《10 Day haunting》


 The Day Before

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

 Day 1 Part 1

    I woke up.


    My eyesight was fuzzy, and I didn''t know what was going on for a moment. I rub my eyes a bit, hoping that it will help them focus a bit more.


    I realized that I was lying on the ground, the pain was gone, but my disappointment was immeasurable.


    I failed in my attempt to kill myself.


    The moonlight invaded my room. It was because the curtain rod couldn''t support my weight and broke in half at the most crucial moment of my suicide.


    I couldn''t believe it. Am I really this unlucky? Even before my death, I couldn''t get anything that I wanted. All I end up with is pain and disappointment.


    I untied the noose that was still slightly digging into my neck. It still hurts a bit. I couldn''t see it, but I am sure that there is now a bright red, or maybe a darkish, line on my neck, something that will further add to my reasons as to why I will never go outside again.


    I continued to lay still on the wooden floor and closed my tired eyes.


    "Hello?" a soft voice echoed across the room.


    I flashed my eyes open and looked around in confusion. I sat down to get a better view of my room. There was nothing there that could be the source of the voice. Nothing was out of the ordinary.


    Did I lose it and start to hear voices in my head? I wasn''t so sure. I''m definitely twisted, but I''m not that insane.


    I sighed in relief as I stood up, swiping my clothes to remove any dust that had attached to me when I laid on the floor.


    "Good evening!"


    A chill went up my spine. I heard the voice again, and it was close, very close.


    I hesitantly turned around.


    It was a girl. Her skin was pale as snow, her face resembled that of a child, and a big smile was on her face. She wore a casual white dress, and her hair was dark black.


    The bad part about this was that she was looking at me, and even trying to converse with me. But the worst part was that despite her looking like a young child, presumably by the age of 6 or so, our eyes were leveled with each other, we were basically the same height. I immediately found out the reason for this as I got a quick glance down. Her feet, they weren''t on the ground. She was floating.


    My eyes widened, and I began to shake.


    I hurriedly turned around and dashed for my bed.


    I took my blanket and covered my entire being with it. I wrapped myself around it so that girl, or whatever she was, couldn''t take the blanket off of me.


    I don''t know what was going on. Was she really a ghost? If she is, then why is she here? Out of all the people in this apartment, in the entire world, why me of all people? Am I really this unlucky to even attract the attention of the dead?


    "Hey, what are you doing?" asked the girl.


    I curled up even more. I even covered my ears with my hands. I didn''t want to listen to whatever that thing was saying. She couldn''t possibly be real. It''s a dream, it''s all a dream.


    I closed my eyes and tried to sleep it off.


    Suddenly, I felt a tug on the blanket.


    "What are you doing? Come out of there and play with me," said the girl.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    My shaking worsened. Not only was she a ghost, but she could interact with the world. She could touch and move things, which isn''t commonly portrayed in movies or books. Normally, a ghost would just phase through objects they tried to touch, but she was different.


    "Are you playing hide and seek?" asked the girl.


    I didn''t respond.


    "Hey, come on, let''s play!"


    She kept tugging on the blanket, but I didn''t give her the satisfaction of a response.


    "Hey! Come out of there, please!" she pulled harder. "Please come out and play with me!"


    I sighed.


    I took a breath in and out. Now that the immediate shock from seeing a ghost was gone, all that was left was confusion. I wasn''t scared anymore, actually, I''m more annoyed than confused at this point.


    She continued to tug on my blanket while using her annoyingly high-pitched voice of hers to ask me to come out and play. Because of this, I realized that she was more or less harmless and that she was in fact an actual child, a ghost child.


    Nevertheless, I''m not coming out of the blanket. Even if she is a child, that still doesn''t explain her existence. She was floating, I''m positive of this.


    Now that I''ve calmed down, I remembered something. When I caught a quick glance at her face, she looked similar to the girl in my dream. I''m not really sure since that memory is quite fuzzy now, since it''s a dream after all, but her voice definitely matched the girl in my dream, since they were both equally as high-pitched, and annoying.


    Then I remembered something else. In my dream, I remembered her muttering the words don''t and die.


    I clicked my tongue.


    My annoyance quickly turned into anger. I hate it when I never get what I want, but I despise people who try to get in my way. Even if it''s not through physical means and only through words, I still hate it when people try to influence my thinking. They could say anything they want, they could force all their norms and morals on me, but I won''t listen. I''ve experienced many instances of this in my life, and every time, it annoyed me more than the last.


    Even if it is something as morbid as death, I already hate her for getting in my way. Even if she was only asking for me not to die, I still despise her. Mind your own business and let others do what they want, even if it involves death. If you''re not affected or connected to the issue, then look away and let it happen. This world does indeed reward those who try to be heroic, but only for a short time, after a while, you''re back to being a nobody. Being in the spotlight can boost your confidence, but too much of it can turn you into an attention-seeking vermin of society.


    "Come on, let''s play!" said the girl as she enthusiastically tugged on the blanket.


    I continued to cover my ears, not because I was frightened by her, but because I didn''t want to hear her annoying, high-pitched voice anymore.


    "Hey! Please, let''s play! I''m so bored."


    I sighed again. My body is seething with rage. She intruded in my dream and my room, she tried to stop me from committing suicide, and now she''s trying to annoy the living hell out of me.


    If I were a normal person, then sure, I would play with her, but I''m not. I hate interacting with people, especially with children. People like to watch children play because they say that they''re pure and innocent, but I just see them as a nuisance. They''re rash, simple-minded, boorish, rude, and every other negative synonym that I can think of.


    What''s the point of playing around with people? If you read books, then you gain knowledge, If you exercise, then you gain strength. If you play sports seriously, then you gain skill. You can do a lot of things that are actually worth your time. Playing around with people only exists for the sole purpose of maintaining your status in your friend group, and having fun is only an added benefit. In this case, playing around with a ghost will only make people think that I''ve gone insane, well... maybe that''s not so far from the truth, but even if I do acknowledge it, I don''t want to hear it coming from someone else.


    Before I became this shut-in, I interacted with my so-called friends once. But it wasn''t fun at all. Nothing good has ever come from hanging out with people, only wasted time and even money.


    "Let''s play!" said the girl.


    She tugged on my blanket again.


    I''ve had enough. I don''t want to speak to anyone, but this is an exception. My annoyance had already skyrocketed, and I just wanted to be left alone.


    I took a deep breath.


    "Please come ou-"


    Before she could even finish, I shouted with all my might, "SHUT UP!"


    I could feel that my voice echoed across the entire room, even when I was under my blanket.


    I haven''t shouted in a while, heck, I can''t even remember the last time I''ve spoken a word. It felt quite good actually, almost liberating. It''s as if all my pent-up stress and anger shot out of my mouth and vanished in the air.


    I didn''t hear anything from the girl, and the tugging had stopped.


    I''m quite satisfied with this but it wasn''t enough. I''ve already shouted at her so might as well go all in.


    "GO AWAY! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I yelled even louder.


    I didn''t hear any sort of response. Maybe she left already. I''m not sure. But I''m still not getting out of this bed.


    After calming down a bit, I only realized now that I cussed at a child. I''m not really sure if I could justify it, but I don''t really feel any guilt about it. Deserved or not, it''s her fault for trespassing in my personal space.


    Still covering my entirety with the blanket, I closed my eyes and went to sleep, hoping that when I woke up, all of this was just another bad dream.

