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Mario laughed, almost tripping over as he tagged another boy, and ran in the opposite direction. Luigi sat in the shadows, counting the daisies in the grass - ’Five, six, seven, eight…’. It was their first week at their new school and his twin was thriving, making friends with whoever he talked to, whilst Luigi could barely hold a sentence with anyone. Now they were in first grade, they weren’t in the same class anymore, and despite his and Mama’s visits to ‘help him adjust to the new environment’, it was too much. Everything was bright and loud and he felt claustrophobic surrounded by so many people. Luigi wasn’t confident. He was too awkward, he never knew what to say, and when he did say something, he was labelled the ‘weird’ kid, who was ‘scared of everything’. Not that he cared. Despite what his parents believed, he liked his own company and doing things on his own. ’Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…’ Luigi liked daisies. They were weeds, undesirable and useless to society, and yet, they were so small… Daisies were delicate, easy to pull out of the ground and destroy ; they were precious — to him, at least.
Children ran around the park, laughing and screaming and crying. One child had grazed their knee playing tag, whilst another was bleeding from a fall on the concrete, and their friends swarmed around them like flies picking at dead meat. All the swings were taken, some boys were breaking the rules by running up the slide, and two girls were sitting on the top of the climbing frame. Luigi heard his Mama’s gentle nudge encouraging him to go play, but he was happy sitting on the sidelines. As long as Mario was okay, Luigi was, too, and besides, he wasn’t alone, alone ; his shadow was looking out for him. Gigi was good at playing hide and seek, but was always by his side when he needed him the most — like Mario, but forever — not that Mario was going to leave him! Just… Gigi was a part of him, and Mario was his own person with his own life and deserved to have his own friends, who didn’t make fun of him for his weirdo little brother. It wasn’t fair to force Mario to spend all his time with him. His Papa was right - he couldn’t depend on his brother forever - so Luigi waited in the shadows for their break time to end. ’Twenty one, twenty two…’
A chill washed over him. Huh. Instantly, his fingers became too cold, like they’d been drowned in ice, and his teeth chattered. Luigi heard a ‘whoosh’ sound, like a cool autumn breeze without the breeze (he couldn’t feel any wind), and he adjusted his hat on his head. The ‘whoosh’ sound continued, beaconing him to follow it, until the need to go investigate became too unbearable to resist. Standing up, Luigi wandered out of his teacher’s view and headed behind the main school building. The ‘whooshing’ wanted him to escape through the metal flesh, but the gap was too thin for even Luigi to slip through.
’Play! Play! Play!’ What sounded like a child’s voice beaconed in the whistling whooshes. ’Play with me!’
“But I can’t see you.” Luigi told the voice. “Where are you?”
The hairs on his arms raised, standing to attention, as another chill flooded the insides of his body. ’Climb! Climb! Climb!’ The voice chanted. ’Climb! Climb! Climb!’
“Climb? You want me to climb the fence?” He asked.
A breeze ruffled Luigi’s hair. ’Yes! Then, we can play!’
“It’s too high.” Luigi explained. “I-I can’t get over.”
’I can help!’ The voice replied. ’You’ll see!’
Biting his lip, Luigi looked over his shoulder to check if anyone could see him, and pulled his sleeves up and down. “Are-are you-you sure?” Luigi asked the voice. “W-w-will you catch me if I fall?”
’You won’t fall!’ The voice exclaimed.
Luigi gulped. “Promettere?”
’Promise!’
He wouldn’t be gone for long. If Mario hadn’t noticed he had wandered off, he would be too busy to realise Luigi had disappeared, and Luigi would make sure to be back before he started to worry. Was it a crime to go on an adventure? His Mama wanted him to make friends and that was what Luigi was doing. The breeze had been nothing but nice to him and a promise was a promise - they had to keep him safe!
“Okay - l-let’s-a-g-go.” Luigi told his new friend. Reluctantly, he walked closer towards the fence and clasped the metal flesh with his hands. The moment his feet touched the flesh, the cold returned, causing Luigi to feel lightheaded. He imagined he was dancing on clouds, his body feeling like a puppet and the cold its master, and climbed. It had to be his new friend - they were helping him climb by using him as a host!
