The Gift

Seems like Old Man Geechi couldn’t finish his ship without his brother, huh?
Might be a lil hitch in Paul’s get-along, wouldn’t you say?
Well, Paul ain't your run of the mill kid, so naturally, he offered to help Old Man Geechi build his ship in exchange for a ride across that scary Howl. With a smile wide as the day, the old hulk stood up to his fully bent stature, and hugged the little raggedy boy Paul. Jaquelantern kept watch at the edge of the forest, still sensin that troublesome evil in the Nobody Wood

By and large, the old man and the boy started workin’, and that’s when lil’ Paul first discovered his gift in The Nobody Hole. See, Old Man Geechi was missin parts, cus nobody’s whole, right? But he was hopin those parts were lost somewhere in that big ole pile of wreckage next to his ship. Sure enough Paul would draw up a lil sketch of the part Old Man Geechi described, just so he knew what to look for in that there pile. As Paul drew the part, it began to materialize before them, shiny and brand spankin new. That mighta made em happy as two bullfrogs in the rain. Jaquelantern nodded, cus she knew. But she didn’t budge from her starin match with the shadows. Nope, not one inch

Eventually, they signaled her to come over and help put the ship together. Reluctantly she went, cus an extra pair of hands would help them leave them creepy woods behind once and for all. She lifted things with spells and lit hard to see corners with a flame from her finger tips…Old Man Geechi had a trick up his sleeve too, it seemed…his corn cob pipe grew into a huge hammer…and they built…and they worked…and they sawed…and they hammered…and they cut…