 Day 1 Part 2

    I woke up.


    The bright rays of the sun intruded into my room, yet again, but this time, I couldn''t do anything about it.


    As I opened my eyes, I couldn''t see much since the blanket still covered my entirety. Ever since I was a child, I never moved much in my sleep. I''m quite glad that I retained that unconscious discipline since it prevented my eyes from being burned by the morning sun.


    I sluggishly stood up and stretched my arms in the air, yawning as I looked over at the open window.


    The sunlight looked warm, very warm, in fact, I could feel all my energy being siphoned out of me. If looking at it is already this exhausting, then I can''t imagine what would happen if it were shining directly on my pale skin.


    I took a step forward towards the window to peek through, but a sudden sharp prick on my right bare foot halted my movement.


    I usually don''t wear slippers inside my room, though I''m not sure if wearing one is a common practice. It wasn''t really that painful to begin with, the initial pain was a bit surprising, but it quickly subsided after just a few seconds.


    I definitely could have avoided this if I wore them, but it''s quite tiring to sort through my messy drawer of random junk to find it.


    I raised my foot to see what had happened. I was bleeding a bit, right around the center of my foot, but it wasn''t anything serious. It''s one of those kinds of wounds that quickly heal up in a matter of hours. After looking at the ground, I then found the culprit. It was a piece of debris from the broken curtain rod.


    My mouth was slightly ajar in surprise as I quickly realized that I had forgotten to clean up last night.


    But wait, why did I forget about it?


    Oh, that''s right, it''s because of that girl. That occurrence almost slipped my mind entirely.


    I glanced in every direction of the room, a bit frantically as I was still not sure about the reality of that situation, but luckily, there was no sight of any ghostly creature. I even checked under the bed just in case.


    I sighed in relief as I concluded that she was gone.


    Was it really just a dream? It probably is. There couldn''t possibly be ghosts. She was probably just a hallucination from my failed suicide attempt. It''s because both my body and mind were too tired at that point and I probably couldn''t tell reality and dreams apart.


    On second thought, I must have looked like I''d lost it last night. Panicking and hiding under a blanket after failing to commit suicide. No one would believe me if I said that I saw a ghost, but it''s not like I can tell anyone about it, since I don''t really have anyone to talk with, and not that I want to talk to anyone about it. I am suicidal, but I''d rather people see me as an unstable person rather than an idiot who thinks ghosts and the occult are real.


    I walked towards the window, and stealthily peeked from the side, being cautious to not be seen by the people of the outside world.


    Luckily, there was no human in sight, just the birds again. I took a moment to admire them. Birds are so beautiful, aren''t they? Yes, they''re gorgeous because of their wings and other attractive physical features, but what really strikes them as beautiful is that they are free. They''re free to roam the skies, something that humans once thought was an impossibility. They can land anywhere without being charged with trespassing. Their very existence symbolizes peace and freedom, something that I, and probably every other human strive for. And that''s another reason why I''m going to kill myself because when I finally succeed, I will be able to obtain both at the same time.


    I sighed again.


    That''s enough sunlight for today.


    I grabbed the blanket from my bed and clipped it on the curtain rod brackets to block out the sun. The light dimmed down a bit, but the blanket was too thin to fully block the light from piercing through.


    A cold gust of wind blew by and waved the blanket onto my face. I just now noticed that it reeks from repeated use. I don''t really wash my clothes, I know how to do it, but I can''t do it, since it requires going outside this room.


    This apartment complex has a public washing machine facility right next to it. I remember going there before, just to take a peek inside. It was probably quite a while ago, more than half a year perhaps.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    I stepped on some debris again and sighed.


    What a chore this was.


    I reluctantly got on my knees and picked up the debris on the floor one by one, since I don''t have a dustpan or a broom in my room, or I think I don''t have one. Again, going through my drawers of random junk is quite a pain.


    I went to my kitchen and slid the debris inside a black garbage bag that was sitting on top of a garbage bag, which was sitting on top of a garbage bag, behind a garbage bag. Yes, my kitchen is a mess. There are garbage bags everywhere. Like most people, I do want to clean them, but that would require bringing them outside, which is something that I don''t want to do.


    Now that I''m done with cleaning, my body already feels like it could drop any second now, so I did just that and laid on my bed yet again.


    I reached out and grabbed my phone that was on the bedside cabinet. I opened it and what immediately met my gaze was one new and fifty-seven old notifications from Ms. Hannah, my aunt, and one old message from Dad. I haven''t opened any of them, I probably never will.


    I opened and browsed a shopping app and ordered a curtain rod. I checked the reviews, specifications, details, and everything that was written on the listing in order to be sure that this one would be durable.


    I then ordered it. Three days to deliver. Guess I have another three days to live. There are a lot of ways to kill myself, but death by hanging is the most appealing to me.


    I can bear with three more days. In fact, it might be even a bit enjoyable since I still have some books that I could read, but that idea will have to wait since the grumbling of my stomach signaled an activity that I needed to do first, and that is to eat some breakfast.


    Strolling over to the kitchen made me remember one crucial detail that I had forgotten, and opening the fridge doors made the realization even more disheartening. I was out of food.


    I didn''t plan a single thing in the event that I failed in my suicide. I''ve rationed everything to run out on the day of my demise, be it food or anything else.


    I''m quite unlucky today. Normally I don''t really get peckish in the mornings, but the grumbling in my stomach says otherwise.


    I desperately searched inside the drawers, cupboards, and other compartments that I could find in my apartment. With each compartment opened, sweat piled up more and more in my pores as I began to dread what I needed to do to solve this crisis, and that was to go outside and buy some food.


    There''s always food delivery, but this time, it wasn''t an option. Most restaurants in my area don''t open for deliveries in the morning. You can order from some restaurants, but all of the ones open are too far away and take around an hour to arrive. I usually place an order in advance at night if I want to eat breakfast the next day.


    It''s quite funny, isn''t it? Last night I tried to commit suicide, to end my life forever, but now, I''m desperately looking for some sustenance to extend it. Death by starvation isn''t really my thing, the reason for this is because I want it to be a fast death, not a death that will slowly torture me until my body gives in. At most, I''ll allow up to a minute of pain, but beyond that is just something that I''m frightened of. Pain is much more frightening than death since you can attain peace through death, but only the opposite from pain.  Pain is a challenge, a hurdle to be overcome in order to achieve true peace, and that is why I strive for a fast and simple way to overcome this challenge, which is death by hanging. Though I''m not really sure that it will only take a minute before I die, but I''m positive that I would already be unconscious in only a minute. My past attempt had already proven this.


    I gulped as I eyed the final cupboard that hasn''t been opened yet. I slowly reached for the handle as my stomach growled ferociously. I opened it and gasped. There was food, only a single can of sausages, but food nonetheless.


    I grabbed it and immediately opened it.


    I can cook, in theory. What I mean is that I know the steps on how to cook. I obviously know that I need to use oil for the food to not stick to the pan and that certain foods need a different amount of heat to effectively cook the inside. I have the knowledge, which most of them came from the books I read, but not the experience. It will probably take me three or four attempts before I can cook these sausages to perfection, but I don''t have the time, or resources to practice with.


    So instead, I pinched a sausage out of the can, pinched my nose with my other hand to not breathe in its raw smell, slid the sausage into my mouth, and bit a small piece off.


