when he arrived nobody really knew what to do with him. he appeared in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of town wearing a t-shirt and khaki pants. when they asked him who he was he said that his name was Kah’nul. when they asked him where he came from he said he came from Kah’nul.

he was an observer, he said. some form of silent missionary sent to watch and learn and ultimately report. this frightened the people. it frightened the police. in fact, the only one not frightened was the little girl who’d first seen him, Allie. she liked that he didn’t say much and that he always answered her questions. she liked that he had sat and played house and drank her imaginary tea. her parents never did that, she said. they were always out or fighting.
he said that this was wrong and she agreed.
the government people came to take him away in black cars and black suits with their black souls, to match. they took him to a quieter, non-residential area and would not let him go. he said he must go and he must observe. they asked him why and he said it was for Kah’nul. they asked what Kah’nul was and he said it was Kah’nul.
so they kept him there and starved him and made him listen to loud music. they hit him with things called phone books and when he asked them why they said they wanted him to talk. he’d told them everything he could, he said. and he’d observed enough. he vanished. not a wisp of smoke, not a sound. he was there and then he wasn’t. the phone book fell to the ground. the people from the government watched the tape over and over to see what witchery had occurred.
he appeared in that same neighbourhood and Allie was overjoyed. her parents were still fighting, she said. she wished that they would stop. he told her that if she became Kah’nultheir fighting would stop. she asked if she would be like him: say little and see much. he said she would, for Kah’nul was everything and everywhere. and so she agreed. her neighbourhood, the people and the dogs and the grass and the sky, everything she’d known became light. everything anyone had known became light and the light became her. in the last moments that Allie was she was filled with pain. she didn’t know much about life-she was only seven-but she knew her family was gone.

when she arrived nobody really knew what to do with her. she appeared on a small planet, in a small settlement, far away from… from…
a child asked her who she was.
she said she was Kah’nul.

Author

Linda, AKA TAGG herself, loves great music and terrible movies. Find her being geeky on Twitter @ThatLFM