The Lost and Found Girls

Chapter 10: Learning Miaoli's Story

I spend the rest of Monday evening reading as much about Buddha's Happy Day as I can, as well as reading more about Chinese ghost lore and superstition. I also spend my spare time on Tuesday, when I am not studying or doing homework, reading as much as I can about ghosts and the afterlife. I want to be as prepared as I can the next time I see Miaoli, as I will be asking her about personal information about herself. She may be reluctant to give me information about her past and personal life, which is why I must learn as much as I can about Buddha's Happy Day and spirits and the afterlife. So if she asks why I need to learn so much about her, I can arm myself with knowledge and explain why I need to learn. To help her out as much as possible, I need to be able to learn more about her and her past. After all, I cannot know where to begin to help her release her spirit or perform good deeds if I don't even know anything about her.

I visit Miaoli on Oct. 4, about a week before my parents' remembrance ceremony. Besides learning more about her, I also need to gain her trust. Part of this begins with me being honest and forthright about myself as well. I decided to start by telling her more about me. Hopefully, once we open up to each other and get to know each other better, any barriers or reservations we had about each other initially will go away.

I head to the construction area after school. I carefully step around the debris till I find the spot where we met the first time I came over. Before stepping inside though, I call out to Miaoli so she knows I am here.

"Miaoli, are you here", I called out tentatively, "It's Lingpo."

I hear a flutter and a whisper telling me, "Yes, in here", before I turn to the source of the whisper. I face the entrance to the spot I crawled into the first time we met and head there, but instead of stepping inside, I stop near the front and crouch down.

"I'm not sure if it's still safe for me to enter, considering this is a collapsed building with a lot of rubble. I'm sorry if that does not make you happy, but I just don't want to test my luck and then have the debris and broken building parts fall on me. If I get hurt, I won't be able to help you. Do you think we can still meet in the lot like this? Without me having to go inside to see you? It might make it more difficult for me to see you, since I don't know whether you prefer to be seen in daylight or not, but at least I won't have to worry about getting hurt. Is that okay?" I ask. I figured that before we began learning about each other, it would be good to establish a few ground rules first. If Miaoli is willing to be agreeable with this request, then maybe I will still go out and help her. If not, I may have to reconsider.

I wait a bit before I hear a reply. "Yes, that is okay, as long as you are safe, then I can agree with this", I hear her say. I watch as she slowly appears to materialize in front of me, appearing white, gauzy, and hazy. I can make out a bit of her former appearance. She appears to have previously had long dark hair and is wearing a white, long-sleeved gauzy dress.

"You can appear in daylight?" I ask her, surprised by her sudden appearance. She had previously appeared in daylight, but not in broad, open daylight. Rather it was inside the rubble, in an area of shadow and very little sunlight coming in.

"I can appear during the day or evening if I want to, but I prefer not to come out during the day," she tells me. "Too many people will stare or take notice. I don't want to scare anyone who's not used to seeing ghosts. Once I appeared in broad daylight and a woman saw me and screamed. Other people noticed and saw me as well. It attracted too much attention, so I decided it would be best not to appear so broadly in open daylight."

I nod, understanding. "Okay, well, I think I may have a way to possibly help you. However, it involves the two of us trusting each other first. To do that, you must be willing to talk to me and tell me about yourself. Is that okay", I ask.