    It was probably disgusting, actually, it is disgusting. Eating something raw is the epiphany of disgusting. No one in their right mind would accept uncooked food from restaurants, especially if it is low-grade meat. Who knows what diseases you could get from eating it. But I was desperate.


    I finished an entire sausage and moved on to another piece. Unfortunately, I''ve held my nose for too long and needed to breathe in some air, and so I did, but because of this, I breathed in the stench of the sausage in my hand. Stench is the right word since its foul odor made my stomach turn and was strong enough to even make me drop the sausage.


    I don''t know how I didn''t notice the smell when I first opened the can. Guess I was just that hungry. I turned the can around. 070622 was written on the label. I don''t really know which number is the month, if it''s the seven or the six, but that didn''t really matter, since today was the third of October, meaning that if the month was one or the other, it was obviously still expired.


    I threw the can as well as the sausage that I''ve dropped inside an open garbage bag near the mountain of garbage bags. Thus, my breakfast came to an end.


    I sighed as I went back to my living room slash bedroom. I then ordered lunch on my phone through a delivery app, since calling up the restaurant is never an option for me. It is an option, but the talking part isn''t.


    I was still hungry, very much so, but there was no edible food in sight. So instead, I went with the best course of action. I hopped on my bed and took a nap.

 Day 1 Part 3

    I woke up.


    In my dazed state, I could faintly hear the doorbell ring, which was the reason for my awakening. I''m sort of agitated because of this since someone dared to interrupt me from my peace, but I''ll forgive them for now, as long as they are the food delivery person.


    I got up and stretched my arms up in the air. I feel quite refreshed, more energized than last night''s slumber. I got a quick glance at my phone and realized that I only napped for around an hour and a half or so.


    With more energy than ever, I slowly walked towards the door and waited. Just like always, I waited for a minute or so until I was confident enough that the food delivery person, or whoever was out there, had already left.


    Afterward, I got down on the ground and creaked open the door, but then I heard a voice. It wasn''t the ghostly voice of the girl last night, but rather voices coming from outside, my neighbors. I can hear three elderly women, or what I assume to be elderly as their voices were sort of adult sounding, and only the elderly would chat openly outside in this apartment complex.


    I quietly closed the door. I couldn''t grab the food outside, because this would mean that I would need to open the door just enough for me to be able to grab it. But there was a problem. Sometimes, my door would creek, which sort of sounded like a rusty gate being forced to swing open. Last time, I was confident enough to open it as there was no one around, but now, people were outside, and I''m positive that they were close enough to be able to hear my door swing open. I couldn''t risk it, and knowing my luck, the door would obviously betray me and creak as loud as it could.


    Unfortunately for me, I couldn''t wait for another second as my hunger from a few hours ago had returned and weighed heavy on my deprived stomach, quickly draining the energy that I just gained from my nap.


    I had one last option. I got down on the floor and eyed the miniature door of some sort that was built into the door. It was a doggy door.


    I remained seated there, frozen in place.


    I could recall a few moments of happiness whenever I opened this door, but now, all I get from seeing it is sadness. A heavy feeling weighed me down as I looked at the doggy door. Never again, I said to myself once. I will never again open this door because I didn''t want to recall those past memories and since I didn''t have any need to open it ever again, until now.


    I took a deep breath and exhaled.


    "I''m alright now. It''s been two months already," I mumbled to myself.


    With my shaking hands, I undid the lock and slowly pushed open the small door.


    It opened outward and almost pushed over the plastic bag, which would have made a noise if it had. I didn''t even bother glancing at the outside world. The only thing that my eyes focused on was the plastic bag that held my sustenance for the day. With my other hand, I quickly reached outside, grabbed the bag, and pulled it inside. Then, I closed the doggy door and locked it once again.


    It was a success. I now had food and my presence wasn''t noticed by the people outside. I happily walked over to the fridge and placed the entire plastic bag inside. It contained three servings of Chinese fried rice, which was arguably my second or maybe third favorite food. One serving for lunch, one for dinner, and the other for breakfast tomorrow. I opened the bag while it was in the fridge and grabbed a serving, together with the plastic spoon that it came with.


    My stomach growled again, so I happily stuffed my face right there and then in the kitchen. I sat on the floor and devoured it in a mere minute.


    It was quite delicious, but not as delicious as compared to sushi. This one was a tad too oily for my liking, but it was decent enough. I got up and threw the empty container in a random garbage bag.


    A drink would have been nice, but because of my forgetfulness, I didn''t realize that I hadn''t ordered a drink to go with my food. With a slight disappointment, I grabbed a glass cup from the sink and filled it with the worst type of drink, tap water. It isn''t bad, but It''s just the least appealing for me since I grew up drinking purified water, but I mostly drank juice or soda with every meal. I only started to drink tap water recently, because I ran out of bottled water some time ago. The only time I can order a drink is whenever I buy food delivery since ordering just a single drink and having someone deliver such a small item would be sort of terrible. I know that many people do this, but I just can''t force myself to inconvenience someone with such a task. I could order water in bulk, but that would mean fully opening my door and carrying the heavy package inside, which is both a mentally impossible task for me and a hassle.


    I drank the tap water while holding my breath, so as to not taste it, and placed the glass back on the sink.


    A sigh escaped my mouth as I walked back to my living room.


    I practically had nothing to do. There were no books to be read, nor any sort of activity to be done.


    My life had been extended for a few more days but what could I use it for? Another reason why people kill themselves is because they can''t do anything with their lives, but now that I have more than I initially planned, I simply can''t think of anything to pass the time until my demise, that will hopefully not fail for a second time.


    With nothing to do, I grabbed my phone and sat on my chair. I browsed my phone, mindlessly scrolling back and forth from my home screen in search of something to entertain my mind with.


    I sighed again.


    A quick glance at my bookshelves gave me quite an idea. If I''ve already read all of the books there, then I should simply read something new, something that will distract me for a few days. But there was one major problem, I had no way of getting new books. I could always order some online, but it will take a few days at least in order to arrive at my doorstep. I have my phone of course, but I simply hate reading online. The feeling of holding a physical copy, from the woody smell, the rough texture, and even the slight dangers of a paper cut, makes reading a physical book more appealing to me. Undoubtedly, reading through online means is more convenient, you could bring it anywhere, which a normal book can do, of course, but more practical since it can fit in your pocket. But the number one reason why online reading is more appealing for some people is because it''s free. There are many titles online, and even if it is between a paywall, there are countless ways to bypass this, which is to put on your hats, raise the sails, and ready yourself because it''s pirating time. I''m no advocate for this, but I do get why people do it. It''s not necessarily bad, but it''s not good either. For one, the author doesn''t get their small share of the profit, undoubtedly most of the profit goes to the publishers, and there really isn''t anything positive that comes from pirating, maybe your enjoyment from not emptying your pockets, but that''s just about it.


    I had no other choice on the matter. I opened a search engine, typed in book recommendations, and browsed away.


