for a 
few of the elderly watching the leaves turn colors and some joggers getting in 
their morning run. The sky's a constantly gradient of pastel, slowly changing as 
the sun gets ready to raise.

       This is where Molly is, lurking around with her black windbreaker on and 
a sleep-deprived look on her face. She's been suspicious, yes, but not enough to 
make her lack sleep. No, her expression is due to the hotel room she had to 
rent- there was a weird-looking guy on the street next to hers, and she had to 
play it safe. Nevermind there's always a weird-looking guy on her street: on 
Limboro street, that's just the friendly neighborhood dope dealer.

 5t Molly can't take chances right now, however. She's gabbing friendly, and 
she'd like to stick around to gab some more about that incident that happened 
across the street from her. It always happens, doesn't it? Someone gabs too much, 
and the group that's been snitched on sends out someone to shut that person up.

       However, she's just looking around and checking her notepad. Who was it 
that came by the park again? Oh yeah, that client's spouse... Hmm... Or she 
could go over to that cafe and get something warm to drink... Tempting.


     It's a beautiful, crisp cold dawn--and Ask would much rather not be seeing 
it right now. But sometimes business--as it were--calls; especially when it 
takes the shape of a ghost shaking one's shoulder until one wakes up and 
demanding settlement.
     What's humiliating is when it's the ghost of a squirrel.
     Still, she's not going to deny it completely, and banishment spells didn't 
seem to work on it--squirrels were sneaky like that--and so she dressed and 
sneaked out to drive to the park where the squirrel wanted her to come. Parking 
her car took a few minutes, and finding the cache of nuts the squirrel had 
wanted to make sure remained safe only a few minutes more. Satisfied, it had 
dissolved, and Ask is finally left in peace to wander, sleepy-eyed and clutching 
her thermos to her chest, looking rather out of place amidst the elderly and the 
joggers. Though perhaps no more out of place than Molly, there.


      Oh, would Molly know what that's like. Only, Molly can't communicate with 
ghosts or interact with them; she can just see their shadows. In fact, she sees 
the shadows of things that shouldn't be casting shadows at all. It's very 
confusing, and Molly's gotten to the point that, if she sees one, she acts the 
same way as someone would if they found a nicely sized roach in their bathtub. 
It's not that she thinks ghosts are roaches, but since there's no way of 
communicating, it's got the same level of creepiness.

 5t And some of them are poltergeists too, which makes it worse. Damn it, if 
you're gonna see ghosts, why not go all the way?

       Spotting Ask and the disappearing shadow of something.... rather tiny, 
Molly makes her way over, the soft scuffing of her boots audible as she 
approaches. "... They usually aren't that small." It's a vague comment, but it's 
on purpose. If Ask suddenly looks confused, Molly can point to the thermos and 
pretend she comes from a land of one pound thermos that people drag with them to 
work on carts.

       She could also point to something else, but that's the first thing that 
comes to mind.


     Whereas Ask communicates all too easily with them. In fact, sometimes she 
can't tell a living person apart from a ghost, at least not until she examines 
them more closely. And, in the case of the squirrel, because squirrels don't 
normally run around on your face and bound through walls. It tends to be a dead 
giveaway. ... pun unintended.
     Her reactions rather slow due to sleepiness, Ask turns around, looks at 
Molly, and just kind of stares blankly for a moment until her brain catches up 
to her ears, and then her brain issues a command that finally reaches her mouth. 
Only then does she kind of start, and stare at Molly some more, except in a 
slightly more surprised way. "... usually?" she asks cautiously. Was the woman 
really asking what Ask thought she was asking? Because that would be too much, 
to encounter two people who knew about these thigns in as many weeks.


      "Ah..." Molly stops, then looks around to point at... a very tiny maple 
leaf. "That." Close one. Damn it, she's using the first story. Walking over, she 
kneels down and picks it up between two fingers, and rolls the stem around to 
make the leaf spin around. "Cute, eh?" Quick save. Damn it, she doesn't want to 
look like an idiot. Hey, is that a shadow of a rodent ghost? What? What do you 
mean she's crazy?

