Resisting the Advances of the Ghost Girl That’s Haunting Me

I swing open my apartment door with a smile, balancing two boxes of ramen in my arms. Setting them down, I start to kick off my shoes—until I hear approaching footsteps. Instant panic. I grab the ramen, ready to defend myself.

Just as I'm about to hurl noodles at what I think is a burglar, I realize it's no thief at all.

Instead, standing before me is Mr. Takeno, my landlord. A stout old man with only three hairs left on his balding head. He insists he’s “balding,” though by society’s standards, he’s well past it.

“Oh, hello there, Elise!” Mr. Takeno's voice sounds cartoonishly old, exactly how you’d expect an old man to sound.

“Haha, hi there…” I lower my makeshift weapons, relieved. Honestly, if he were a burglar, I could’ve taken him down with a sneeze. He looks as frail as Bethesda, though he's never disclosed his exact age.

“So, Mr. Takeno, what brings you up to my apartment?” I inquire.

“I noticed your light was on in the middle of the day—you’ve mentioned wanting to save on electricity costs. I came up to knock on your door, but you didn’t answer! I got worried and... well, here I am,” he explains.

“I see…” I reply, trying to mask my racing thoughts.

Has he seen the ghost girl?

“Did you happen to see anything… unusual?” I ask cautiously.

Today might be the day I find out if anyone else can see my roommate. I keep my expression neutral as Mr. Takeno ponders, a bit slower than Bethesda and just a little more mentally frail.

Suddenly, his face lights up with realization.

Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

As I internally panic, preparing for eviction, Mr. Takeno speaks up solemnly.

“Oh, I did see something quite odd! It was rather spooky!”

As he speaks, I race through possible courses of action.

Should I knock him out? No, he’s too old—he’d break a hip. Maybe convince him it was a trick of the light? Oh no, what if—

“Your microwave was running!” Mr. Takeno interrupts my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“These new appliances are spooky! It was on by itself! Quite dangerous, you know. I turned it off when I heard it and then you came home.”

So, the noises I heard earlier were Mr. Takeno fiddling with the microwave, not the ghost girl.

“Do you want me to replace it? I’ll get you a new one right away, no charge to your rent. Your safety is important!”

“Um, no, Mr. Takeno, that won’t be necessary. I probably just set it to run accidentally. I’ll go fix it now,” I assure him.

“Good to hear,” he nods approvingly.

I hurry to the microwave, resetting it with a few button presses.

“See? All off now. I’ll double-check the lights before leaving from now on.”

“Excellent!” Mr. Takeno beams.

Oh, sweet Mr. Takeno. So trusting.

“By the way, where were you today, Elise?” he asks.

“At work, Mr. Takeno. Remember, I’ve been working for a few years now,” I remind him.

“Oh, yes, yes, at Bethesda’s Comics,” he nods to himself, heading for the door.

As you might gather, Mr. Takeno's memory isn't the best. I don’t know why I was so worried about what he might have seen. Even if he does see something paranormal, he’d probably forget it by dinner. At least he hasn’t forgotten me or where I live, though, right?

I slip my shoes back on and escort Mr. Takeno downstairs, checking on him before he goes into his own apartment, muttering to himself about Bethesda’s Comics.

Once he’s safely inside, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. Why am I so scared of him finding the ghost girl? If anything, he might welcome her and ask us to split the rent, oblivious to the fact that ghosts don’t pay rent. Silly thought, really.

Speaking of a ghost girl... where exactly was she during that entire fiasco?

--

Second time’s the charm, I guess.

Thinking that, I push open the door, though this time, not as cheerfully—just more flustered. 

I pick up the ramen boxes and put them in my kitchen cabinets while looking around for any signs of ghost-girl existence, and I see none... hmm. This is similar to when she first appeared. The ghost girl used to flit away any time I tried making conversation with her or even looking at her for too long.

Wait a minute. She quite literally slept with me last night... Can’t I try to talk to her, now? Well, I’ll first need to wait until she shows herself... though it’s a matter of “if she will or not” first. Could this incident have dispatched her into the rest of the afterlife? Actually, I don’t even know if the there is something like the “afterlife” after becoming a ghost.

Sure, modern media depicts ghosts as creatures that have a reason for being tied to earthly existence... but modern media also says ghosts don’t exist—which I know for a fact is not true, having witnessed all the supernatural things that occurred over the past week or so. To be completely fair to all points of view, I could be dreaming all this up while in a stress-induced coma... however, I don’t want to open up that door. 

With such useless thoughts running through my head, I had somehow started making myself dinner. 

While cooking... out of the corner of my eye... I see legs dangling from a spot in the ceiling... not just any legs, though. The ghost girl’s legs.

Oh.

I realize I just accidentally made another bowl of ramen without knowing. I guess what’s done is done. If the ghost girl decides to eat it, she’ll eat it. Otherwise... gone will be my 25 cents. 

I carry both bowls to the table, and plop myself down onto the chair, starting to eat my dinner. As the smell of ramen starts drifting up into the currently-haunted spot, the legs in my ceiling start to kick and twist. Then, they lower themselves, revealing the figure of the supernatural creature we all know and love.

Can ghosts see beyond the things they’re going through? How do ghosts’ eyes work?

She drifts down, and sits herself onto the same chair as before, though this time, there is no beer can on her side. As usual, her expression is stoic, despite what happened less than an hour ago with Mr. Takeno. 

Does she feel emotion?

In silence, I continue eating. I look down into my bowl one moment, and then look back up... to see the ghost girl’s bowl has been emptied! There is no holding out of bowls this time, she just sits there, watching me eat. 

I look back up at her. Suddenly, we’re locked in a staring contest. 

Should I try talking to her once more? What if she floats away like all those times before?

I blink. I suppose it is hard to win a staring contest with an unblinking figure. 

Come to think of it, do her eyes always stay open? I should really try talking to her, shouldn’t I? I should, right? That’s the natural course of this happenstance, right?

Before I know it, I’m wrapped up in an internal struggle. One side wants to make conversation with the ghost girl, while the other wants to keep the status quo. My ramen lays unforgotten under my head, looking up at me as if to say, “Cheap, cheap, dinner, and you’re letting it cool, you bad girl!!!!"

Ramen, you can go fuck yourself. 

Seeing as I haven’t touched my food in such a long time... the ghost girl starts to float off the chair, most likely to go do something else. 

Congratulations, Elise. You’ve missed a key opportunity. 

“Wait, please wait a minute!"

All of a sudden, I hear myself speaking words. You know, I’ve really become absentminded lately, haven’t I? 

The ghost girl quickly turns to face me in the blink of an eye. She is flickering. By that, I mean flickering more than usual... but I don’t quite have a definition for what I would consider the usual, yet. However! This is a different development from all those other times I would try to strike up conversation! All the other times, she would immediately dart away the moment I started enunciating a single syllable. 

Trying to not lose my chance, I keep speaking, having seen no definitive response from her. 

“I really want to know a lot of things... but first, if you can understand what I am saying... please nod!"

I watch in anticipation, awaiting her response. I am readily prepared to be rejected, as well. 

Then... very slowly... she nods.

Looking back on what happened that day, I can be sure. One nod was all it took to change the course of my life, to fall in love, and find new possibilities.