    Upon browsing, one title piqued my interest a bit. It was a simple book, even a children''s one at that. The Little Prince was the title, something that probably every English reader knows but not exactly read, and I am one of them. Since I had nothing to do and more free time than I knew what to do with, I leaned back and started to read. Actually, I didn''t really need to sit on a chair to read, since it was on a phone and all, I could have laid on my bed and read there, but once I was comfortable in my position, even though my posture was a mess, I simply can''t generate the urge to get up.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    About an hour passed, but I was only on page twenty. Normally, I could get through forty or maybe even fifty if the book''s grammar was simple, but for some reason, my reading speed had plummeted. I didn''t exactly know the reason why, maybe there was something that was weighing my mind down, or maybe there was something I was forgetting and trying to remember as I read the words in front of me, maybe the book wasn''t appealing to me as much, which is something that rarely happens since I can basically enjoy any genre, be it BL or even the more niche ones, and I''m not too proud about this but I''ve even dabbled upon some fanfiction. Or maybe I''m just not in the mood. Whatever the reason was, I''m in no condition to enjoy my reading at this moment.


    I turned off my phone and set it aside on my desk.


    Now what do I do?


    I sighed again, and incidentally, I got a quick whiff of myself. I''m not saying that I reek, but I don''t exactly remember the last time I showered, heck I can''t even remember the smell of soap.


    Taking a bath would probably do me some good. I don''t really know the science of it, but what I do know is that showering is quite good for the body, or so I thought. I''ve read some articles about it, but I''m not really quite sure what to believe. Some sources say that showering, particularly in scrubbing the body, actually removes the skin''s oil and healthy bacteria, causing the skin to become dry and somewhat itchy. But that doesn''t really matter to me. Be it irritation or cracked skin, I can tolerate both since my body is already screaming for help because I''m in it. But taking a bath does do some good, obviously, since it washes away the fatigue of my daily life, which is close to none, since what sort of fatigue could come from a life of lazing around and reading books?


    I stood up and walked to the closet to fetch a change of clothes, but as I got closer, it felt quite off. I wasn''t sure what it was, but it felt kind of cold for some reason. Paying no mind to this, I nonchalantly swung the closet door open.


    The reason for the weird feeling had been answered immediately.


    She was there, sitting there in the corner of the closet, surrounded by piles of clothes that had been lazily piled due to the lack of hangers. It was the girl, the same girl from my dream and from last night.


    I didn''t know what to do. I still don''t believe in ghosts, but that might have changed a bit at this moment. I am undoubtedly awake right now. No sort of dream could emulate the chill in my spine as I stared at the girl. I have no choice but to accept that she is real, and still in my room.


    She was asleep, or had been asleep, since my action of opening the closet door must have woken her up.


    I began to panic, but this was when I formulated a last-second brilliant idea.


    I could still see her, and I was definitely sure that she could see me, but what if I couldn''t see her? Humans shouldn''t normally see ghosts, but for some reason, I''m the exception, but what if I wasn''t? I don''t want to deal with people, much less the otherworldly, especially if it''s a child. I don''t want her to be in my almost-expiring life, and I don''t want to be in her already-expired life. So, my genius idea is that I shall feign blindness, to pretend that I couldn''t see her, even if she is right in front of me. Yes! that''s the best option for an introverted social outcast like myself.


    With her eyes closed, the girl stretched, much like what I do whenever I wake up, the only difference was that the cramped space of the closet restricted her actions. Then as she finally escaped her daze, she looked at me, or I assumed that she was looking at me, since what else was there to look at?


    "Good morning, Mister," she said.


    I stood there for a second, I was supposed to start my acting and reach for some clothing, but I stopped. Her voice, it was different. It was the same annoying high-pitched childish voice that I despise, but it seemed to have lost its vitality. It''s as if all the enthusiasm from last night disappeared and left an empty shell of sadness in her voice.


    Following my original plan, I grabbed a towel and a change of clothes. I even grabbed the t-shirt that was right next to her to further add to my facade. Which seemed to have worked, since all her movements had ceased, and she gave off a sort of confused air around her.


    With my original goal of procuring a change of clothes accomplished, I closed the closet door and left the confused ghost of the girl inside my closet, which is a sentence that normally wouldn''t cross my mind, due to it being very weird and illegal. Though I''m not exactly sure if the laws of the all-controlling government still apply to that of the otherworldly.


    I sighed as I walked over to my bathroom. Rather than a sigh of disappointment or of a negative emotion, it was a refreshed sigh, since I was successful in my charade, and that the next thing that awaited me was the warm waters of my bathtub.


    I entered the bathroom and locked the door on my way in. I then proceeded to turn on the faucet and allowed the soothing water to flow out and slowly fill my bathtub. A surge of warmth slowly filled the room, which was in the form of steam, and dissipated in the air.


    While waiting for the tub to fill up, I needed to wash my body first, since it was a must before entering the divine sanctity of the bathtub. I poured water all over my body with a pail and bucket that was already filled to the brim with water from my previous bathing session, which was quite a while ago. The water was quite cold from it being there out in the open for a while, but not exactly displeasing. I scrubbed my body with soap and even shampooed my hair. I did in fact have a conditioner, and it was even next to the bottle of shampoo, but I couldn''t be bothered to use it. I know that it provides countless benefits to my hair, like strengthening it, giving it a nice shine, and cleaning the germs and dandruff off my hair, which was something that mine really needed, since every time I move or even touch my hair, white particles, which was dandruff, snows down on the ground, which is absolutely disgusting. But I had no need to cleanse my body of dandruff, since in a few days, I would be moving on to hell or heaven, or reincarnated, whichever one you believe in. Though I''m not sure why I even shampooed my hair. Maybe it was out of habit or for peace of mind.


    Whenever I finish bathing, or at least after I wash my body before I get in the bathtub, I usually fill up the bucket so I don''t need to wait for it to fill up for my next bathing session. But there was no need to do it this time, since there will be no next time.


    Having finished my preliminary bath, I slowly boarded the bathtub, dipping my left foot first. A surge of warmth seemed to envelop my body just from the first point of contact. The deeper in I went, the more I could feel myself melt from its pleasant heat, much like a slab of butter melting away as it sizzles in the pan.


    "This might be heaven," I said to myself.


    Bathing doesn''t usually feel this pleasing, or maybe it might have been, I can''t really remember if the past times are like this or not, heck I don''t even remember when my most recent bath was.


    What matters now is the present, since I won''t really have a future. It is in my best interest to enjoy my last few days before I depart. But what could I do to make it actually enjoyable? With that girl in the closet weighing on my mind, I''m not exactly sure how I can focus on reading. Maybe continuing to pretend blind would be the best course of action, but I''m not really sure if it could work for the long term, or at least long enough before my death. For one, the girl could suddenly leave the closet and cause a disturbance, which could ruin my acting if whatever she does is severe enough. She could also just physically touch me with her ghostly extremities, which is quite odd considering ghosts can''t normally do that, but now that I''ve thought of it, ghosts touching objects isn''t really out of the realm of possibility, since all the knowledge we have on ghosts is all from preconceived knowledge or just plain imagination.


    I doubt that anyone else has seen a ghost, or rather observed one in detail. I''m not saying I''m special or anything, but if I am then at least that''s one thing I could be proud of before I die. What I''m saying is that all these years, if someone has already carefully examined a real ghost, then why isn''t there detailed evidence of it? Sure there are countless claims online, but there really doesn''t seem to be any consistency to them. You have the standard floating, passing through walls and such, but not even that is consistent since some sightings suggest that ghosts walk or crawl, heck some even say they fly like birds. Even passing through walls isn''t consistent, since some folklore from other countries suggest that they can''t go inside rooms unless there''s an open entrance. But the most important reason is their appearance. Some say they look hideous and monstrous while some describe them to look like normal people, and some even say that they''re the most beautiful entities they have ever gazed their eyes upon. In conclusion, it''s all bullshit that people have come up with, which passed through many generations, resulting in different outlooks on ghosts.


