Darling Girl's Memorial Day Fireworks — Stephen Donald Huff

Black eyeliner. Black lashes. Black lips. Black hair. Through it all, peers the white-cake face of Darling Girl Jones, orphan.From time to time, she awakens in her academy dorm room to find an ethereal spirit haunting her bed. Never disturbing, always intriguing, such an event is a certain promise of ghoulish adventure and mortal danger. Most girly-girls might scream.Not Darling Girl. Orphaned young and, so, relegated to the care of starchy Miss Jenkins, head-mistress of her all-girls boarding school, Darling is no stranger to hardship and unquiet spirits.Today, in the company of a hippy ghost and a homeless Vietnam veteran, Darling will play a vital role in the city's Memorial Day ceremony. The stage is set for sundown at the National Cemetery, and the fireworks are sure to be bloody.