Wings To The World

14.

'Heavenly spotlight.'

"I THINK I MET A SPIRIT.

"Okay, don't get me wrong, it wasn't a ghost. It was physical. I touched and interacted with the spirit. In fact, I have a vivid memory of seeing the spirit eating and drinking too.

"The spirit in question was a girl that came to help out with training the horses one month. She comes as a regular now, about once a month, and she always brings flowers for us.

"Here's a list of things I've seen her do that make me think she's some sort of spirit:

"1. She called a horse something I can't remember. When I asked her what she'd said, she told me I wouldn't understand the language.

"2. Whenever she comes, the horses behave much better. Sometimes I catch her whispering to them, and sometimes I swear they even respond.

"3. She came for dinner once, and when I asked her if she wanted some water, she asked me what water was. When I explained, she asked me if I had to go to a river to get it. After saying no, she seemed completely baffled at the idea of taps.

"4. I tried getting her to work on this one horse, but she told me that the horse had asked her not to come close. She said the horse was 'still mad about the attention <she> gave to the other two'.

"5. She told me she flew here from her 'workshop on the hill'.

"6. She generally stays quiet when we have big talks, in general, and she didn't talk to us for the first few weeks. We don't see her walk up the drive, either. She just appears.

"7. She took a bite of a mandarin with the peel and got confused when I told her that wasn't how you should to eat it.

"8. She knows what a handshake is, but not a phone. She has no social media record. I can't find her or her 'workshop' online anywhere.

"9. I asked her what school she went to and she told me 'oh, I was in creation. Didn't go to school' before she went to go and ride a horse that seemed to know what she was doing even before she did it.

"10. My wife and I caught her singing in some foreign tongue to the horses. They were riding in sync with the music.

"She's nice, and so I thought all this weird stuff was because she might have been from out of town. Or she had strict parents. But after asking her, I discovered she's been here all her life. And she doesn't say a word about her family.

"Only thing she says is that her family right now isn't biological and rather 'chosen family'.

"Have I encountered a spirit? Is it bad luck? If so, how do I get her out? Should I leave? Call the police? She hasn't done anything, but I'm beginning to worry."

-"I THINK I MET A SPIRIT", by ZoneHatchet12

Haphaes shivers, still weeping. The window isn't big enough for me to get through, and my entire body aches with the ghost of some sharp pain in my back.

"Haphaes," I call, not-quite seeing above the edge now that I've resigned to tiredness. Every limb feels heavy and weighted like they're almost immoveable. "Haphaes, it's me."

Either she can't hear me or she's ignoring me. My throat is hoarse and rough, still knotted with a lump in the back of it. I breathe a shaky breath out, running my hand over my face. There are bumps and curves, and for a moment I press my eyes shut to let myself revel in the touch of a hand to my face.