    Now that there is an actual ghost in my closet, a harmless one at that, I could probably use my remaining time in order to study such an entity, but that itself arises one problem, interaction. Observation is only the first step in a detailed study since there can only be so much that you can get from simply looking at the specimen. The next step would be to actually interact with it, to add another variable that could help in extracting knowledge that can''t be gathered at a surface level. I''m not quite sure if I will do this, I most definitely won''t since interaction is out of the question, but it''s nice to imagine people praising me for discovering what a ghost truly is.


    I sank deeper into the bathtub. Thinking about random things like this helps me relax. I''m not really sure if my thoughts make any sense, but I don''t really care, since people can''t judge me as long as I don''t say these things out loud.


    The room gradually moistened with steam which further added to its pleasant warmth. At one point during my thoughts, I had closed my eyes. I didn''t realize it at first, but the combination of the cozy atmosphere, soothing waters, and ramble of my thoughts made me relax so much that I snoozed off in the bathtub.

 Day 1 Part 4

    I woke up.


    As I opened my eyes, I felt surprised for a moment, not a surprise that was over-exaggerated like when you see a ghost or whatnot, but rather a confused one to which you could simply describe by the utterance: huh? followed by the realization of: oh.


    When I came to, I was still in the tub, marinating like a piece of chicken ready to be fried the next day, or maybe even like a forgotten tea bag that remained submerged in a cup.


    I properly sat on the bathtub from my slouched down position and I stretched my arms up high, the usual.


    Both my hands and feet were wrinkly, signaling that I''d been in the water for some time, though I''m not really sure of the exact duration to which this phenomenon occurs. Seeing them reminds me of dates for some reason, the fruit I mean, not the social activity nor the calendar. But the main and more measurable element that signaled that the end of my bath was long overdue was the water, which was now room temperature, meaning that It''s likely been over half an hour or so.


    I finally got out of the bathtub, and with a pull on the drain stopper, the water slowly drained away while I let the drain stopper float there, floating until all the water disappeared.


    I then grabbed a towel and started to dry myself in front of the mirror, starting with my hair and then moving down until the soles of my feet. Having finished, I threw the towel in a clothes basket that was in the corner of the room.


    I then proceeded to clothe myself with my usual attire, a black tracksuit.


    Before I left the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror. I don''t really know why I do this, it wasn''t as if looking in the mirror would magically make me handsome by any means. For one, the pimples on my forehead appalled me, and looking at them reminded me of a time when I had a bright red pimple on the dead center of my nose which made me look like Rudolf the rednosed reindeer. My face isn''t noteworthy, it''s not particularly ugly nor is it handsome either, it''s just that I don''t have any features that make me stand out, much like a side character, or more accurately, someone to add to the crowd. I think it''s more of a force of habit. It''s practically human nature to look in a mirror whenever one is around. Though there really isn''t anything that I could get from looking in it, since the only person that could see me in my shut-in everyday life is myself, oh! and that ghost girl, but I don''t care about what a child thinks about appearances. For one, most children of her age''s appearance is greatly dictated by their parents, from their hairstyle, clothing, and even down to the shoes they wear. I''m not saying this is a bad thing, but I do think that a bit of freedom of choice is needed. However, it isn''t really their money to begin with, so whatever the parent buys is what they inevitably get. Despite my earlier thoughts, I combed my hair neatly with my fingers.


    Leaving the bathroom, I went back to my desk to try and get a sort of second wind to my reading, to see if whatever was bothering me a while ago had been washed away by the waters of my bathtub.


    I opened my phone, went back to the last digital page that I was on, and continued to read.


    For the most part, I was reading quite fine. It''s still not my usual reading speed, but it was close to it. Maybe the bath was effective, or maybe I simply adjusted to reading digitally. Whatever it was, I''m just glad that everything was almost back to normal, or so I thought.


    Soon after, around an hour or so, I began to falter in my reading and I was essentially back to the state before I had taken my bath. Despite this, I tried to push on with my reading, but it was when I read a quote that my relaxing alone time with my digital book was cut short yet again. the quote was "The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart." After my eyes laid upon these lines, I began to think of something that could supply what that unseeable and untouchable thing was. I first thought about the mind: emotions, memories, and whatnot, but then I thought about entities for some reason: gods, spirits, and ghosts. The moment my mind thought about ghosts, my vision suddenly darted towards the closet, to which the ghost girl still remains, or at least I think she''s still there, I''m not really sure since I haven''t checked, but hopefully she''s gone.


    My mind began to ponder about her. What exactly was she? I did already accept that she was a ghost of some sort, but I still yearned for an explanation, a more scientific reason for her existence. Then after that, I most definitely want to know why she is here of all places. It would make sense if she was someone from my past and came to haunt me, but even just from the first glance of her face, no one comes to mind. For one, if she really was someone I know, then she would need to be from around this neighborhood, and of course, they needed to have died in my lifetime, but the problem was that no one has died around here yet, except for... never mind.


    I sighed and my eyes met with the ground.


    Maybe she was from way before my time and had died in this very building and now haunts it. This was the explanation that I went with because my mood was now ruined and I didn''t want to think further about it. Plus, if I did want to know more about her, then the obvious course of action was to ask her directly, to which I reply with no.


    I leaned back on my chair, looked up, covered my eyes with my arm, and sighed again.


    Thinking about this topic unfortunately led me to something that I didn''t want to remember any time soon. I know I will have to face it eventually, but actually, I don''t need to, since death''s door is already inviting me in. Just a few more days and I can escape from it. So, the actual best course of action for me now is to simply ignore everything and occupy my mind with other things.


    Speaking of other things, as the pale moonlight intruded upon my room, penetrating the gaps in my makeshift curtain, I realized that it was already time for dinner. And even without the exact time to know when to eat, the growling of my stomach proved to be the best alarm.


    I set my phone aside and made my way into my dump of a kitchen. I grabbed the second serving of my Chinese fried rice, and a spoon, heated it in the microwave, and munched away.


    As I ate, I couldn''t help but stare at my living room, more specifically the closet. It wasn''t visible from this angle but I could fully envision it even with my eyes open. There''s just something that''s bothering me about it. Yes, there is a ghost girl inside it, but something about her just seemed to weigh deep in my mind. I''m not really sure what it is, though I have a few guesses. Maybe it was her existence, which was still a mystery to me. She''s been here the whole day, yet I know nothing about her. Granted, I don''t want to have anything to do with her, but if she is going to stay here for any longer, though hopefully not, It''s in my best interest to at least know her name.


    It just occurred to me that what I''m currently thinking of is quite contradictory to my behavior, but I can justify it. For one, she''s just a child, someone who isn''t tainted by the ideals of society. Second, she''s a ghost. If every other ghost is just like her: pure, carefree, and enthusiastic, then their association with fear would be nonexistent, meaning that humans would be far scarier than ghosts. Humans will do anything to get what they want, even if it means lying, abusing, backstabbing, threatening, killing, etc. But what about ghosts? They are free from all earthly desires. They can''t become greedy since they have no need for money. They can''t become gluttonous, since food isn''t a necessity for them. They can''t become social monsters, since why does someone invisible need to fit in? Now that I think about it, being a ghost just sounds so pleasing to me. It''s just like my wish of becoming a bird, but far better. They are the spectators of the world, free of pain and suffering.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Now where was I? Oh right! her name. If I ever get the opportunity to ask, then I will do it, but for there to be an opportunity, she needs to still be in that closet, to which I''m not really sure if she is still there.


