This is something of a continuation of a story from two years ago – here’s a link – it’s not too long and just introduced us to a pair of inadvertent ghost housemates who suddenly found themselves having to share their space with a living family. Two years later and everyone is still in the townhouse together…

Tony and Janine sat on the top step watching Maggie trying to get little Theo to sit still and pay attention to his kindergarten class on Zoom.

“You know, Tony, this is crazy,” Janine started. “I mean, when I died and realized I was stuck with you…”

“Hey!” Tony objected.

“Sorry, when I died and realized you and I were ghostmates… well, I guess I figured it’s some kind of karmic thing, ya know? I mean we died, right? No one knows what happens after you die. So, this?” she pointed between the two of them, “I mean, it beats getting reincarnated as a gopher, right?”

“That happens?”

Janine shrugged, “I don’t know… maybe? But I’m sure there’s worse situations for our fellow ghosts or spirits or earth-bound entities – whatever you want to call us.”

“You’re probably right…” Tony nodded as the kindergarten teacher’s voice came out of the speaker.

“Theo, you need to mute your microphone when it’s not your turn…”

“But this…” Janine gestured to Maggie trying to split her time between her work laptop and keeping Theo in his seat and largely failing at both. “This pandemic thing is worse than death! How long have they been bottled up like this?”

“Five long years,” a voice came behind them. “Make room, ghosties.”

Tony slid over with part of him disappearing into the wall and Janine scooted towards the banister enough so that Suzie could sit next to them. “Hey Suzie,” Janine said. “Seriously, though, you guys have been locked up here, what? Seven? Eight months?”

“It just feels like five years,” Suzie let out an enormous sigh.

“Suzie!” Maggie called from downstairs. “You’re working on your classwork, right?”

“Right mom!” Suzie called back without moving.

“How…?” Janine asked.

“Told them my video cut out and I’m trying to get it back. It’ll be fine. What are guys up to?”

“Janine’s just bumming me out about how we’re forced to be stuck here, but you guys being stuck here is just as bad,” Tony summarized.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Suzie agreed. She looked at his stained Van Halen shirt and frowned.

“What? Don’t approve of rock’n’roll?” he asked.

“No, I didn’t want to be the one to tell you Eddie Van Halen died the other day.”

“Nooooooooo!” Tony yelled towards the ceiling.

“Theo! Get back here!” Maggie called as Theo bolted from his chair. In her effort, she knocked her mug of tea which fell off the desk and crashed on the floor. “No, no, no, no!” she said. “Theo!”

“This is a living nightmare,” Janine shook here head, “By which I mean, a nightmare for the living…”

“Maybe we can, I don’t know, do a séance and try to contact Eddie. I mean, if he’s on our side now…”

“What are you talking about?” Janine asked.

“Eddie Van Halen!”

“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Suzie said.

“No,” Janine, said, “We do not need Tony and some rock guitarist in the same place.”

“No,” Suzie said. “You guys are stuck here, we’re stuck here. I can talk with you, but maybe if we had a séance Mom and Theo could at least communicate with you. Maybe it’d make life a little easier…”

“Hmm,” Janine thought, “That might work. Like you said, since we’re all stuck here…”

“Can we try to contact Eddie?”

“No,” Janine and Suzie said at the same time.

That night Suzie cleared the dinner dishes without being asked. Her mom marveled at the act, while Theo just played with his Yo-Kai medals, inserting them one by one into his Yo-Kai watch.

After she put the dishes in the dishwasher, she took out a folding chair and set it up next to the empty fourth chair.

“To what do I owe the honor of you clearing the table?”

“Mom,” she said seriously as she sat in her own chair. “We live in a haunted house.”

“Suzie,” she sighed, “We’re not getting into this again. There’s no such thing as–”

“Mom, listen to me, please?”

Maggie took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, Suzie.”

“We’re going to have a séance tonight–”

“Suzie, I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Mom, we’ve been stuck in this house for the last nine years….”

“…It’s been seven months….”

“Might as well have been nine years, mom! Look, I think they can help us. We’re all sharing the same space. We might as well all be on the same team, right?”

“Do you think it’s appropriate for Theo to be here?”

“He’s a kid, mom, Theo probably already knows they’re here.”

“Knows what?” Theo said looking up from the oversized plastic watch making obnoxious electronic noises.

