Michaelishious - Vol. 2020

Dec. 8th: The lonely ghost (pt. 4)

"You're quite persistent."

I jumped when I heard the voice behind me, and hit the top of my head in a branch. I recognized that voice, but I'd almost given up on the wish to hear it again.

"Michael?"

"Mhm?"

I turned around but couldn't see him anywhere, but somehow I felt him stand right next to me.

"Why can't I see you?"

"Because you don't need to."

The answer was short, but carried a message that left me unable to ask any more questions.

"I admire you," he said eventually.
"How do you know what it used to look like?"

I blushed and was glad it was too dark for him to see. Should I tell him that I'd pretty much stalked him after the first visit? That I'd spent several hours in the library, searching through old newspapers and books about local history? Pretty boring, you'd think. Except that it wasn't, because it was all about him.

"Thanks for my bra," I burst out like a total dumbass, and Michael chuckled.

"I'm not sure if I should say 'you're welcome', because I had no business taking it in the first place. I guess I was just being selfish."

"How so?"

Michael was silent for a while. Actually for so long that I became unsure if he was still there.

"I missed your company," he said eventually, with sadness in his voice.
"And before you think I'm a total pig, it wasn't because of... You know. I just got carried away in the moment."

That actually hurt a bit. He fucked me just because it was a fun thing to do? But...

"Being with you made me miss to be alive. I missed... you. You gave me so much more than you'll understand that night."

I swallowed and stared at the dark soil under my feet, while I listened to him.

"I wanted you to come back just so I could be close to someone. To talk to someone. Someone who could see me and wasn't scared."

"I was in the beginning," I giggled.
"I was petrified. Still, there was something about you that made me calm."

Slowly the contours of a man appeared in front of me, merely clear enough so I could see his eyes and his smile. And then he was invisible again.

"I love your smile," I said and it was true. His smile was one of the brightest and most beautiful smile I'd ever seen, and I wished I could see it again. No, I wished I could see it all the time.

"And I love yours," he spoke, and I could hear on his voice that he was still smiling. Then I could feel a hand carefully envelope mine.

"I wanna show you something," he said, and took me away from the area I'd been working on for weeks. I let him lead me like I was a giddy teenager girl who sneaked off with her crush, only I didn't have a crush on Michael. That was impossible. He was a ghost.

Trees and bushes seemed to kneel for their master, and made a path for us to walk. Was it always like that? Or was it something that happened because he was there? I had no idea, but I couldn't remember seeing this path before.

Then my jaw dropped.

There, right in front of us was the most magnificent fountain, similar to the one I'd seen on a picture in one of the newspapers. Was it the same? Definitely. But to see it for yourself was something completely different than seeing it on a picture.