Eerie Indiana Fanfiction: the Copy Shop

[froodle]

Melanie gently set the black plastic receiver back on it's cradle, checked the coin slot for loose change and, finding none, pushed open the weighted door of Eerie Telephony and Communications Public Phonebooth Number 13.

"Bad news, Janet will not be joining us," she said. "Apparently there's a tentacle situation in progress at the Sushi Bar and she can't in good conscience leave until she's absolutely sure all the Summer People are dead and she's done the prep work for tomorrow's breakfast shift."

Tod McNulty paused.

"Is that dead as in, beyond any hope she might have of finding survivors and ring them out, or dead as in, she wants to make sure none of them got away?"

"I didn't ask," said Melanie. "It's twenty-five cents a minute and some conversations are better had in person, or not at all."

She picked up a plant mister filled with acetone and shot a fine spray of droplets over Tod's head, directly into the face of a different yet identical Tod that was sneaking up on him with an axe.

"Thanks," said the first Tod. And then, slicing open the belly of a 2D copy of himself with a pair of open-bladed scissors, added, "Sorry for ruining your Saturday."

"It's not ruined," said Melanie. "And you're not the first person to make this exact mistake at the Copy Shop."

A third faux-Tod ran at her, arms outstretched, and she side-stepped neatly before stamping on his feet. His own momentum tore his paper legs from his paper body and he flittered harmlessly to the ground.

"Ah," said Tod. "That's how you knew to use acetone."

"Yup," said Melanie. "Except mine was a glossy A4 photograph of the boy who died to give me his heart, and when he came out all that shiny paper made him look like a ghost, or a vampire, or possibly some kind of demi-god."

"Wow," said Tod.

"Yeah," said Melanie. "And since the one person I could go to and say, 'hey, the copy machine on Front Street just resurrected my middle-school sweetheart as a minor deity, what do I do?' was the person I'd just broken up with due to said sweetheart haunting us both, it was not a great time to be me."

"Wow," said Tod again, but softer.

"Yeah," agreed Melanie. "I do all my copying at the library now. First ten pages are free if you're a member."

The last fake Tod had run straight into a web of Sellotape strung between two lampposts, a trap set there for exactly this reason. Tod snipped it's head off with a couple of neat snaps, then began dismantling the snare.

"I'm trying to avoid the library," he confessed. "The head librarian is pretty mad at me right now. She caught me in the advanced cookery section without permission."

"Let me guess," said Melanie. "'Choux and You: the Forbidden Dalliance'? Or are you more of a 'Dark Secrets of the Filo Pastry' kind of guy?"

"Both," said Tod. "Or neither, I guess, since I didn't manage to sneak either of them out. I didn't think you were much for baking."

"I'm not," said Melanie. "But I helped Janet swipe both of those right at the start of the fall semester. Good thing about a town this small, where everyone knows your business?" She mimed clutching her chest and collapsing. "Everyone comes running to help the girl with the dicky heart, and for a few minutes nobody's thinking about restricted cookbooks."

She grinned.

"I even lent her my library card so she didn't have to pay when she made copies."

Tod McNulty, whose black nail varnish was chipped and eyeliner smeared beyond repair, whose arms were full of sticky tape and mutilated pictures of his own face, burst out laughing.



Ongoing Verse: Janet



A Ghost in Pink by froodle; Janet's family during the year she was Lost

Jogging by froodle, in which Janet Donner adapts to life in regular Eerie

Maybe, Even, in which Tod has a dream

Cooking Class, in which there is baking

Cake Day, in which it is Marshall's birthday

Dishonoured, in which Dash makes a choice, and Tod and Janet pay the price

Plans by froodle, in which Janet Donner deals with Daylight Savings Time yet again

DST by froodle, in which there is a lighthouse

Figurehead by froodle, in which Lake Eerie's ghost pirates encounter the lighthouse

At the Seaside, in which Simon and Marshall stake out the Eerie Baitshop and Sushi Bar.

Tempest, in which the Sea Hag makes an appearance

The Listener, in which Melanie and Devon talk, and Melanie makes a decision

Food Hygiene, in which Simon takes on some after-school activities, and meets Melanie and Janet doing the same

In the Bleak Midwinter, in which there is activity on the shores of Lake Eerie

The Lake at Night, in which there are pleasure boats

Night Diving, in which Janet and Melanie investigate the world beneath the waves

Promotional Materials, in which Lake Eerie's mermaids prepare for summer

Equivocate, in which Eerie's golf course becomes waterlogged

Golf Course, in which the re-seeding does not take as well as hoped

Artisanal, in which Janet prepares for the days trade

Kitchen Prep, in which Janet's hard work is foiled by vicious seabirds

Populace, in which Eerie's citizens experience a completely normal day

Slow Day, in which the Baitshop and Sushi Bar is unusually quiet

Worker Engagement, in which Janet works on a new sculpture

DST2, in which Janet and Marshall wait for midnight

Poetry Slam, in which Janet tries her hand at performance art.

Similar Interests, in which Tod encounters Devon's mother, and is almost crushed by a door.

Dessert, in which Tod and his parents get ice-cream

Milestone, in which Mars helps Tod to prepare for his 21st

License to Serve, in which Tod has his birthday

Civic Duty, in which the Ladies Society for the Beautification of Eerie gather to protect the town

The Craft, in which the Ladies encounter the all-female werewolf pack from Trick 'r Treat

Freelancing, in which Sara Sue takes on some work for Things Incorporated

Presentation, in which Simon gives a chupacabra a massage

Homecoming, in which Janet and Marshall return to the Teller house



Ongoing Verse: The Children



Preparations by froodle. Winston Chisel, the morning he became Mayor.

Landmark, in which we visit the Eerie Woods

Eventide by froodle, in which the sun goes down, and Eerie's lost children gather

The Storm, in which MAyor Chisel has a very specific job for Eerie's resident weatherman

LTI, in which the Eerie Dairy has some bad news

Populace, in which we see just another regular day in Eerie

Whistle by froodle, in which Steve Konkalewski is unhappy about the way things turned out...

Dentin, in which Steve tries to get a message to the other side

Communication Difficulties, in which Steve finally makes contact, and is disappointed

Playground, in which Simon and Harley should maybe go to a different park

Advisor, in which Harley talks to a bird, and then to a ghost

Marys by froodle, in which Mary C. Carter takes on her new role

Milk by froodle, in which Marshall develops a completely cromulent fear of milk trucks

A Story About Devon Wilde by froodle. Devon Wilde walked through the Eerie Cemetery, and his feet made no sound on the gravel pathways.

Already Decided, in which Melanie has her own encounter in the cemetery.

The Listener, in which Devon has some things to share with Melanie

Disguises by froodle, in which Marshall goes to visit Devon Wilde

Three by froodle, in which Marshall and Devon discuss video games

The Arcade, in which Marshall just wanted to play some video games

A Different Approach, in which Marshall changes tack regarding Eerie

Heartless, in which Devon isn't the only one to leave a piece of himself behind

Lillian by froodle, in which Marilyn's mother has concerns

Cygnet, in which Lillian and Harley go to the lake

Similar Interests, in which Tod has a couple of strange encounters at the World o' Stuff

Dessert, in which Tod eats ice-cream

Hobbies, in which Bert and Ernie make up for lost time

Hereditary, in which the Bob brothers conduct an experiment

Email, in which Marshall is 29, and Eerie is never as far away as you think