Just to Hold You Close and Tight

Ray left when my mom called me down to dinner, even though I invited him to stay. He said he didn’t want to intrude on a ‘family thing.’ I barely refrained from telling him I didn’t care. Instead I told him to come back when I was done.

“How was school?” my mom asked, setting a bowl of spaghetti on the table. Why is it that parents always ask that?

“It was fine,” I dismissed. “I have a lot of homework. I’ll have to finish it up after we eat.”

“That’s okay,” my dad said. “Your mom and I are going out later.”

“Cool,” I said casually, inwardly jumping for joy. I wouldn’t have to keep my voice down once they left. I lobbed some spaghetti and meatballs onto my plate and tried to eat as quickly as possible without raising suspicion.

My parents were merciful. They could tell I wasn’t in the mood to talk, – was I ever? – so they didn’t push me. When I finally finished, I washed off my plate and put it in the dishwasher. After throwing a quick, “Thanks for dinner, Mom,” over my shoulder, I went to my room to wait for Ray.

I didn’t have to wait very long. As soon as my parents left, he walked through my door.

Not the doorway, but literally the door. It should have scared me, but it didn’t. Sure it was a little weird, but somehow I didn’t mind.”

“Hey!” I said cheerfully, sitting in the chair by my computer. I motioned for him to sit in the other chair in my room.

“Hi,” he replied before sitting down.

“I decided I want to know more about the ghost thing,” I declared.

Ray raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? It might scare you.”

I laughed. “You just walked through my door. I think I can handle it.”

He remained grim. “I hope so. So what do you want to know?”

“How does it work?” I asked. “Obviously you can go through walls and doors, but my room is on the second floor, and you aren’t sinking through. You’re also sitting in a chair.”

His eyebrows furrowed together. “I’m not exactly sure.” He got up and walked to my wall. Leaning against it, he said, “If I want it to be solid, it is.” He knocked on it for further demonstration. Then he stuck his arm through the wall. “If I want to go through it, I do.”

“That doesn’t seem so complicated,” I replied skeptically.

“It’s not, besides the one exception,” he said, frowning.

“Which is…” I prodded.

“People,” he stated. “It was stupid, but I tried to hug my mother at my funeral. I… went right through her.”

“Really?” I asked curiously. He nodded. I stared at him for a long time before asking, “Well… Do you mind?” I reached out my hand, unsure.

“Go ahead,” he replied.

I let my hand hover above his, a little nervous. After a few seconds, I brought down my hand to touch his.

Well, try to touch his. Where I would have expected to feel skin, I felt absolutely nothing. My hand went through his until it touched the arm of the chair.

“Whoa,” I breathed. It wasn’t even cold, like I expected it to be. “It’s just… nothing.”

A flash of pain crossed his face before he composed himself again. He just nodded.

“That’s…” I searched for the right word, but all I could come up with was, “That’s crazy.”

He looked at out hands speculatively. “Right now, more than ever, I wish I wasn’t nothing.”

I blushed slightly and pulled my hand away. “Now I know Ray the Ghost,” I said. “Can I meet Ray the Person?”