A Melody in the Twilight Sky

04 Ghost Woman

Hee hee, giggle~

"Ouch, quiet! I'm trying to sleep."

Eee hee~

"What are you laughing about~?"

K giggle~

"I can't take it anymore!" Finally, I couldn't stand it and sat up on the bed. The annoying laughter that had been going on since morning stopped. The hot sun shining on my face woke me up instantly.

Shoot, I'm the type of person who can't fall back asleep once I'm awake. What kid is making so much noise that I woke up like this?

I ruffled my hair in frustration as I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Even after showering and coming out, I still wasn't fully awake but had to force myself to walk out of the bedroom, groggily. I looked down, rubbing my eyes with one hand while using the other to grab the stair railing for support as I walked down to the lower floor.

And just as my eyes fully opened, I saw a little child looking up at me with wide eyes at the bottom of the stairs. The child seemed to be crawling up the stairs, wearing only a diaper, no shirt. Their head had a thin covering of short hair. The little one smiled, showing pink gums with two teeth. Judging by their size, they couldn't be more than a year old.

Huh? Whose child is this?

"Mom, whose child is this?" I shouted while scratching my head, confused. Was I still not fully awake?

"Huh?" I heard my mom shout back from the front of the shop, as if she didn't hear me.

"Whose child?" I shouted again.

"Huh?"

The little child stopped smiling and stared at me with even wider eyes, now pouting and making an "Ooh~" sound as if puzzled about something.

"Whose child?" I sighed before stepping around the child to go down the stairs and shouted to my mom again, hoping she'd hear me better this time. "They've been making noise and disturbing me since morning!"

"Child? Who's a child? What are you mumbling about? Did you just wake up?" Mom looked up from the shop counter as I walked past the shop partition.

"Yes," I really did just wake up. "So..."

"Go on, it's late. Hurry up and deliver the goods. You can come back and eat later," Mom cut me off. "Look, the goods are ready in front of the shop. You need to deliver them all quickly. The painters are coming in the afternoon."

"Okay~" I drawled out my reply sarcastically as I walked out the front door.

There were about four or five bags of goods already packed, each with the customer's name and address attached. I went to pull my bike, which was leaning against the wall beside the house, and parked it in front of the shop. Then I went back inside to get a basket and rope. But just then, I smelled something.

"Mom, did you light incense?" I asked.

"No," Mom looked up at me, confused.

"I smell incense."

"Hmm," Mom sniffed and then said, "I don't smell anything... Go on, they're waiting."

How could Mom not smell it when it was so strong? But since she insisted and was also rushing me, I had to give up and walk out. I placed the basket on the back seat of the bike and tied it securely with the rope. Then I turned back towards the front of the shop to grab the bags of goods and put them in the basket. But there was something on top of the pile of bags.

A dried flower garland...

How did it get there? I didn't see it when I came out earlier. We didn't use flower garlands during the apology ceremony yesterday, and even if we did, Mom would have cleaned up the front of the house already.