The Haunted Traveler December 2017 Edition

left ankle after Noah was born. She thought she was very clever.
The thirty year old wanted a way to share her enthusiasm while answering her son’s
complicated question. “Well, the moon is like mommy, she loves you very much. She
wants to keep you safe, so she will always look after you. She will follow you forever and
watch over you just like mommy does.”
Noah didn’t turn from his silent gaze out the window.
This is what was starting to worry her. He would get in quiet moods and there
would be no telling when he would snap out of it. Just the other night he hadn’t talked
throughout his entire meal of dinosaur nuggets and his bedtime story, and then at three
am he was tugging at her sheets asking if he could spend the night in her room.
She usually didn’t believe in finding out an answer for everything your kid does, but
she had been frequenting parenting websites. Looking under threads with titles like “Is
my son ok he’s asking weird questions” or “How to tell if your son is acting out because
he doesn’t have a father.” She had sent in a question or two about Noah under the
username “WorkingMom615.” She mostly got responses telling her that she was doing
her best and kids sometimes just say the darndest things.
Noah had also started a nasty habit of introducing himself to strangers with his full
name and address. He was very proud of himself for memorizing it, and she was proud
of her son of course, but not when he would tell everyone where they lived. Before she
had moved, she would babysit her nephews and they had done the same thing. There
was nothing one could do but hope that they didn’t give out their information to a creep
she presumed. Later tonight after finishing her calls she would probably check the web
for more help on that front.
Once they arrived home, Noah walked up to his room and sat at his table to color.
Margaret began cooking a small dinner and figured out how many hours she could
reasonably work tonight. Two maybe three, I mean if Noah just sits in his room all night I guess
that means I could shoot for three.
She would call her dispatch after they ate and she would pray for no weirdos. She
had to stay on the line until the client wanted to get off. Most guys calling just wanted
someone to talk to for emotional support, or they wanted to try some new kinky fetish.
On a rare occasion, there would be the guy who wanted to talk about murder or incest
but she always transferred those calls to other girls. Like Mark had said, she was a
natural on the phone.
“Noah, honey, I made some mac n cheese!”
Noah shuffled his way into the small living room/kitchen area and sat at his usual
place near the TV. He was silent which was not a great sign for how her night would go
but she remained cheerful.
“Which bowl do you want? Turtles or Pokémon?”
Noah pointed towards her left hand, which held his Raphael bowl. She told him it
was a good choice and that mac n cheese always tasted the best when accompanied with
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