[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Poltergeist

The warm sunshine that used to hurt her skin gradually faded away. Though the girl wasn't normally fond of it, she knew that getting close to it was the only choice for her to survive.

Why did everything just become a disaster when she finally gathered all of her courage to experience something new?

The girl struggled to return to the surface, yet the strong waves kept coming, one after another, as if telling her that all of her effort would eventually end up in vain.

Mom, I'm scared...

Breath from her nose as well as words from her mouth, all became bubbles that soon broke before they could reach the water surface.

The way the main character drowned in those drama series was all lies. There was neither ethereal light under the blue water nor the peaceful feelings that made you feel like returning to your mother's womb.

Deep down here, it was so cold, so dark, so heavy and so painful.

At this stage, somehow she recalled the story that mom had told her the other day.

"Every sea will have at least a sea witch. To make a wish with the sea witch, you have to face the bottom of the sea and tell it what your heart desires."

With the last bit of consciousness, she tried to open her blurred and heavy eyes again, only realizing the fact that she couldn't differentiate what was her direction at the moment.

Was she facing the surface or the bottom?

There was not much time left to think about it.

Would it succeed this time?

She doubted it, like the way she always doubted herself whenever beginning anything.

"Honey, try everything you think you can do and want to do."

On her throbbing head, she missed the gentleness of mom's pats when she hesitated about whether to go or not.

"If things go wrong, I'm always here to lend you an ear."

So, say it, please say it!

'Mom, I want...to go... home now...'

Her lips moved slowly, sending her unsound last wish to the immense darkness that was swallowing her whole.

Since the last breath was used, the young girl's life had ended on a beautiful summer's day, lonely, hopelessly and full of regrets.

Unknown to her, the bubbles created by her last wish still stayed and steadily went deeper and deeper.

After a period of time, there were octopus tentacles rising from the pitch black darkness, reaching to the person who had made a wish.

When the girl opened her eyes again, she knew that she had become a ghost.

A transparent ghost that didn't want to be forgotten and just wanted to go home.

...........

The young girl easily returned to the coast, without any fear for the deadly waves she once faced.

No one could see her in this transparent form, yet she still found a white bedsheet to cover her body.

Becoming a ghost was a little inconvenient, as she could barely change her clothes from now on. In other words, she may be stuck in this swimsuit for the rest of her ghost's life.

'I must find mom and tell her what I've been through.'

She missed everything in her house from the buzzing doorbell, the comfortable two-people sofa, the TV series at 8 p.m and her mom's special apple pie. Above all, she yearned for the warmth of her mom.