Ghosts We Carry Home.

On the seventh day, everything changed. The field was hidden between the trees. It was like a secret place that no one could see. But all of the sudden, there were people walking on my grass. Of course, none of them looked at me, I was invisible to them. But then a tall boy with dark hair looked at me, it wasn’t even looking, more like staring. I stood up and walked towards him. He kept looking at me while he was talking to one of his friends. His eyes were brown and deep. You could easily lose yourself in them.
“You can see me,” I said. “Tell me you can see me.”
The boy stopped talking and stared at me for a few seconds. He wasn’t really a boy, more like a young man.

“Of course I can see you,” he said with one of his eyebrows pulled up. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Jack, who are you talking to?”

The other young man looked at Jack like he was crazy.
“Sorry, Alex, you know I space out a lot.”

“You don’t space out a lot,” Alex said. “I do.”

“Same story, different version.”

Jack opened his mouth, but closed it again.
“How many people are standing here?” he asked
.
“Just you and me.”

“No young girl with brown hair and green eyes?”

“Nope, just you and me,” Alex said. “Are you okay?”

“He can’t see me,” I explained to Jack. “For some strange reason, only you can.”

“You guys are fooling me, right?” Jack laughed.

“Dude, seriously, what’s going on?”Alex looked worried at Jack. “Are you having a fever or something?”

“I’m fine,” Jack snapped at Alex. “Really. Just ehm, leave me alone.”

I thought I heard him say ‘both of you’, but I wasn’t sure. Jack walked away and left Alex who looked like he considered that he probably should be running after Jack. I waved my hand at Alex and snapped my fingers just for his eyes. He didn’t respond at all. I turned around and saw Jack disappearing between the trees. I sighed and ran after him. He was the only one who could see me, I couldn’t just let him walk away.
“Hey, wait,” I yelled when he didn’t stop walking and was getting further in the forest. “You’ll get lost.”
Jack stopped and turned around to face me.
“What are you? An illusion? Am I losing my mind?”

“I’m a ghost,” I said. “I died a -”

“A ghost?” Jack interrupted me.

“You have to believe me.”

“I don’t have to do anything. Damn it, I’m losing my mind. Fuck.”

“You’re not losing your mind. You’re not the only one who can see ghosts, I’ve heard many stories about people who talk to ghosts.”

“Then you should go to them, not me. I can’t help you.”

“I’m not asking for help.”

“You should leave, if you don’t want help.”

“I can’t. I just can’t. I’ve been wandering around for seven days, not knowing why I’m still here. And now I met someone that can see me.”

“Yes, and?”

“I don’t know, it’s strange.”

“Look, I don’t know what you think you are. You’re not a ghost, ghosts don’t exist. You’re just an illusion,” Jack said.

“I’m not! Have you ever had illusions before?”
“No, but I haven’t seen ghosts either.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” I said.

“Indeed, a first time for seeing things that aren’t there. Fuck, I’ll have to see a shrink, this is going to be awkward.”

“Look, you can check it. My name is Melanie Pearson, I’m sure if you’ll google me, you’ll find something about my death.”

“This is madness,” Jack said while taking his mobile phone out of his pocket.
“I died in a car accident, seven days ago. Someone drove through a red light.”
It took Jack a few seconds to google me. He put his phone away and didn’t say a thing for a few minutes.
“This still doesn’t prove anything. I can’t see ghosts, there’s no way.”

“But you can see me. I am here. I am real.”

“But how do I know for sure that you are?”

“You just read about it, you know I’m real because the evidence is in your pocket,”
I sighed. Jack shook his head and started walking back to the field. I followed him.
“That other guy couldn’t see me,” I said.
“You mean Alex?” Jack wondered.
“Yes, him. He couldn’t see me. You have to believe me, Jack.”
He shivered when I said his name, but said nothing.

“Where have you been?” Alex asked when we reached the little meadow again.
“Ehm, I went for a walk,” Jack said. “I needed to think about some things.”
Alex nodded and walked towards Jack. He walked through me and I heard Jack gasping for air.
“I believe you,” I heard him say. Alex looked at Jack and there was a certain expression on his face I didn’t recognize. I didn’t recognize everything anymore. It was like I didn’t remember everything I had seen in my life. I didn’t know what my favorite color was, I couldn’t tell what music I liked. I had forgotten almost everything that wasn’t too important in a human’s life.