Night Specters

It was a dark and stormy night.

No, really, it was. The clouds were dark gray and covered the sky, making it seem darker than it really was. From the window in my sixteenth story apartment the view was spectacular. During the day I could see right across this little forest behind the building, but by night it was a uniform black lump. In the distance a row of lights were strung out along an invisible road like luminescent pearls on a necklace, a path leading nowhere.

I went around the small apartment and shut all of the windows, and turned off all the lights and machinery like my computer. The only thing to do on a night like this was grab bowl of chips, open the curtains on the living room window and watch the fire works.

It was magnificent. The storm had been creeping up all day, and by the time the rain had started it was almost on top of the building. I tried to count the seconds between the lightening and the thunder, but I kept loosing my place after about three seconds, they were coming that fast.

The storm was strong but short winded. One large lightning bolt struck nearby, blinding me for several moments. When I could see again the rain was petering off, and the distance between bolts of lightning and the thunder was increasing exponentially, signaling the growing distance between the storm and me. I was definitely glad for that. I seriously hoped that there was no retinal damage.

Once the rain stopped completely I opened up the balcony doors, letting fresh air into the room.

"Hey! Close the door will ya? I may be dead, but I don't fancy catching pneumonia!"

I jumped at least ten feet in the air and turned around. At first nothing was visible to me, and I figured I must have hit my head while I was blinded. Then, so slowly I barely took note of it, one corner of my apartment lit up with a silvery glow. I was shocked to say the least.

"What are you staring at, girl? Do I look like a sideshow freak?" Whatever was speaking to me from inside that opaque light sounded irritated and male. It continued its tirade with, "Well, I guess that's all there is of manners with this generation. In my day we didn't try to freeze our guests, or stare at them with mouths gaping like big ugly fish!"

Well, that was all I was going to take. Mysterious visitor or not, I was not going to be told how rude I was under my own roof. "Maybe I'm not as polite as you would like, Old Man, but I do know that it's extremely rude to insult your host while visiting. Even if you are unexpected and unwelcome."

The Thing inside the glow guffawed. "Good for you girl! Learn to stand up for your self once in a while!" The change of attitude was confusing. At this point I was refusing to believe that I was scared. I mean, some weird light shows up in your living and telling you off for rudeness, how would you feel?

The glow was slowly receding and I could easily see the Thing that had taken up residence in the corner of my living room. It wasn't actually a 'Thing' at all. It was a stooped over, crotchety looking old man. That explained the complaints about cold and manners at least. One mystery solved.

That just left me with a few dozen more, like: What was he doing here? How did he get here? What did he want from me? And shouldn't he be dead by now? I mean, he looked positively ancient!

I asked him all of these, except the last one. His comments about rudeness had hit a sore spot and I was a bit eager to prove him wrong.

"Come down, girlie. Sheesh, you'd think you had never seen a ghost before!" Well that answered my last question nicely. Wait a minute.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! A ghost? There are no such things as ghosts, everyone knows this." I couldn't help scoffing. I hadn't really intended to be so mean; he was an old man after all. But really, a ghost? I was twenty-three years old, not five.

He gave me a stern look. "What do you mean everyone? Do you know everyone? Please introduce me to this 'everyone'" He stopped and blinked up at me solemnly. "Obviously 'everyone' doesn't not believe in ghosts, because I am one and I believe very firmly in my self, and I also know that I'm not everyone."

Right. Any one else confused?

"Listen, kiddo, I've only got an hour," he glanced at the clock on the wall, "make that half an hour." Startled I looked at the clock as well. Where had all the time gone? "I just came to give you some advice: be honest. When you are honest to the people around you, they are capable of giving you more respect and love."

With those last words the silvery glow that had disappeared grew around him again. I looked away when it got too bright and when I looked back he was gone.

"And I'm supposed to be the rude one!" I yelled to the semi-deserted apartment. My kitten ran back under the couch she had been weathering the storm under. Oops.

I mulled over the ghost's last statement as I turned on all the lights. It didn't really matter to me whether or not he was real or a figment of my imagination. I could feel the power of his words. It wouldn't be until much later that I realized how true they were.

I sat down on the coach and my kitty crawled into my lap. Stroking her fur I fell fast asleep.