       However, to find any people with powers is odd for Molly. That is, until 
that explosion on her street. Since then? She's been keeping her eyes open. This 
girl probably just happened to be in that spot- those shadows like to stray 
around randomly and dissipate into thin air. The scariest moment was when she 
got out of her hammock to find a shadow right beside her, as if its owner had 
been watching her sleep. It's reasons like that why Molly doesn't need caffeine 
to wake her up.

       She'll try again in that vague way. "Yeah, I saw it." An amiable grin. 
Again, she can use the leaf to her advantage, and after this, she could walk 
away and have this girl just think she's eccentric instead of crazy!


     There's another vague blink at Molly. Somehow, it's not really all 
connecting together.
     ... more coffee. That cures everything.
     Taking a sip from her thermos, Ask ambles after Molly--not really out of 
any conscious direction as much as general sheeplike following of someone moving, 
combined with her early-morning dazed state. Peering at the leaf, she finds a 
little. "Yeah, cute." And it is. "Don't normally find tiny ones like that at 
this time of year."
     Except there she goes again, being vague and almost hinting on something 
Ask could swear she's hinting at, but isn't sure about. Squinting at the woman, 
the teenager's gaze involuntarily flickers back to where the squirrel's ghost 
had been, before veering back to Molly. "What did you see?" she asks hesitantly, 
just to confirm. She doesn't want to outright blurt 'Oh my god, you see the 
ghosts of rodents, too?', either, but maybe... it would be exciting to find 
someone else who can do it! Besides her father, anyway.


      Coffee and jumping into a cold shower.
       And whether or not you're getting followed by somebody.
       And... Hey, Molly's found a cure for sleepiness!

       Molly follows Ask's gaze back to the spot where the little squirrel ghost 
was. Bingo. This girl has to have seen the same thing! Or not. Maybe she's just 
looking back to her previous position, or looking back to see if someone was 
coming. So Molly's vague again. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. 
Actually, even if you believed me, you probably would still laugh about it." She 
holds out the tiny leaf to Ask, almost as a peace offering, and offers, "I 
couldn't tell you exactly what was in that spot, only that there was something 
there. Of course, I gotta be vague here in case you might think I'm crazy. Which 
I'm not. However, people have things they're good at, and I spent most of my 
life thinking up to now that I was good at something some other people weren't. 
However, mayhaps, it really isn't so- there's just a whole bunch of people 
thinking the say as me, and they're just a bit scared that they'd be seen as 
'crazy'." She smirks. "Molly Rue. You *probably* never heard the name, and I 
hope to dear god you haven't."


     Freeing one hand from its hold around the cup, Ask reaches to take the leaf, 
offering a smile in return. Absently tucking it behind her ear--she'd tuck it in 
the band of her hat, except that the one she's wearing now doesn't have a band, 
alas (otherwise she would, and call it macaroni)--her brows rise at Molly's 
words, and she just looks at her again for a moment. Before breaking into 
snickers, anyway, one hand rising to cover her mouth as she giggles. "I think I 
know what you mean," she says around her giggles. "I think, though, if there's 
one thing I've found out, it's that either everybody's crazier than we think, or 
normality is overrated and less common." Lowering her hand as her gigglefit 
abates, she extends it toward Molly with a grin. "Askiana Johanssen. But you can 
call me Ask. Do you want to drop the vagueness? 'Cause I gotta admit, I think I 
know what you're getting at, but it's confusing."