If it was any other time, Luigi would’ve felt scared at the top. One look down would’ve filled his bones with dread and he would’ve never been able to swing his legs over to climb down the other side, and yet, he did it with ease, his body on autopilot thanks to his new friend, and landed in a pile of scrunched leaves.
“We did it!” Luigi exclaimed.
’I told you you could!’ The voice replied. ’Now go through those trees, so nobody sees us!’
“Okay!” Luigi smiled and ran into the cover of the forest.
’Close your eyes!’ The voice instructed. ’Now open them!’ Hovering in front of Luigi was a white spherical spirit with stubby arms and a wide grin.
“You’re a ghost!” Luigi gasped.
The spirit laughed. “No silly - I’m a Boo!”
“A Boo?” Luigi frowned - he’d never heard of a ‘Boo’ before. “Why haven’t I seen you before?” He asked the Boo.
“I came through a pipe.” They explained. “I’ll show you where it is and then I can give you a tour of Boo Woods!”
He wouldn’t be too long, just one look, and he’d go back through the pipe and rejoin the kids in the playground. Luigi smiled. “Okay! Lead the way, Boo!”
The new friends found the large green pipe hidden behind long swishing vines. Journeying further than he’d gone before, the walk was longer than Luigi expected, but they played ‘I can see’ to pass the time. It was passing through the pipe that was the worse. Luigi screamed, hands glued to his ears, as he tumbled and spiralled through a harsh, strong wind. When he was thrown out the portal, he forward rolled into a pile of dark twigs and groaned, rubbing his throbbing head, and blinked away his tears.
“We’re here!” Boo cheered, swirling in the ear above his head.
“That was tremendo!” Luigi exclaimed. “How can you do that without feeling come gelatina in lavatrice?”
Boo laughed. “What was that? You spoke funny, human!”
“It’s Italian.” Luigi told him. “My name’s Luigi.”
“Itaaaaliaaan?” Boo repeated. “You humans are silly, sometimes. Welcome to Boo Woods, Luigi!”
Luigi stood up, gasping at the darkened trees that surrounded them and the large, stone building on the horizon. “Che cosa? What’s that?” He asked the Boo as he pointed at the building.
“That’s King Boo’s Mansion.” Boo replied. “He also has a Mansion in the Forever Forest and takes time to visit other boo settlements scattered across the land, but the Boo Woods is our capital. It’s where we regroup for celebrations and schemes.” They explained. “Humans aren’t common in these parts. I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”
A King would want to meet him? A simple human boy? “I’d love to meet him, too!” Luigi exclaimed. Oh, this was going to be fun - he loved tales of Princes and Princesses and now he was going to meet a real King! And a Ghost King, too!
“Race you to the Mansion!” Boo cheered.
Luigi grinned - they were so on!
…
Luigi had never felt so at ease in a crowded space. When they reached the gates to the King’s Mansion, they were flooded with white faces, but not even as they nudged him along the rows of graves did Luigi feel panic creeping through his bones. At first, the ghostly touch of Boos felt weird and ticklish, but it was also gave his skin a soft, and not too cold, comforting sensation that lingered deep inside of him. Once his Boo explained to others now they met, the others were so excited and asked him lots of questions as they brought him to their King.
After climbing a spiral staircase, Luigi was lead into a spacious throne room. Standing in front of each door were ghosts unlike boos, holding long spears and each consumed by a blue glow, while a large boo with a golden crown hovered over the giant-sized throne. That had to be their King.
“A gift? For me?” The King gasped. “You found me a human!”
“Yes, my King!” His Boo grinned. “This is Luigi and he is from another world!”
“Luigi? A name like that won’t do!” King Boo cackled, circling him. “I shall name you… Prince Booigi Poltergeist!”
“A Prince?” Luigi gasped. “I-I’m not sure you-you understand, Sir. I’m not a Prince. I-I-I-I’m ju-just a-a boy from Brooklyn.”
“Oh child, that was before. There is no Brooklyn here. From now on, you shall stay here in our Boo Kingdom, waited on by my goobs and raised as my apprentice, the future face of our society ; the Prince of Boos…”