Page 41 of Jacob Michaels is Not Crazy

“What?”

“Put your damn finger down, Robbie!” She commanded.

Slowly, I lowered my hand. Had that green light come from…me? The same color of green light that had awoken me two nights in a row? Or had I been dreaming? I wasn’t so sure of anything.

“You don’t treat the Kobolds like that, damnit!”

“Kobolds?” I leaned in angrily. “Ernst isn’t the only critter in this damn house?”

“He’s not a critter, and no, there’s a few others.”

“How many?” I demanded.

Oma chewed at her lip.

“How many, damnit?”

“Well, there’s Ernst, Hans, Oskar, Felix, and Lena.” She counted off on her fingers. “So, five, I guess.”

“There are five of those things wandering around here?” I jabbed my finger at the bathroom.

“Put your damn finger down, Robbie!” Oma screeched again.

I put my finger down but I glared at her.

“You’re crazy.” I admonished her. “And you’ve been trying to make me feel like I’m the crazy one.”

“I’m not crazy!”

“You’ve got miniature people…things…Kobolds…living in your house, creeping around, curling up to sleep with me, doing laundry, making beds, scrubbing floors…”

“Oh.” Oma blushed. “Figure that out did ya’?”

“I always wondered how some crazy old woman kept this house so damn sparkling clean. I guess Ernst gave me the answer!”

“I suppose…”

“Is that what they all look like?”

“Sometimes.” She admitted hesitantly. “They can look like other things sometimes.”

“Pranksters?” I barked at her. “Was it one of those things I pulled out of the lake last night?”

Oma chewed at her lip.

“Well?!”

“Well, I don’t know!” She bellowed back, though the blush deepened in her cheeks. “I mean, it’s possible.”

“Possible—or probable?”

She was chewing at her damn lip again.

“Great, Oma.” I lost all of my fight and deflated. “One of your little household Gremlins nearly caused me to die of hypothermia and tra-la-la must be a Tuesday, right?”

“That’s not—”

“You keep those things out of my goddamn room while I’m here,” I demanded. “Which won’t be much damn longer! I’m sick of this shit, old woman!”