      There! Molly seems all too ready to drop into laughter along with Ask, 
slipping her hands into the pockets of her cargo pants as she does so. "Hey, I 
didn't expect to see anyone interacting with them, and I couldn't tell if you 
just happened to be there by chance. But yeah. To answer your earlier question, 
I saw the tiny shadow of something in front of you, which dissipated as soon as 
I realized you were kneeling by it." She pauses, one side of her mouth inching 
upwards in an awkward grin. "That's the funny part, right there. I don't see 
them specifically; just the shadows which they're not supposed to cast, 
technically." She shakes Ask's hand. "And I apologize for my introduction. I'm 
as sleep-deprived as you are, even if I seem a bit more alert."

 
    "Nah, I know what you mean. I'm a little surprised you even approached," Ask 
admits with a friendly grin, lifting her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "I'd 
have written it off as just coincidence, myself." The fact that she can't see 
the creatures themselves is met with a little 'o' of surprise. "You can't? That 
must be nerve-wracking--I mean, at least I /know/ it's there, instead of just 
being maybe a trick of the imagination!" Her eyes brighten as a thought occurs 
to her. "This is really cool, though! You're the second person outside of -- 
that I've met who can sense things like that!" Although none of them have been 
quite as adept at it as she, but then, they probably have other talents, or 
something. Even after the shake, Ask keeps clasping Molly's hand in excitement, 
apparently either quite unaware that she's holding it or just abnormally tactile. 
At least she's waking up a little better now, though, even if her thoughts are 
still somewhat fuzzy. "How long have you been able to do that?"


      "Usually I don't. However, I was rather curious what you were doing- 
they're a problem for me, you see. I figured it was worth a try. Besides, I 
didn't exactly go straight ahead and ask- I'm not that sleep-deprived." Sighing, 
Molly looks up at the leaves above. "I know they're there- I just see shadows of 
them. Can't chat or interact with them, however, so I just see moving shadows." 
And that's not all of it, but she doesn't let onto that fact. Looking at Ask, 
she giggles. "Don't feel bad. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I thought to 
start looking. It's not like there's a club or anything." Looking down as Ask 
still clasps her hand, Molly carefully breaks the hold, still smiling. "How long? 
Oh, I think I started when I was an adolescent. Those comic books do seem to get 
some things right, but so far I've yet to find a spandex suit that flatters my 
body type or even a reason to wear one."

       That's when Molly's eyes widen, her gaze going to the side of Ask's face 
and focusing on something far away. "... Ah, damn... Brigston was late..." Her 
attention quickly snaps back to Ask as she zips up her windbreaker and lifts up 
the hood to cover the top of her head.. "Eheh. Looks like business flared right 
up. I'm a freelance investigator, and I can't let that guy know I'm here, so I'd 
better go. Uh..." Rummaging through her pockets, she takes out a business card. 
"That has my number- don't be fooled by the phrase 'business phone'. It's just 
my home number. Call me if you need anything. I can't offer much, but... if you 
need someone to complain to or yak to, I'd be willing to listen."


     That seems a little sad to Ask, somehow--just knowing that they're there, 
but being unable to interact with them at all? Even if most spirits aren't 
necessarily nice or kind, at least they're people, still... and her face 
reflects her thoughts a bit, brows drawing together in a sympathetic look. That 
quickly dissolves, though, into another grin. "Oh good. I was afraid I might be 
excluded or something! I met another guy who can kind of do things like that, 
too, I think. Or at least he says he can sense 'em, a bit." And how vague they 
still are being--but then, there are people in the park, however few and far 
between, and voices carry in the morning stillness.
     But then Molly's attention turns elsewhere, and it seems like she has to go. 
Taking the business card, Ask nods with a bright grin before glancing at her 
watch. "Ah, crap--I've gotta run, too, school starts soon! Here--" Rummaging in 
her bag, she pulls out a scrap of paper and a pen and scribbles a number down on 
it. "That's my cellphone--and call me whenever you want, 'k? I'd like to talk to 
you again!" Find out more, at least, and maybe commiserate. "It was nice meeting 
you, Molly!" Giving a wave, she turns and begins to trot out of the park.