Twilight Time

Chapter 1

Madison held a box marked Kitchen as she made her way inside the house. Her mom stood at the kitchen sink as she looked out of the window. With tired arms, Madi slammed her box onto the old, tiled counter. Her eyes moved to her mom, who was shouting out to her.

Madi tapped on her airpod to pause Freak Like Me by Doja Cat. "Huh?" Madi asked.

"I keep telling you those earbuds are going to make you deaf." Her mom shook her head. Madi rolled her eyes as she leaned on the counter. "I was telling you about our view of the lake. Isn't it gorgeous? We would've never gotten this in New York."

"At least I had a social life in New York." Madi huffed.

"Hey, because I've got this job at Yale you're basically getting a free ride." Her mom reminded her. "And it's not at all because you're not smart, you had the smarts you just needed the funds. And I got that for you."

"And now I'm going to have to spend my senior year living at home with my mom and my little sister because my scholarship doesn't cover dorming." Madi reminded her mom as she flipped her box braids.

"What's so wrong with living with me?" Emily, her little sister ran in. Madi couldn't bring herself to make her six year old sister feel bad. She picked her up.

"There's nothing wrong with living with you. You're the best roommate anyone could ask for." Madi smiled at her sister. Then she looked to her mom. "Can I take her outside so we can get a better look at the grounds?"

"Alright, but you two be careful. You know you can't swim. And especially be careful by that pier on the lake. It almost wants to look like it hasn't be up kept at all." Her mom looked out. Then she walked out the other side of the house to see if there was anything else in the moving truck.

Holding her sister, Madi stood out by the lake. She saw the New Haven sun setting, and the sky turning a dark, purplish blue. She set her sister on the ground beside her and both of them sat down and crossed their legs.

"Look!" Her little sister pointed. "A ghost."

Madi squinted and saw a man in the distance. He was dressed in really old attire, a tweed blazer, a linen button up, dark grey slacks and black loafers. Madi looked to her little sister. "Emily, there's no such thing as ghosts."

"He's dressed like they do in old movies." Her sister commented.

"Em, he got those clothes on Depop." Madi answered. "There's nothing to be afraid of. See? Let's go talk to him. I'm sure he's just a neighbor."

The man stood with a hand in his pocket looking toward the girls. Then he looked out on the lake. Holding her little sister's hand, Madison walked right up to the man. "Hi there, we've just moved here."

The man still looked out on the lake, not really acknowledging the girls. Emily whispered up at her sister. "Maybe he's a racist..."

Madi squeezed her sister's hand. The man glimpsed toward the girls. Immediately, Madi saw he had the most crystal blue eyes. And he wasn't very old at all, in fact, he looked as though he was around her age. But he looked frightened.

"Sorry to startle you." Madi told him. "We just wanted to say hi. We're your new neighbors."

Under his breath, he whispered, "You can see me?"

"I told you he's a gh—" Emily began telling her sister, but this time she had her hand squeezed even harder. The last thing she wanted was to be embarrassed. Besides, whoever this man was, he was actually kind of cute. Probably one of the only cute guys in that small, forsaken town.

"Uh, neighbors! Right. Well, yeah. I guess you are. Welcome to the neighborhood." He nodded and began walking away as though he were in a hurry.

"Well that was strange." Madi said under her breath.

"Wait!" Emily pulled her hand away from her sisters and began running after the man. He stopped walking and looked back at the little girl. "I'm Emily and that's my sister Madison. What's your name?"

The man, who looked bizarrely nervous, smiled at the little girl. "Paul. I'm Paul."

"Nice to meet you, Paul." Emily smiled up at him. Her sister ran after her, grabbing her hand.

"Emily, you do not run away! Where do you think you were going?" Madison lectured as she knelt beside her sister. Then, she stood up to apologize to him. "I'm so sorr—"

She looked around, and a perplexed expression spread across her face. Her sister looked around as well. "Where'd he go?"

"I'm not sure but it doesn't matter now." Madison said as she guided her sister back toward the house. "You need to understand that you can't just run off with strangers."

"But he's not a stranger, he's a ghost!" Emily cried out to her sister.

"Emily, ghosts aren't real! And even if he was one, he'd be a strange ghost. So it still wouldn't be okay to talk to him." Madi told her sister. When they returned to their house, their mom was standing out of the back patio.

"Girls, I've been looking all over for you. I still need help moving these boxes in." She announced.

"We we're talking to a ghost." Emily told her mom as she let go of her sister's hand and took her mom's.

Her mom leaned down toward her. "What did I tell you about lying, Emily?"

The entire family went inside to continue their unpacking. Meanwhile, Paul stood outside by the lake looking back at the house. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of Camel cigarettes. Then popped one between his pink lips.

Blowing out, he watched as the family laughed together in the kitchen, then walked out toward the front lawn. He took a drag of his cigarette.