A Presence

I roll into my new home's parking spot. I'm very proud of it. It has two bedrooms, I'll just turn the other room into an office or guest room.

I start hauling my things out of the moving truck and into the house. Time to start filling up all the rooms.

It was difficult for me to make this change, but I had to. Too many bad memories in my old place. Too many from him.

It's been about five hours, and I'm finally done! Someone knocks on my door. It must be one of my new
neighbours. They introduce themselves,

“Hi there! My name is Sheryl and this is my wife Gail! We figured we should come over and introduce ourselves!”

Her smile is warm and welcoming. They're both about forty years old and friendly looking.

“Hi, my name's Jenna. I'm from the other side of town.” I say while giving them a smile.

“Well Jenna, if you have any questions, feel free to stop by! We live right next door! See you!”

I think I'll like living here, everyone is nice, the streets are clean, all the lawns are so well kept.

It's been about three months now. All of a sudden, I've been hearing noises at night. It's nothing big, but it's still there. Just last night I heard the pitter patter of footsteps in my hallways. I also even heard giggling last night, but it kind of sounded as if it might have come from outside. Sometimes, I think there is a presence in my house.

I roll over in my bed. The clock says it's two-thirty in the morning. I sigh. I can never fall asleep when there's a thunderstorm going on. I get up and make my way to the living room. Might as well watch a movie. As I past the guest bedroom, I hear whimpering. I stop.

I don't know if I should open the door. If I do, I finally find out what is going on in my house. But what if I find something I don't exactly like? What if it terrifies me? I don't want to live in my house without knowing what's going on.

I reach for the doorknob and slowly twist it open. It opens quietly and I see what has been causing all this noise.

It looks as if it's young. Very young, maybe six years of age. It's sitting on the bed, curled up and crying. I slowly approach it and say softly,

“Hey there little fella, who are you?” I'm about to touch it, when his head pops up.

He's a little boy, a crying little boy. Something about his appearance is wrong though. As if he were too light, somewhat translucent.

“W-what?, he says quietly, Miss... I'm scared. Thunderstorms scare me!” He continues crying. I reach out to touch him, but I'm met with air.

“You're a ghost!” I shout.

“I know!” He's now sobbing.

My heart breaks a little, so young yet he's dead. He probably never even learned to ride a bike.

“Well, shouldn't you be elsewhere?” I ask softly.

“I can't find my mommy, and I DON'T WANNA BE DEAD! I DIDN'T WANNA DIE! I JUST WANTED TO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I... if I... It doesn't matter anymore... I just want my mommy and daddy. They're gone, they went to the light. I don't wanna go though... I'm scared.”

I stare at him in astonishment. Such a young kid shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing.

“What's your name sweetie?” I ask soothingly.

“It's Theodore, but you can call me Theo.” He hiccups. I smile, at least he's calmed down.

“Theo, I want you to listen to me. You're dead. It's done, there's no going back. You have to accept that. If you can't accept it, you can't move on. You won't be able to see your mom and dad. Now Theo, what would you rather do? Stay here sad and alone, or move on?”

“I'll... I'll move on. I'm... I'm dead.” He says seriously.

All of a sudden, a light blinded me for a few moments, and he was gone. The thunderstorm ended. I just sat there.

I should use my own advice. I need to move on from my past relationship. Life's too short.

Exhausted, I go back to bed.

At eight in the morning, I hear knocking on my door. It's a guy about my age, he looks worried. I open the door,

“Hi, name's Nathan. You okay? I heard shouting, sounded like you were arguing. I didn't want to call the police in case it was just a movie or something...”

“Yeah... yeah everything's fine, it was just a movie. Sorry, I guess I never thought you could hear it. So, you're my next door neighbour? Why haven't I seen you around?”

“Out of town funeral. My aunt and uncle. Poor them, they lost their son, then they died in a car crash.”

“I see. Are you okay?”

“Yeah... Hey, since I woke you up, how about I get you breakfast? Such a pretty lady deserves breakfast with such a handsome guy!” He winks and gives me a cheeky smile.

I grin and nod. I invite him in.