After the stories of the last couple days, Akilah requested I lighten it up. Okay, lightened!
Edit: after I published this I went to grab the url of the link to this post and noticed it appended a “2” to the end. That’s odd… then I went and looked back and noticed, yeah, last year I had a story called “Old Friends” as well. Ha! Very different, but I guess after nearly 200 stories I was bound to use the same title! Also, WTF? TWO HUNDRED STORIES? Wow…
The voice came from the doorway.
“Alan…”
Your name is never so terrifying to hear as when it’s late and you’re alone in your house. …Or you think you’re alone. Part of my brain said, “You’re hearing things. It’s likely some house noise that just sounds like your name…”
“Alan…” louder this time. Nope, that’s my name. I took a deep breath and turned to see a ghost in the doorway.
But I have to admit, as far as ghosts go, he wasn’t particularly terrifying. About my height, maybe a few years older, shaved head, easy smile… he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him…”
“Hey Alan,” he said fondly. “It’s been a while.”
“Y…yeah,” I stammered, realizing we did know each other. “It has been a while…”
“We had some great times, though, right?” the ghost smiled.
“Oh, man, the best!” I flatly lied.
“Like when we took your old blue Jetta out to Pescadero and just watched the surf?”
“Dude,” I smiled, “classic!” And by “classic” I meant I’d driven the Jetta out to Pescadero like a million times back in high school… but I sold it to go to college… so that points to this ghost being a high school classmate… I thought back to the people I’d taken to Pescadero. Darren, my best friend, mostly… a lot of girls… I studied his face to see any sign he might have transitioned…
“And when I snuck into your dorm room with Janey to surprise you for your 21st birthday?”
“I couldn’t believe you were there!” Wait, I knew him in college, too? And I remember my then-girlfriend, Janey, surprising me… who else was there…?
“Oh man,” he laughed. “How about when we worked together at EchoCraft and you got that shitty review and we all went out and got hammered at lunch?”
“I’d definitely had better days…” I knew him at EchoCraft? Jesus… how can I not remember him?
“Hey, I never got a chance to say it while I was alive, but… I’m really sorry things didn’t work out between you and Angie. Your wedding was so beautiful…”
“Thanks, man…” I INVITED HIM TO MY WEDDING? I ran through the images in my mind from my wedding day and thinking of who we invited…
“We’ve been through a lot, bro,” he said, smiling sadly. “I’m just glad I was able to be there for you when I was alive.”
“Me too, man, me too…” I searched his face again, and wracked my brain… and then broke. “I’m so sorry, man… I can’t remember your name…”
“Holy crap!” he exclaimed and I braced myself to feel guilty for forgetting this man who was clearly seminal in my life but I somehow erased our memories together. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to ask!”
“Excuse me?”
“Dude, we don’t know each other. You moved into this house last fall and I’ve been haunting this place for years. I decided to go through all your pictures and journals and then prank you!” he doubled over in a fit of laughter. “Oh my God, watching you trying to figure out who I was…” he gasped for air. “’I can’t believe you were there!’” he mimicked me and laughed harder.
I threw an empty beer can at him, but it went right through him.
“Oh, wow, that was a lot of effort and, dude, your handwriting is terrible, but it was so worth it!”
Furious, I picked up my cell phone and started going through my contacts before lifting the phone to my ear.
His laughing petered out. “Wait, who are you calling?”
“My friend Marco.”
“Marco?”
“You’ve been studying me, you must know Marco…” I said as the phone started ringing and I waited for Marco to pick up.
“Marco… the priest?” the ghost paled – if that were possible – “Oh shit!” he said and disappeared.