“Do you see the ghosts that live here?”

“You mean zebra man and the black woman?”

“See?” Suzie said to her mom.

“Fine,” her mom rolled her eyes. “I guess we can do this.”

“Great!” Suzie got up and dimmed the lights in the kitchen , then took her seat. “Mom, take my hand and take Theo’s hand.” She did, while Theo tried to squirm away to give his watch attention. “Please, spirits of this house, make yourself visible for everyone at this table.”

Nothing happened.

“Are you sure, Suzie?” Her mom started before sitting back shocked as the forms of an overweight young man in a Van Halen shirt and zebra Hammer pants sitting next to a casually dressed black woman about her own age came into view.

“So formal!” Janine said with a laugh.

“I know, right?” Tony said. “’Spirits of this house’” he imitated. Then he noticed Maggie staring open-mouthed with bulging eyes. “Oh, uh, hello ma’am,” he stammered.

“Hi, Maggie, is it?” Janine said. Maggie didn’t move or give any indication of comprehension. “Yeah, well, my name is Janine. This is Tony,” she gestured to Tony. “We’re, uh, well, we’re the ghosts that live here.”

“Hi lady!” Theo said.

“Hey, Theo,” Janine said with a big smile. “Good to talk to you finally!”

“What’s up, big guy?” Tony said, waving.

“Hi Zebraman!” Theo said back.

“Zebraman?” Tony said, then looked at his pants, “Oh! Well, yeah. They’re comfy!” 

Theo giggled.

“Mom, are you okay?” Suzie asked.

“Ghosts,” she finally managed. “We have ghosts…”

“Mom, they have names.”

Maggie blinked rapidly trying to get her senses back. “I… I’m sorry. Tony? Janine? This is a lot to take in, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, try waking up dead,” Janine said. “That’s real mind scrambler!”

“I… I imagine it is,” Maggie said.

“Your daughter had the idea that since we’re all here together maybe we can try to help you guys out a little. Now that you know we’re here! I don’t know if you’ll be able to see us or whether we can have a conversation like this on the regular – it seems kind of silly, but your daughter genuinely can see and communicate with us and this allows her to kind of extend her ability to everyone in the circle. But we’re here and we can hear you.”

“And we can let you know we understand,” Tony said, picking up some heavy chains out of thin air and shaking them loudly.

“That was you?” Maggie asked accusingly. “Those damn chains scared the crap out of me!”

Tony dropped the chains and they disappeared. “Chains? What chains?” He said blushing.

The next day Maggie was on her laptop while Theo attended his Zoom kindergarten. Out of her peripheral vision she could see Theo losing focus and starting to edge away from the screen.

“Janine?” she called, “Could you keep an eye on Theo? I have to get this spreadsheet together.”

Janine crouched next to Theo who saw her and immediately stopped. She pointed at the screen and Theo grudgingly turned his attention back to the screen.

..

Tony stood on the stoop over the Amazon package that had just been delivered. “Keep moving, dog lady,” he said to the woman walking her Pomeranian. She couldn’t hear him. Between cars a teenage boy looked left and right to make sure no one was looking then he moved as deliberately as he could towards the package. “This isn’t good,” Tony said to himself. The kid reached down to grab the package and Tony concentrated, materialized as a rotting zombie with his melting flesh face an inch from the face of the boy. The boy’s eyes met his and Tony just said, “Boo.” The kid fell back on his butt before scrambling to his feet and sprinting away. “Heh, I like this,” Tony said to himself.

..

“Tell her!” Janine insisted.

“Ugh, do I have to?”

“Yes, you have to!”

“Tell me what?” Maggie asked as she fixed the tuna casserole.

Suzie rolled her eyes. “Janine wants to know if you’d put TLC’s ‘Crazysexycool’ on again.”

“Oh, I’d love to! Good taste, Janine!” Maggie said opening Spotify on her phone.

“Ugh! I don’t know if this was a good idea,” Suzie said.

“Rona!” Tony said staring out the window. “That dude’s totally got the ‘Rona!”

“Thanks, Tony,” Suzie said. “I don’t think you need to alert us to everyone walking by.”

“Oh, she definitely has the ‘Rona! Don’t even slow down, lady! Keep walking!”

Suzie appealed to Janine. “Don’t look at me,” Janine said. “He thinks he’s being helpful. We’re all trapped here together!”