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ghostwhisperer[Norman's family decided that after the crazy business that fall, they needed to get away for the winter, take a nice break in the mountains of Colorado to go skiing for the holidays. Norman's not exactly sure how skiing and the holidays go together, but his parents seem excited to spend a few weeks away from Blithe Hollow holed up in some rustic cabin surrounded by snow (or, more accurately some rustic-esque resort hotel surrounded by snow). Courtney mostly seems excited at the prospect of cute boys and a winter fling with her ski instructor or something. Norman would really rather stay in Blithe Hollow with his grandma and Neil for the holidays, but this is a family vacation, so he doesn't really have a choice in the matter.
His parents want to get him away from all ghosts anyhow, even though he's told them a thousand times there are ghosts everywhere and he can see all of them. It's not just Blithe Hollow. But his parents think the cold mountain air will do him some good, so they're off to Aspen, Colorado right after Courtney gets home from school. It's going to be a long drive to Colorado from Massachusetts, especially since his parents are the type who feel like they need to drive practically nonstop to wherever they're going. They might stop about halfway, but otherwise it's driving, driving, and more driving.
Thank God Courtney basically ignores him the whole way for her phone and iPod, leaving Norman to read and sleep (when he can, anyway) in peace. He still has trouble sleeping, but it's been getting better. Sort of. Maybe the cold mountain air really will be good for him.
They arrive in Aspen a few days later, but Norman honestly isn't very good at skiing, so he gets tired of it fairly quickly, instead spending most of his days on the slopes talking to a few of the resident ghosts. His parents keep telling him not to do that, that he'll draw attention to himself if anyone notices him talking to nothing, but he's stopped listening to them about the whole ghost subject a long time ago. People will think he's weird no matter what he does, so what if people think he's schizophrenic? People can think what they want. Anyway, most of the ghosts are just lonely, and they all deserve a little company, which he intends to keep giving it to them.
About a week into the trip, his family decides to take a weekend trip over to the town of South Park for a little break from skiing, much to Courtney's chagrin because she'd had to cancel a lunch date with some boy named Tad Mikowsky, but Norman's pretty sure any sort of shopping will assuage her. Unfortunately, there isn't actually a whole lot of shopping in South Park, so Courtney is mostly annoyed the entire time, but Courtney's woes are hardly of any importance compared to the hundred or so ghosts that reside in the town, all of whom have exactly the same face, give or take a few years in age for some of them. They're all over the place, though they tend to congregate around three other boys in town. They must have been his—their—friends.
But it's still seriously weird, even for Norman, and he can't even begin to explain why they all look the same, unless some sort of cloning was involved. That's way too science fiction, though, and it's not like someone gave birth to centituplets. That's just biologically impossible. He wants to talk to them, but there are so many of them, it's a little overwhelming, so he tries to ignore them and pretend to be normal for once, but he can't keep that up for very long, especially not when he's wandering around town by himself and sees one that isn't green and glowing. Which means he's alive. Which... makes even less sense than there being over a hundred ghosts of him.
He runs frantically over to the kid, nervous already because he's with his friends and Norman's just some random kid from out of town who can see ghosts, and this will probably end horribly, but he has to at least try to make sense of this. He could just talk to one of the ghosts, but there are so many of them, he wouldn't know which one to start with. He taps the kid in the orange parka on the shoulder.]
Um! Hey, sorry, uh... I'm... kinda lost, can you help me?
[He looks slightly terrified and rubs at the back of his neck. The chubby kid in the red jacket gives him a weird look like a stranger has never come up to them like this before. Or at least, has never interrupted him before.]
Who the fuck are you?
[Norman doesn't like this kid, not at all. He's getting a really bad vibe from him, so all he can do is stammer incoherently. This really was a bad idea.]
Oh, great, another retard.
His parents want to get him away from all ghosts anyhow, even though he's told them a thousand times there are ghosts everywhere and he can see all of them. It's not just Blithe Hollow. But his parents think the cold mountain air will do him some good, so they're off to Aspen, Colorado right after Courtney gets home from school. It's going to be a long drive to Colorado from Massachusetts, especially since his parents are the type who feel like they need to drive practically nonstop to wherever they're going. They might stop about halfway, but otherwise it's driving, driving, and more driving.
Thank God Courtney basically ignores him the whole way for her phone and iPod, leaving Norman to read and sleep (when he can, anyway) in peace. He still has trouble sleeping, but it's been getting better. Sort of. Maybe the cold mountain air really will be good for him.
They arrive in Aspen a few days later, but Norman honestly isn't very good at skiing, so he gets tired of it fairly quickly, instead spending most of his days on the slopes talking to a few of the resident ghosts. His parents keep telling him not to do that, that he'll draw attention to himself if anyone notices him talking to nothing, but he's stopped listening to them about the whole ghost subject a long time ago. People will think he's weird no matter what he does, so what if people think he's schizophrenic? People can think what they want. Anyway, most of the ghosts are just lonely, and they all deserve a little company, which he intends to keep giving it to them.
About a week into the trip, his family decides to take a weekend trip over to the town of South Park for a little break from skiing, much to Courtney's chagrin because she'd had to cancel a lunch date with some boy named Tad Mikowsky, but Norman's pretty sure any sort of shopping will assuage her. Unfortunately, there isn't actually a whole lot of shopping in South Park, so Courtney is mostly annoyed the entire time, but Courtney's woes are hardly of any importance compared to the hundred or so ghosts that reside in the town, all of whom have exactly the same face, give or take a few years in age for some of them. They're all over the place, though they tend to congregate around three other boys in town. They must have been his—their—friends.
But it's still seriously weird, even for Norman, and he can't even begin to explain why they all look the same, unless some sort of cloning was involved. That's way too science fiction, though, and it's not like someone gave birth to centituplets. That's just biologically impossible. He wants to talk to them, but there are so many of them, it's a little overwhelming, so he tries to ignore them and pretend to be normal for once, but he can't keep that up for very long, especially not when he's wandering around town by himself and sees one that isn't green and glowing. Which means he's alive. Which... makes even less sense than there being over a hundred ghosts of him.
He runs frantically over to the kid, nervous already because he's with his friends and Norman's just some random kid from out of town who can see ghosts, and this will probably end horribly, but he has to at least try to make sense of this. He could just talk to one of the ghosts, but there are so many of them, he wouldn't know which one to start with. He taps the kid in the orange parka on the shoulder.]
Um! Hey, sorry, uh... I'm... kinda lost, can you help me?
[He looks slightly terrified and rubs at the back of his neck. The chubby kid in the red jacket gives him a weird look like a stranger has never come up to them like this before. Or at least, has never interrupted him before.]
Who the fuck are you?
[Norman doesn't like this kid, not at all. He's getting a really bad vibe from him, so all he can do is stammer incoherently. This really was a bad idea.]
Oh, great, another retard.
