What are men to rocks and mountains

The arrival

Though mornings had always been hectic since Mike and Alison moved in, the ghosts had seemed to finally settle down over the last few weeks, each finding their own demand for Alison, and settling into a certain routine with the poor girl. This morning however, was a little different for a number of reasons. The entire house was bustling with people, all doing various tasks related to readying the once sombre rooms of Button House for the festive season. Christmas was coming up in a few weeks, it being December 1st. Alison and Mike had made the decision to rent out the house to a big cooperation wanting to throw their annual Christmas party there, which, to the great dismay of Julian, had only grown into a bigger and bigger party as the planning went along. And today the organizers came with their higher-up for approval of the venue, so it simply had to be perfect.

"You DO know I died on Christmas Alison? In an office party? Right here in this house? This could be categorized as slander you know. This is-" He droned on, following Alison around various rooms while she made floorplan for the party planner. She blocked him out after the first couple of sentences, from experience she knows that Julian's political speeches could go on for hours, particularly if he didn't agree with something. She groaned inwardly as she tried to count the vases in the living room for the inventory report but kept getting distracted by Julian's incessant talking.

"Julian, can you just deal with it? We're not going to cancel now, it's too late. Plus, we really need the money. Now can you please leave me alone? The organization people get here in..." she frustratedly stops to shove her jumper up her arm and check her watch. "-thirty minutes to approve the venue! And I still need to stage the library." She said as she threw her entire weight into a particularly heavy side-table that sat next to the small couch.

"I need to get this done before the organizer gets here, now Mike!" She called, as she failed to move the table even an inch. Mike poked his head around the corner from where he was fixing a screw on the cupboard door next to the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"I need help with this thing, I can't get it to move." She gestures to the table with frustration. Parties like these are always stressful, but having the ghosts on your back was just another layer on the big festive cake that Alison was a bit too tired to handle today. She left Julian to sulk in his own self-pity while she helped Mike move the furniture in the library around. She thanked the Lord that Lady Button was not around, because she was certain she'd get an earful over her precious couches being rearranged. She did spot Kitty and Robin walking by a couple of times, but she's pretty sure Kitty had just tricked Robin into playing Hide and Seek again. When they'd finished, she left Mike to his fight with the cupboard and went to find the ghosts of the house once again. It was nearing one 'o clock on a Wednesday, so most of them were probably doing one of Pat's group activities in the sitting room.

As she approached the library, she could indeed hear the all too familiar voices of her... friends.

"That's a very nice answer Mary! I do indeed miss surviving in the wilderness and making my own food. Though I'm not sure I'd go for Tulip Bulbs for dinner. Maybe in a pinch... Anyways, who else would like to share something they miss doing while they were alive?" She could hear Pat's ever enthusiastic voice lead the group. She peeked around the corner, where she saw Pat, Thomas, Lady B, Mary, the Captain, Robin, and Kitty sitting on the sofa's strewn around the room. Seems like the latter two had seized their game of hide and seek early. Her train of thought was derailed by Kitty excitedly exclaiming she missed petting her horses, and Lady B adding on that she very much missed her daughters' trifle. She was caught off guard when Pat once again piped up. "And what about you Cap? Miss anything?"

There was silence for a moment, The Captain almost seemed to freeze for a moment before getting hold of himself again and searching for an acceptable answer. He let out a low hum as he straightened up. "I suppose I rather miss the feeling of a hot shower after a long day." Hums of agreement swept along the room, every ghost who had had access plumbing or a hot bath seeming to agree that there were very few things on earth as comforting as the feeling of warm water on your skin. She startled when she once again heard Julian's loud voice pipe up behind her. "Ha! Scared ya! Got a bad conscience have you?" He teased, walking past her into the sitting room to take a seat next to Thomas. He then turned to Robin with a shit-eating grin.

"You see that Mr. Flintstone? I'm coming for your gig." He said pointing his finger at the confused caveman.

"What is flint stone?" He asked nobody in particular, while Thomas found that exact moment to ask Alison how her morning had been. She smiled softly, trying to keep it together.

"Good! Planning important parties and stuff." She turned her attention to the rest of the group.

"So listen, that's actually the reason I came down here. I know you're all... busy at the moment, but I've got very important company that is arriving any minute now, so I'm asking all of you to please don't distract me. I really can't have anything go wrong today." She looked around the room, piercing eyes and a stern look on her face. When none of the ghosts objected, she nodded shortly and confidently, proud that her little speech of good faith had seemed to work for now.

"Good. Thank you. Now-" She was interrupted by a firm yet gentle knock on the door. One, two, three times in rapid succession. She took a breath and let herself calm down. "Here we go... Would be nice if nothing went wrong for once." She mumbled to herself as she left the ghosts in the sitting room and made her way over to the front door. There was a moment of silence among the ghosts, where they watched her walk out of the room before Thomas spoke.

"So... Thirty minutes till we check it out?" To a round of nods and happy agreements.

Meanwhile Alison had opened the door and was staring into the face of a young man, with a very confused look on his face. Wearing a soldier's uniform... from World War Two.

A stunned silence passed between the two of them, both of them obviously not expecting the other one on the other side of the door before they both managed to bring out the same exact words.

"Who are you? "

"-Who are you? "