    I finished eating.


    After cleaning up, I approached the closet.


    I took a deep breath in. Even though I did say to myself that I should at least get her name, I was still nervous to do it. I haven''t partaken in conversations in quite a while and who knows if I can still verbally dictate my thoughts. Maybe I''m now a nervous wreck that blabbers nonsense, or maybe I''ll just freeze up and not even speak a single word. I just hope that I still have an ounce of social skills left. The best course of action would be to practice first, but the thought of practicing how to speak to people is quite demoralizing and I would rather just wing it than confront my patheticness. If ever I am not ready for it, I''ll go with plan B, which is to pretend that I still can''t see her and act like I''m just there to grab a change of clothes.


    With a not-so-foolproof plan, I grasped the closet handle and slowly swung it open.


    A sigh of relief exits my mouth. She was still there, and by the looks of the undisturbed piles of clothes, she hadn''t moved much. She sat there, her tiny hands wrapped around her legs with her head resting on her knees. She was asleep. It didn''t even cross my mind that one would be asleep at this hour, indeed it was now the dead of night, and she was a child, meaning that her bedtime is early, but I didn''t think that ghosts needed to sleep. But looking back, she was asleep the first time I saw her in the closet. I only realized this now and the first instance pretty much slipped my mind.


    Unfortunately, I can''t get her name at this moment, but at least I now have some time to prepare myself for my very first conversation in a while.


    I looked away, sighed, and slowly closed the closet door, trying to not disturb her ghostly slumber.


    "I''m..."


    I suddenly froze. She was muttering something in her sleep, but I couldn''t hear it clearly, only the first half was audible. I silently reopened the closet door, which hadn''t fully closed yet, and sneakily leaned closer to her.


    Honestly, this moment is quite nerve-racking for me. Obviously, it is, since I''m basically sneaking around and trying to not wake her up, but this might just be the first time that I got this close to someone else, much less a girl. I could clearly hear the pounding in my chest as every second passed.


    Now that I''m close enough to her, I can say firsthand that ghosts don''t smell like anything. I''m not creepy or anything, it''s just that I''m close enough to her and of course, I needed to inhale once in a while, I swear it wasn''t anything intentional. You would probably be sick in the head to want to sniff a child, much less a ghost.


    "I''m s..."


    She muttered something again, but even as close as I was, I couldn''t fully hear it, so I leaned in closer. My ear is now half a chopstick away from her face. I held my breath so as to not accidentally wake her up with my nervous breathing.


    "I''m.. I''m sorry."


    I finally heard what she said, though I''m not really sure what she meant by this. My face didn''t form much of a reaction, but I''m just a bit confused. A bit satisfied with my eavesdropping, I pulled my face out of the closet and slowly closed the closet door yet again when suddenly, I caught a glimpse of her face. She was indeed asleep, yet her face was in a slight frown and tears moistened her shut eyes.


    "I''m sorry," she muttered again.


    With more confusion in my head, I fully closed the closet door.


    Why was she apologizing? and to whom?


    I placed an open palm on the closet, not sure why but it''s a sort of mannerism of mine to hold or place my hand on something whenever I ponder deeply about something.


    Did her sadness have anything to do with her past life? or was it more about her present time? I can''t really guess anything about her background so the only clues that I have are of her time here.


    I started to think back to last night, to our first meeting. It was around midnight or so when she first appeared, maybe a bit later. She just appeared out of nowhere, like a bug that was now suddenly in my room, a bug that was trying to get me to play with her. Thinking back, did she witness my attempted suicide? Even if she is just a child, I am quite interested in her thoughts about death, plus she''s a ghost, so she has experience on the matter. Then... what happened next? Oh, that''s right, I acted like a wuss and hid under the blanket. Honestly, that''s quite disappointing and embarrassing of me. I wanted to die yet I was scared of a tiny ghost girl. Then she started to pull on my blanket, asking for me to play with her, and then....


    "Oh!" I exclaimed inside my head, taking my hand off the closet and pointing up as if an imaginary lightbulb just lit up above it.


    "Oh..." I exclaimed again but in a lower imaginary tone. My hand slowly dropped to my side.


    I finally understood what her sadness and apologies were about, as well as the reason why she was in the closet. It was because of me, I realized what I did to make her like that. I yelled at her. Last night, I didn''t just yell at her twice, but I even cussed at her.


    A moment of silence passed as I tried to compose my thoughts.


    Honestly, I shouldn''t care about this stuff. She is a child and I''m an almost legal-aged teen, yet, a child''s emotions are bothering me this much. This was the reason for my distracted reading sessions, I was bothered by her, at what I''d done. I couldn''t remember what I did at first, but now, I''m a bit bummed out about it. Indeed she was a ghost, and every other normal person would have done what I did. But if I had taken the courage to actually look at her closely in those past moments, then I wouldn''t have been frightened, and if I just approached her with a cool head, then I wouldn''t have yelled at her like that. Indeed I hate dealing with people, but now that I''m the reason, the cause of her sadness, I feel as though I''m now one of the people that I hate, and indeed I will become just like them if I don''t do something about this.


    I made a child cry, and there''s no running away from this, since running away would mean leaving this room. But what should I do? I''m not really ready to apologize to her, I mean.. I want to do it for my peace of mind, yet I feel that I won''t be able to say it clearly. If I were to speak to her and apologize, I would probably stumble a lot and end up saying gibberish with mixtures of umm and aah.


    I sighed. Then, I paced around the living room with my hand on my chin, thinking of a way to apologize. I couldn''t just set this aside, since this was the reason why I couldn''t read. If I get over this hurdle, then I can read efficiently again, and maybe gain a few social points as well.


    I continued to pace around for almost ten minutes or so, yet no decent solution came to mind.


    I snapped off of my thinking for a bit and realized that I had paced my way into the kitchen. I was about to go back and think in the living room again when I caught a glimpse of something, my fridge. Then I realized what I could do to somehow make up with her.


    I returned to the living room with a newly heated plastic container in my hand. I opened the closet and slid it inside, just close enough to where she could see it immediately when she woke up. I closed the closet and walked away. Inside the plastic container was something precious to me, something that was one of the remaining joys left in my life besides reading. It was food. I gave her my last serving of Chinese fried rice. I will probably starve in the morning as I wait for delivery, but at least I might get to be on good terms with her, and maybe this would be a sort of offering for her to leave. If I can make her happy, and fill her stomach, then maybe she would be able to move on and finally stop haunting my room. The only risk in this is if ghosts can''t eat, which will be quite awkward.


    With a slightly clear mind, I advance-ordered breakfast and jumped into bed.


    A lot of things happened today. Many things that aren''t necessarily bad, but not that good either. For one, I''m still alive today which is a disappointment. But because of my prolonged life, I was able to eat my two favorite foods again and even enjoy the comfort of my bathtub. I now even have a ghostly entity that haunts my room, well... my closet.


