In an apocalyptic city charred and hollowed humans were piled up in a heap. The humans only had skin and no flesh on their skeletal figures. There was only one starved human still moving, scouring through the corpse pile looking for anything to consume. He was ripping apart the skin of corpse after corpse only revealing bones. A painful groan came from his mouth.

“Are you sure this is the one?” A strong looking man in a red Hawaiian shirt ask the skinny man in a pale suit.

The pale suit man flipped through his ledger with his bony index finger and paused upon an entry that glowed

“Yes. That is the one.”

“I’ll nab him.” A handsome man in a gold polo grabbed the skeletal man by the neck and lifted him up.

*snap*

The skull and spine dislocated from the body.

“Uhhh….Did I kill him?” The handsome man asked holding the spine while looking at the body and the head on the ground.

The skinny man pinched his eyebrows and sighed deeply. “Victor, how can you kill what is already dead”

“Well, death really isn’t my specialty, I just indirectly send them here.” Victor shrugged and threw away the spine.

“I directly send em here, and I know you can’t kill nothing round here.” The strong man laughed.

“Mars, please. I don’t want to hear it from you, a damned know-it-all.” Victor said while throwing the spine at Mars.

Mars caught the spine in mid-air and simply shrugged. He then conjured a sack out of thin air to shoved head, spine, and body into.

“Mort, any other business in Hell or are we heading back?” Mars said while yawning and slung the sack over his shoulder.

Mort sighed then lifted his cane and slammed it on the ground. All 3 men and a corpse beamed upwards into the sky.

They were now in the middle of a forest. And Mort motioned Mars to let the corpse out of the bag. The corpse on the ground still looked charred and skeletal.

“Christ, he still looks the same up here huh.” Victor crouched and examined the corpse in detail. “He doesn’t even got eyeballs, just sockets.” Victor exclaimed while poking the corpse’s skull.

“It’s his self-perception. Being damned and all for…” Mars explained.

“569 years, 6 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes, and 2 seconds.” Mort filled in by reading the number off his ledger with his reading glasses.

“Will really scramble up the noggin.” Mars continued while doing a circling motion with both his index finger at the sides of his head.

“Well, is he salvageable?” Victor said with one eyebrow raised.

“We’ll find out I reckon!” Mars let out a laugh then looked at Mort.

Mort gave Mars a look and then got out his quill pen. He dipped it in a black ink bottle that floated beside him. Then struck through the entry ‘69443636’.

The corpse reanimated … sort of. And the jaws of the skull started moving and groans could be heard. The body moved around sluggishly. The spine started moving a bit as well.

“This is strange, even by our standards.” Victor scratched his head while observing the dismembered body pieces moving or rather squirming.

Mars simply pieced together the pieces of the man and sat the thing upright.

“Does this thing got a name?” Mars asked Mort.

“69443636.” Mort recited monotonously.

“I ain’t gonna call this thing that.” Mars snorted.

“How about James?” Victor suggested with a smile.

“Works for me.” Mars shrugged. Mars then looked toward James and said to him. “James, my bud, we are gonna be best pals. Nod if you understand.”

James skull simply fell to the ground.

“Good enough.” Mars said while putting his head back on his body.

“Are we going to home school this kid?” Victor asked then chuckling in amusement.

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“No. There are professionals for this job.” Mort said while Googling something on his smart-phone. “Ah, found a good place. Your IDs up-to date?”

Mars shrugged, and Victor nodded with a slightly grimace.

“Good.” Death smiled eerily at Victor. “Best be going then.” Death then summoned a pale dirt bike.

Mars shoved James back in the bag and conjured a red dirt bike.

“Must you guys be so unoriginal with your colours all the time?” Victor said while conjuring a white dirt bike.

“The sack ain’t red.” Mars replied then drove after Mort who already left.

“This is going to be a loooooong journey.” Victor sighed as he rode after the three.

***

They arrived at Sunny Rain Kindergarten inside a black luxury vehicle. Mars and Victor exited the vehicle with a shrunken James wearing misfitting clothes who was at the same height as a typical 4-5 year old. The body anatomy still was the same as adult but just shrunk down to that height.

“Are you sure this will work?” Victor asked with great skepticism.

“The human mind will fill in the most logical answer.” Mort replied while still seated in the vehicle with the window rolled down. While leisurely reading the news on his ink tablet and drinking coffee.

“The logical answer looks like a mummified miniature corpse with a rapping career started walking.” Victor said while palming his face.

“That’s cuz you see the real thing, a mortal will see a small kid, trust me” Mars said with a smile and held both Victor and James hand firmly. Dragging them inside.

“We called over the phone ma’am, we are the Lee family. This is lil’James” Mars said while pushing James forward slowly to make sure James doesn’t tumble over.

