Before opening Felt Presence, the skeleton finished the pumpkin’s upstairs.

It was a wooden box with a felt rug on top and three little steps up the side.

The pumpkin considered the steps.

“Could you carry me?”

“Certainly.”

The skeleton lifted him with both hands and settled him gently onto the rug.

Upstairs, he could see over the ribbon basket.

The skeleton brought him a thimble of tea.

“Anything else?”

The pumpkin looked down at his new staircase.

“A visitor.”

The skeleton climbed all three steps.

“Lovely place,” it said, slightly out of breath for someone without lungs.