Ghost

Ch. 1

Are you sure you're going to be okay, Daniel?"

"You can come home whenever you need to."

"I can't believe this day is here. Oh, look at you!"

"Home is just a short drive away."

"Don't get into trouble or I'll come knocking."

"You can come back when you need us. You know that, right?"

Tossing and turning. Turning and tossing on the thin mattress of the pull - out bed. Their voices are as clear now as they were this afternoon when I was dropped off at this godforsaken apartment complex. I would get up and watch TV if I had a TV. I would go make something to eat if there was something in the fridge. I'm pretty sure the bum down the street has more to his name than I do.

Hopefully Dad put that box of dishes in my car when we were loading up, but who knows. The whole thing seems like a blur. I guess sending your kid off to college is more of a fiasco than any of us anticipated. Of course, Mom got emotional, and Dad was more frazzled than I've seen him in a long time. That's saying a lot since the annual Men's Bible Retreat was last month. He always gets worked up preparing for that, but this was like Men's Bible Retreat times ten.

"Hurry up and get that backpack in the trunk. Daniel! I said in the trunk, not the passenger seat! Did I not just tell you that?"

"Dad, Relax!"

"Well, where on earth do you think I'm going to put this box?"

That's right. He did put the dishes in my car. At least he mellowed out when it came time to say good-bye. Still, it seemed like his face was permanently frozen in a "someone's about to die" expression.

I roll over one more time and grab my cell phone off the charger. 2:40 in the morning. No. There's no way! It was just midnight, how has it been almost three hours since I laid down? Sitting up, I throw the sheets off me and situate myself on the edge of the pull out bed.

My feet hit the floor and I rub my eyes. If only I was rubbing sleep out of them and not plain old exhaustion. Who thought it was a good idea to send me into the adult world? I'm not ready for this.

The streetlight outside glows orange through the sheer curtain over the window, but heavy darkness is all over this room. Shadows seem darker here than at home. It's colder, too. I make my way across the paper-thin carpet to close the window that I cracked open earlier. Autumn air is refreshing, sure, but something about it filling this place makes my new bedroom seem so much emptier.

Didn't I see a pop machine down the hall when I came in? Lord, please let my memory be right cause I'm dying for a pick-me-up. Coins jingle as I rifle through the pockets of my jeans that I'd thrown on the floor. When I get a few quarters in my palm I throw on a hoodie and shuffle through the living room that's even more empty than the bedroom. Mom says the Bible School does a recycling day where they sell couches and stuff on the cheap, but that's a week away so my living room is gonna have to stay empty for now.

Throwing the front door open I'm hit with fluorescent hallway light. Squinting so as to not burn my retinas, I stick my head out of the doorway and look left, then right. There's the pop machine at the end of the hall, right at the top of the stairs. On my way over, I can't help but notice how soft the hall carpet is. Why couldn't they have put this in the actual apartments - creak! I'm struck right in the forehead with a heavy wooden door. Pain throbs in my head as I close my eyes and hold my hand against the goose egg that's swelling under my fingers.

"Oh! Oh my god, oh my god! I didn't even - I couldn't even -! Are you okay? I'm so sorry." someone says. My eyelids lift to a young face peering out cautiously from behind the open door. Her auburn hair is all tied up with strands frizzing out all over the place. There's a look of sincere concern in her dark eyes.