the ghost of christmas love

nini

HIII!!!!! i hope ur doing great, happy weekend!!!

ENJOY!!!

i watch him hesitantly put his hand into mine. i hold his hand and use my opposite hand to snap my fingers.

there's a whirl of white fog and sparkles and then we're transported into a living room. it has a white couch, red carpet, a flatscreen tv, a decorated christmas tree, and a piano.

ricky holds his stomach and i look over at him, "i feel like my insides just got switched around."

i slightly roll my eyes at his dramatic reaction. when he regains his focus, he looks around at the room with confusion.

"is this my old—"

"living room? sure is...and just wait...", i say, turning around so we're facing the arch that leads into the kitchen.

there's four people standing in the kitchen. a woman with brown, medium length hair who's cooking food and a man who's tall with brown hair as well and a slight beard and a little girl who's brunette hair is parted into pigtails. then, the one that stands out the most, a little boy with very curly hair who's staring up at the countertops.

"is that...me?", ricky questions, pointing.

i nod my head, rocking back and forth on my heels, "yep...you're about 6 here. parents seem happy now...you were happy."

"six?", he repeats, "one year before everything went downhill. also the year i fell in love with music."

we watch as the woman and little ricky walk past us and into the living room. the two of them sit at the piano and ricky's small hands start playing the keys and he sings along with his mom to a christmas carol.

i look at ricky and see him lost in the scene. he scoffs and turns to face me.

"i'm hallucinating. there's no way you're real and there's no way this is real.", he tells me and i suck in a breath.

"say that all you want but...you can't get rid of me.", i warn him.

i look back at the two people sitting at the piano bench.

"you used to love christmas with your whole heart...why'd you stop after the divorce?", i ask.

i can tell he's annoyed with me because his eyes just stare at my face. he crosses his arms and refuses to tell me anything.

i grab his arm and snap my fingers and then we're teleported back to his work building. the same spot we left.

"listen...i know it's hard.", i say, "you've lost all christmas hope and spirit...but you can regain it and you can be happy."

"are you saying i'm not happy?", he questions.

i let out a breath, "look at you...you're spending the holiday season at an office. you're sister is out there just waiting for you to call her back. when was the last time you talked to her?"

he stays silent, avoiding looking at me. i cross my arms and wait for him to answer, even though i already know the answer.

"it's been a couple months. but i mean—who calls their sister everyday?", he argues.

"she's left you voicemails every week ricky.", i tell him, "i know none of this makes any sense...and you don't believe i'm real...but you need to change for your own good before everyone in your life starts disappearing."

i let out a breath and snap my fingers again. i'm back at the golden doors and i walk out of the white light. i see jovie and haven talking and when they see me they look concerned.

"hey you're back early?", jovie mentions and i nod.

"yeah i'll go back tonight.", i say, walking down the stairs to where they are.

"how's it going?"

i shrug, "it's fine...this one is just gonna be hard."

"you can do it nini...you always have been able to.", haven smiles at me.