    If you were to ask me if I would still kill myself, then my answer would be an immediate yes. There''s no going back now, my life has been messed up so much that I won''t be able to return to society. I don''t even have the courage to leave my dim room, nor enjoy a shred of sunshine without feeling exhausted. I''m now fully used to the dark, be it physically or metaphorically. Maybe things would change, who knows? But what''s certain is that my replacement curtain rod is one day closer to being delivered, and once it is, my suicide will be resumed. Only a few more days left.


    I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

 Day 2 Part 1

    I woke up.


    I yawned for quite a bit as I stretched my arms up high. With the bright rays of the sun piercing through my makeshift curtains, a new day arrives where I am still alive, but at least I''m now one day closer to death.


    I grabbed my phone and browsed the shopping website that I ordered the curtain rod from, 1-2 days to be delivered. Not that long of a time, but because of my uneventful daily life, it feels like an eternity.


    I left the confines of my blanket and was ready to stand up, but suddenly, I stepped on something. It wasn''t painful like the debris yesterday, but rather quite soft. With confusion fully observable on my face, I looked down to see what exactly it was.


    "Slippers?" I mumbled to myself.


    Just yesterday I was thinking about the slippers that were in my drawers, and now here they are. I don''t exactly remember grabbing these out of there since I''m too lazy to sort through all the chaos inside those drawers. I also don''t have a tendency to sleepwalk, not that I''m aware of. But then, how exactly did these get here?


    I grabbed them and pondered quite a bit. I don''t know why I grabbed them, it wasn''t as if bringing them closer to my face would reveal the answer. But suddenly, I figured it out. If it wasn''t me, then it would have obviously been someone else, and the only other person, or rather entity, inside my room was the girl.


    I dropped the slippers back on the floor and slid my feet into them. They were already here, so I might as well get some use out of them. It wouldn''t hurt to try to maintain some good hygiene once in a while.


    I stood up and approached the hideout of the culprit. I took a deep breath and exhaled before I slowly swung open the closet doors.


    She''s not here.


    Just yesterday, she sat in that corner by the piles of clothes, but now she had disappeared without a trace. Now I was starting to doubt myself. Did she even exist in the first place? Or was it just my mind being troublesome? I wouldn''t be surprised if it was either, but I do favor the latter a bit, since it would mean that there was never any ghost in the first place and I would be left alone with no one to disturb me, only my imagination. But looking closely, I actually do have proof that she definitely exists. It was the Chinese fried rice. If she truly didn''t exist and I was only imagining things, then the rice would still be here, but it''s now gone as well. Where exactly did she go? Maybe she finally moved on or something. I''m not sure about the conditions in order to move on to the afterlife or whatever, but I can infer that it might have something to do with being satisfied or having a sense of fulfillment, and if you ask me, gobbling up some Chinese fried rice is indeed quite fulfilling. I closed the closet, knowing that it was no longer haunted by a ghostly entity.


    I stretched again, but this time felt more satisfying. It was as if a huge burden was now off my shoulders, allowing me to become weightless, removing all the fatigue accumulated in my undeveloped muscles.


    I wasn''t really sure what I would do to start my day, but I immediately found the answer as I almost jumped out of surprise at the sound of my doorbell.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Delivery!" an enthusiastic yell from a man came from outside.


    I froze in place. I haven''t heard anyone''s voice in quite a while, excluding the ghost girl. This wouldn''t normally happen whenever I ordered deliveries, they would just place the food on the floor without knocking and leave. Why is there a need to shout?


    "Delivery for room 21!"


    "Oh fuck!" I muttered in my mind. Does this mean he''s waiting for me to receive it myself? I know it''s a kind gesture to make sure that the customer receives their food, but I wish that idiot would learn how to read and follow my instruction of "Please leave on the floor." in the delivery app, which I''ve specifically instructed in order to avoid situations like this.


    A knock sounded on my door.


    I guess I have no choice in the matter. I don''t want to do this, but like I''ve said in the past, I don''t want to burden anyone else, and making a minimum-wage food delivery person wait a millennia definitely counts as being a burden.


    I slowly walked towards the door, my hands growing colder the closer I got.


    He knocked again, "Delivery!"


    I took a deep breath. It''s very fortunate that he seems like quite a nice fellow. It''s probably been over a minute of waiting now, but his voice still sounded jolly as he yelled. If it was some jerk who yelled out of frustration and impatience, then I would probably be hiding under the covers by now.


    "Is anyone home?"


    "I-I''m here." I spoke softly.


    "Good day to you, sir. This is MicRonalds delivery."


    It''s quite a miracle that he even heard me. I didn''t plan this far ahead, and obviously, the last thing I want is to open that door and be seen by someone in my miserable state. What should I do to avoid this? My hands are still frozen in place as I contemplate what to do. I needed to think fast, as it would be quite awkward to make my presence known but not open the door right away.


    Suddenly, I was able to conjure up an idea. I''m not sure if it will work, but at least I should give it a try. I clenched my fists, took a deep breath, and readied myself to speak my longest sentence in almost two months.


    "J-Just leave it on the floor. I-Im carrying.. something."


    "Alright, sir, I''ll just leave it here. Have a good day!"


    Around thirty seconds of silence passed.


    I gasped for air.


    I didn''t notice at first, but after speaking, I froze up even further, including my breathing. I continued to viciously breathe in and out, it was like I was hyperventilating, or maybe I really was. My hands were cold and shaking, my legs felt like they were about to crumble in any second now, and my vision almost seemed to be spinning.


    I rushed to the bed, stumbling on every step I took. It was a mixture of walking and crawling, which looked quite pathetic. It''s as if all my bones turned to jelly, and the shaking of my legs might just be further proof of that.


    I collapsed onto the bed and immediately covered my entirety with my blanket. I still continued to gasp for air while my ice-cold hands roughly grasped a pillow that covered my head. Obviously, covering my face with a pillow and blanket wouldn''t really help calm my breathing, it would only make it harder to breathe, but I can''t think clearly at this moment. All that was on my mind was to hide and disappear.


    Nothing mattered to me, not even the food that was still waiting outside. I just want to disappear. Even if I were actually able to converse with someone, I still feel weird, and my face is as red as a tomato. What did I sound like while I spoke? Did he find my voice funny? What does he think about me? Did I even say the words correctly? Was my pronunciation correct? Many questions filled my mind about every detail of what I did. All I could think about was every second of that interaction. I wanted to forget everything immediately, but I just couldn''t clear my mind with a snap of a finger.


    I want to hide, I want to disappear, I want to die already. Please, just let me die already.


    I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.


    "Don''t think, don''t think, don''t think.." I repeated over and over in my head.


    My entire body was still shaking and colder than the temperature of my fridge, but at least with every "don''t think" in my head, I began to calm down little by little until my vision finally went black.

 Day 2 Part 2

    I woke up.


    I wasn''t really asleep, but rather just refused to open my eyes for around half an hour. Only now did I gain enough composure to lift up the covers mounted on my face and see reality clearly once again.


    Looking back, I did manage to finally strike up a proper conversation. It might have been short, but I got my point across. I was able to converse with another human. Even if the nervous breakdown from the aftermath toppled over my spirit, I can confidently say that I did a good job for my first real human-to-human conversation in quite a while.


    I took a deep breath. Then I got up and out of the bed, ready to restart my day.


