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Elsie 1/1
by Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
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2235- St. Petersburg, Russian Consortium

    Ganya Ivanov looked up from his homework to gaze out the window at his
ten year old sister, Susan, who was playing in the yard. By all means, she
looked adorable out there, in her neatly pressed skirt and pigtails, and the
teenager felt a stab of pride shoot threw him. At fifteen, he should have
been out, having fun with his friends, dating any number of the pretty young
girls that winked at him in the hallway, and generally relishing the lazy
days of youth. But the death of his mother less than nine months ago had
forced him to grow up. His father had shut his two children out, in fact
some days it seemed as if he wasn't aware of their existence at all. It made
Ganya want to do something crazy, anything to make his father crawl out of
the vodka bottle and take a look at the world. But no, there was nothing he
could do but take care of Susan. Instead of going to sports games, he was
doing the laundry and making sure there was food on the table for Susan. He
could have handled all that if it would have ensured that his little sister
could have grown up happily, but he was becoming increasingly worried about
her. In the first few months after their mother's death, Susan had been
withdrawn, refusing any companionship at all, preferring to sit in her room
and stare into space. Ganya had been afraid he would lose her as well. But
now Susan had a new playmate. Normally, Ganya would have been over-joyed, but
this new friend of Susan's.... wasn't there.

One day, Susan had come home from school, reporting to Ganya that she'd made
a new friend. When questioned as to who it was, Susan had informed him that
the little girl's name was Elsie, and that she'd come home with Susan. Ganya
had looked around, but couldn't find the girl. His little sister had then
said that Elsie was standing right next to her. Then Ganya had put the
pieces together: Elsie was imaginary. At first he'd thought it cute to let
Susan exercise her imagination until she bonded with some of the girls at
school. But two months passed, and that didn't happen. Something else,
however, did. Susan set up a bundle of blankets at the foot of her bed for
Elsie to sleep on, she never ate all of her dinner so Elsie could have the
leftovers, and she began to talk to the teachers about her 'invisible
friend'. Now Ganya had worried school teachers on his hands, as well as a
half drunk father and a sister that talked to invisible people. But this
latest development worried him most. At dinner last night, Susan had out of
the blue asked him if he knew why Elsie was staying with them. When he
responded a negative, she'd said; "Elsie's mama is dead too, just like
mine." Frankly, it broke Ganya's heart.

Now he looked out the window, watching Susan as she sat on the ground, using
a tree stump for a table so she and Elsie could have tea, and carrying on a
very animated conversation with the invisible girl. Shaking his head, Ganya
decided to talk to Susan about it at dinner.

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    "Susan, I need to talk to you about Elsie," Ganya addressed her at
dinner.
"Yes?" Susan said absently as she spilt the contents of her food into
portions in order to ensure Elsie got a fair share.
"I don't think you should be talking about her so much," he counseled, "why
don't you go make other friends, Marianne down the street is having a party
tomorrow, why don't you go?"
"I can't, Elsie and I are having a picnic, I promised her," Susan said
apologetically, "Right Elsie?"
"For Heaven's sake, Suzotchka!" Ganya exploded, loosing his patience, "Stop
talking to invisible people!"
"Hush, Ganya," Susan said, sounding a little TOO much like their mother.
Tear pooled in her eyes, "You're upsetting Elsie. And she's not invisible,
you just can't see her!" The little girl hopped down from her chair and
pushing it in. Coming over to her brother, she gave him a hug, "I promise
not to talk about her at school, okay?"
"All right," Ganya conceded, smiling a bit. After all, Susan would
eventually outgrow Elsie, wouldn't she?

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Babylon 5- 2261

    Commander Susan Ivanova hurried down the hall leading to her quarters
like a panther released from the zoo. She was hoping to avoid Marcus, who
had been pestering her all week. All he wanted was for her to join him for
lunch, and she admitted that she was just being stubborn, but frankly, the
man was annoying. She really did enjoy his company, though she'd walk though
hot coals before admitting it, but that was beside the point, wasn't it?
She'd almost made it home scot-free, when a very familiar voice called out:
"Susan! Wait!" Turning around, her face displayed her very obvious
annoyance, but that didn't seem to deter Marcus in the least. He'd obviously
run to catch up with her, for he was breathing hard, but his eyes shone with
a bright, intense green.
<Since when did you start noticing the exact shade of his eyes, eh Susan?> a
little voice asked.
"Marcus, what can I do for you?" Susan asked.
"Do me the honor of accompanying me for lunch tomorrow," he smiled that
irresistible smile, and Susan felt something inside of her turn to jelly. It
hit her all at once- there was just the slightest possibility that she might love him, 
in time. Everything about him was like a magnet, attracting her to him no matter 
how hard she tried to get away. But her retreat mechanism was ready for just 
such an occasion, reminding her of all the times she'd been hurt, and the brakes 
slammed on, slaying all her lovely thoughts. 
"I'm sorry, Marcus, I can't," she said, not even bothering to make up an
excuse. With that she turned, and all but ran towards her quarters, leaving
a bewildered Marcus in her wake.

Once safely inside her quarters, she put on some coffee and leaned against
the counter, trying to regain her bearings. The dark perfume of the coffee
served to soothe her, but her mind was still reeling from her little
discovery. Looking about the 'empty' room, Susan gave sigh of despair.
"Oh, Elsie, NOW what am I going to do?" she asked. Pausing for a moment, an
absolute silence fell over the room, and an impossible breeze passed though.
If you listened REALLY hard, you too would have heard the whisper that
answered;
"I can not help you in matters such as these, old friend."
"Oh, well that helps a lot," Susan replied sarcastically. The only answer
was the echo of childish laughter.