“Wow what a handsome little boy you guys have there.” Ms. Susan said with glee. And patted James head. “I know its impossible, but he really resembles you Mr. Victor.”

Mars desperately suppressed a chuckle and had to turn his face away. But it couldn’t hide his face from going red.

Victor simply looked into the hollow figure of James and showed a crooked smile.

“Thanks for the complement Ms. Susan, you’re too much.”

“Nonsense! I’m sure James is happy to have two handsome and loving fathers.” Ms. Susan smiled brilliantly.

Victor then looked at the stout and sturdy Mars and showed a pained expression and barely holding together a crying smile.

“Yes thank you Ms. Susan, we’ll leave James in your capable hands.” Victor strained out.

“Thanks miss Take care now lil’James” Mars patted the shoulder of James before heading back out.

Mars and Victor tried to enter the car but found it locked. Mort walked out casually with his cane.

“Where are you boys trying to go?”

“I dunno kill some time before picking up lil’Jamie boy?” Mars shrugged

“Anywhere that serves hard alcohol at this hour.” Victor said flatly.

Mort simply put his hands on both Victor and Mars shoulders and all three of them appeared inside the kindergarten watching lil’James. No one in the room noticed the presence of the three. Ms. Susan and her assistant Ms. Holly were helping the kids draw animals with their crayon.

The room had colourful puzzle flooring made of foam along with tables and chairs. There was a large bookshelf that was of child accessible height at the back of the room filled with children books along with three large toy boxes with a variety of toys. The windows had cute animal decorations on them. There was a large white board in the front of the room with colourful animals drawn by Ms. Susan, who obviously had a talent for art.

Ms. Susan sat James down and gave him a small set of crayons as well as a large piece of paper.

“James, feel free to draw whatever you like! The assignment is animals, but since your new here I’ll give you special privilege to draw whatever you want.” Ms. Susan than told James desk-mates to take care of James as she went around with Ms. Holly to help the other kids.

“-ello James.” Anna who sat directly next to James said to him.

“Errrnnnn” James grunted.

Anna looked at James in confusion and concern for he was very strange to her.

James didn’t notice Anna’s presence and started eating his crayon and drooling out his mouth.

James desk-mates all had a bad premonition about him and moved themselves as far away from him.

Donny who shared the table quickly called out.

“MS.SUSAN JAMES IS EATING CRAAYONS!”

Ms. Susan quickly ran to James and took the crayons out of his mouth.

“James! Crayons aren’t for eating they are for drawing.”

Ms. Susan then took away the crayon James was eating and put another crayon in his hand. This time Ms. Susan guided James to draw with her.

“Eerrr-aaahhh” James grunted and attempted to eat the crayon again.

“No James, you can’t eat this crayon, you have to draw with it.” Ms. Susan said patiently but firmly while keeping the crayon out of James’ mouth.

Both Mars and Victor were face-palming at the sight.

“Are you sure Mort, that this is going to work? I mean I made kings of beggars, but this is trying to make a god out of an ant.” Victor said hopelessly.

“We are already making great progress. Observing the grunts, its now two syllable. By the end of the day perhaps he’ll reach three.” Mort commented at the scene with indifference.

Victor the signed and pleaded with Mars. “Mars, you’re the smart one, how long do you think this is going to take before James is well…” Victor the used his fingers to air quote the word “’independent’”.

“Not sure. It ain’t everyday you see souls yanked outta hell then rehab’d topside. I sure haven’t seen any. How long you reckon Mort?”

“Hmmm. Could be a year, a decade, a century, or a millennium. Difficult to spectate this prematurely.” Mort looked at James with his head slightly tilted.

“Oh no no no. Mort don’t tell me we are going to be stuck babysitting for years. I have important projects that are ongoing.” Victor pleaded.

“Then pause them.” Mort said without sympathy.

“Look here Vicky, I paused my lil’projects in the middle easts to be here as well. Besides I think it could be fun watching lil’ol Jamie grow up.” Mars said with a defeated smile.

“Easy for you to say, some of your major project had already taken off.” Victor muttered.

James meanwhile couldn’t really get the hang of drawing. Despite Ms. Susan’s best efforts James simply looked at his crayon and kept drooling.

Ms. Susan gave Ms. Holly a look and Ms. Holly took James to the back of the room to play with toys.

“Good thing ya told Susie that Jamie was not the brightest bulb eh big M?”

Mort looked at Ms. Holly and sees that she is doing a good job with James and states “It appears James will be adequately cared for here at the moment.”

Victor looked at Mort with shiny eyes smelling freedom.

“Do not go too far. You two still have to pick up him later.” Mort said and then disappeared.