Reddit Stories 2019

A Few Words About Ghosts

The warm glow of morning light and gentle chimes of alarm slowly pulled me from my slumber. My curtains fluttered in the gentle breeze. It was a pleasant way to wake up.

Lily's face less than an inch from mine was a little less pleasant.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said with a grin. From a few more inches away, she had a nice smile and kind, grey eyes. She was always chipper and could light up a field on a cloudy moonless night. Her trustworthy aura drew me to her from the moment we met.

If she'd been alive, she'd be perfect.

"It's too early," I groaned. "Did you change my alarm?"

"I tried, but—" Lily leaned forward, sticking her hand into the alarm clock. A loud staticy sound buzzed out of my alarm and the numbers on the display flashed erratically in shapes that were distinctly not numbers. "Still can't figure technology while I'm like this."

I laughed and shifted so I could sit up properly. Lily laughed too, ghostly wrinkles forming around her eyes as she moved back. My cheeks burned and heart fluttered as I watched her. I wanted nothing more than to trap that moment forever. I'd always thought of death as final and dark. Lily proved otherwise.

Her hand accidentally brushed through my knee, bringing back to reality. A tingling wave of cold ran through me, like my leg had fallen asleep and then was dumped into an ice bath. I yelped and immediately covered my mouth.

"Sorry, Jas." Out of instinct, Lily reached out to offer comforting pats before realizing that would not work. It was concerning, on some level, that her first instinct was to treat me like a puppy she'd accidentally stepped on. I couldn't be too mad. It was adorable.

"No worries," I said through chattering teeth. The cold would eventually go away. "What's the plan for the day?"

Lily rolled, grinning at me. "Well, you have the day off, so I was thinking movies? I can make the seat all cold so you don't have to sit next to strangers. Plus I have been very good and not spoiled Endgame for you."

I laughed again. She knew me well. I guess that was expected after spending so much time together. The greedy part of me was glad I had her all to myself, but, in truth, I was sad there wasn't anyone else she could talk to. I never found answers on whatever power let me talk with a ghost and I didn't care at this point. It was blessing really.

I found someone I really cared about.

"I know everything," she continued, stressing the importance of this with her eyes. Lily introduced me to the world of superheroes and practically dragged me to every new movie so we could talk about it. Her disappointment with the other franchise, as she insisted on calling it now, was comparable only to her excitement with everything Marvel.

One day, she'd get to read comics without looking over my shoulder again.

Crawling out of bed, I stretched and blindly searched for my slippers. The cold had faded to numb. Subtly, I scratched my butt itch. "Sounds good with me. First, coffee."

"Cup for me too!"

When I first moved into my apartment, I bought one of the timed coffee machines so I could wake up with a fresh cup and minimal effort. It had been one of the best purchases I ever made. In general, mornings sucked, but a hot coffee and warm shower was a great reward for finally leaving bed.

With an awkward walk thanks to my ghosted leg, I shuffled out of my bedroom to my apartment's kitchen/living room. For the second time, my heart rate quickened. But instead of the pleasant feeling of warmth, it was panic.

Standing in front of my coffee machine was a man.

I lived alone, except for Lily, who technically haunted my apartment, and didn't contribute to rent. I kept my doors locked and had assumed the third floor would be far enough off the ground to be safe. Clearly, I was wrong.

With the quiet steps of a cat, I crept closer to the intruder, picking up the bat I kept by the TV stand for this exact reason. Years of paranoia finally paid off. The man didn't seem to notice me, instead looking at my assortment of cute mugs with a confused expression. Good.

Springing forward, I swung at his head with all my might. I saw the damage before I realized what happened. My swing went right through him, instead colliding with my collection. My Woofasaurus Rex mug lay shattered.

"Whoa, hey!"

"You're a ghost," I exclaimed, dropping my bat. It clattered to the floor.

"You can see me?"

"Hey, Jasmine? Everything—" Lily stuck her head out of the bedroom, through the wall, of course, instead of moving six inches left to the door. "What happened? Who's that?"

"He's a ghost!"

"You can see me too?"

"Yeah, obviously. I'm a ghost."

"What are you doing in my apartment?" I asked, officially losing control of my volume. By now, my neighbors were used to confusing sounds and one-sided conversations coming from my apartment. I told them I was an actor the one time they asked.

The intruder sighed looking between me and Lily, who floated next to me with her arms crossed. If gravity was still an issue, she'd be a few inches short than me, but she liked to float a little higher when she wanted to look tough. Usually, that didn't matter. Others couldn't see her.

But it was good emotional backup.

"Right now, I'm trying to work your coffee machine," he offered with a grin.

Neither I nor Lily laughed.

"You have three seconds to tell us why you're here before I kick your ghost butt," Lily said, trying to sound threatening. She didn't succeed. I slowly retrieved the bat from the floor. It would help as much as Lily's threat, but it occupied my hands.

"Well, I guess coffee won't do me much good now anyway. I need help." A serious expression overtook his face. He a little older than Lily or I. Streaks of grey ran through his dad haircut and deep set lines ran through his face. He turned to me. "Are you a ghost too?"

"No. I'm, uh, alive." I hated phrasing it that way. Lily didn't;t seem to mind.

"Then maybe you can help me."

"Maybe. If you tell me who you are."

"And what you need," Lily helpfully added. She leaned over to me and dropped her voice to a whisper. "If he wants to take over your body and make you a ghost, you gotta say no."

"Is that a thing?"

"I dunno. I've only been a ghost for three years."

"I don't want to possess you or make you a ghost or anything like that. I just want your help."

I studied his face to see if he was lying. He looked like he probably wasn't.

I settled into the stool at my kitchen island. This was a far cry from spending a day inching a movie toward box office records, but there wasn't a lot I could do. There were ghosts in my kitchen. Fate already decided my plans for the day.

"Fine."

"Well, Jasmine, my name is Richard Jackson. I was a father of four, a public accountant, and, thirty years ago, I was murdered."