    Before I even got the chance to start thinking about what to do for the day, the grumbling of my stomach reminded me of something. The food, it was still outside and probably stone cold by now.


    I walked to the front door. Looking at it now, I feel quite calm, to say the least. Whenever I approached the door in the past, sweat always dripped across my forehead, and my arms usually seemed like they had been placed in the freezer for quite a while. Nevertheless, going outside is still an impossibility.


    I calmly grasped the doorknob and twisted it open. Of course, I wouldn''t open the door wide, just ajar so I could see the delivered food on the floor, but I didn''t grab it right away.


    I stared outside for a moment: the trees, the birds, the sky¡ªthey all seem a bit more gorgeous to me today. The sun beamed across the landscape, casting shadows all over. It was bright, warm, and vibrant, and I would have definitely scorned it for intruding into my life, but oddly enough, I didn''t mind it today.


    With a new record for the longest time my door had been opened, even if just slightly, I decided that it was enough for today and grabbed the food delivery before closing and locking the door.


    I bought quite a lot this time¡ª7 servings of Chinese fried rice to be exact, and most importantly, I also ordered just as many cans of soda to finally complete the meal. I stocked my fridge with the newly bought sustenance and proceeded to eat breakfast.


    After eating on the kitchen floor, I threw the container in the trash when I noticed something. From the open garbage bag, I could count four containers of Chinese fried rice, including the one I recently threw away. One is from lunch yesterday, then one from dinner, that one is the one I just threw, and the last one is from... oh, the girl, the one that I gave her. Who knew ghosts had proper etiquette to throw away their trash properly.


    But wait, if the trash is here, that would mean that she did eat it, and that she left the closet. But when was it? Most likely, it was during the night when I was asleep. Paying no further attention to the trash, I drank the cola and threw it away as well, thus ending today''s breakfast.


    I had the sudden urge to stretch, and with it, a yawn escaped my mouth, followed by a burp. Even if I had just rested thanks to my breakdown, I was still tired for some reason. Maybe I was still tired because of what happened earlier, or eating might have induced drowsiness in me, despite the soda containing some caffeine.


    Whatever the reason was, I needed to get rid of it quickly in order to finally get on with my day. Even if I will die in a few days, I still want to be a bit productive, even if the extent of my productivity is reading. Sleeping all day might seem like heaven, but it would be a waste to do so, since I would definitely get all the sleep I want when I die. After all, death is an eternal slumber, or maybe not if reincarnation or heaven are a thing.


    But nevertheless, I will surely gain peace after my death, no matter what afterlife awaits me¡ªjust not hell, hopefully. I may be suicidal, but at least I haven''t done anything heinous enough to plunge my soul into the abyss of hell, or is suicide one of the tickets to hell? If it is, then I''m fucked. Guess I''ll just deal with it when I get there.


    I headed to the bathroom and proceeded to wash my face in the sink to wake me up.


    "What the fuck?" I spoke out loud. Looking in the mirror, I saw myself. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the large, bold "FRIENDS" written on my forehead. I immediately turned on the faucet again and drenched my face, scrubbing as hard as I could with my hands.


    "What the hell is this!? Marker!?" I scrubbed as hard as I could with my hand, but seeing that it was doing almost nothing, I switched to a wet towel instead. Little by little, it was rubbing off, but the more I scrubbed, the more red my forehead became, which was synonymous with my anger.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "Who the fuck did this!?" I screamed in my head. Obviously, it was that stupid girl.


    Even in death, people are annoying, especially children. I fully regret giving her that serving of Chinese fried rice. Children like her should be heavily disciplined and trapped in a cage known as a baby crib.


    Where the hell did she get a marker from in the first place? Did she grab it from one of my drawers? If so, that would explain why my slippers were out when I woke up. All she needed to do was depart to the afterlife peacefully, but instead of a thank you for the food that I gave her, she instead left me with a boiling anger and a headache.


    Looking back, if I had opened the door to face the food delivery guy, he would have seen my vandalized forehead, which would have been so embarrassing that I would have rushed outside and jumped off the building immediately. Although this is only the third floor, if I perfectly land on my head, then it would be an immediate death. If only I wasn''t scared of heights, then I would definitely do this instead of death by hanging. After a few more scrubs, the marker finally vanished, but my anger remained.


    A re-read of one of my favorite books should be enough to cool my head, so I went back to my living room. I went up to my bookshelf, but something was odd. A book was missing, the same exact one that I was thinking about re-reading. My anger was still there, but now there was an added annoyance and confusion. Where could it have gone? I know that I''m a messy person just from one glance at my room, but at least I am organized when it comes to my books. Even if the shelf is overflowing with books, and that there are piles of them on the floor, each one of the piles is organized by genre and author.


    Going back to my search, I scratched my head in confusion as I looked around. Suddenly, my entire body froze. From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar presence. An almost translucent shade of white as vibrant as snow, a frail and small structure, and an otherworldly air surrounding it. It was the girl, she was still here. She sat on my chair with her tiny head resting on the desk. How did I not see her earlier? She was right there in plain sight, but I failed to spot her numerous times, even when I was fully aware of every detail of my apartment. I approached her, annoyance still fully visible on my face as I remembered what she did to my forehead.


    Even though my social skills are close to zero, and a simple non-face-to-face conversation could send me breaking down, I tapped her on the shoulder to wake her up. There was something about her that doesn''t trigger my social trauma, maybe it''s because of the huge age difference, or maybe it''s because she''s dead. Whatever it is, I am confident that I could speak to her, even if only with short replies. Actually, I feel like I could burry her with my rant of annoyance because of her actions.


    She didn''t reply, moreover, she didn''t even move an inch. I tapped her head this time, applying a bit more force. Still no reply.


    "What a heavy sleeper." I muttered.


    I took a closer look at her, and another thing added to my annoyance. I found the missing book, and she had it. She was laying her head on it, which was an absolute mockery of the book. Even if some of my books are on the ground, I treat each one of them with love and care. But there she is, disrespecting the books that I care so much about, and she didn''t even ask permission to read it.


    "What a brat." I muttered, annoyance visible in my tone.


    I sighed. When I finally thought that I could relax because she was gone, she just appeared out of nowhere and became more of a burden now.


    To try and salvage my day from this annoying prick, a nice bath should do the trick, or at least lessen my stress. I walked to the closet to grab a change of clothes, but suddenly, I palmed my face and groaned. Inside the closet was the familiar scenery of messy piles of clothes, everything was as usual, except for the specks of Chinese fried rice that were scattered across everything.


    How the hell did I not notice this earlier? It was plain as day that my closet was trashed more than it already was, yet I didn''t notice it when I first opened it today. Before I could react even more, I got a quick glance at the floor and noticed something. There was rice on the floor as well, goddammit.


    But wait, it didn''t stop there. The more I look at every individual grain of rice, the more I realize that it formed a trail that spanned across my room. I followed the trail, which led me to the kitchen and ended at the pile of garbage bags. I looked up, took a deep breath, and formulated my conclusion. Not only was the girl a sloppy eater, but she''s bloody clumsy as well.


    Despite my fists fully clenched as if they were ready to hit something or someone to a bloody pulp, I sat down on the kitchen floor and tried to calm myself down.


    My face was vandalized and bloody red from being scrubbed, my book was taken out of its home without permission and now serves as a pillow, my closet was trashed, there is a trail of rice that needs to be cleaned up, and my clothes probably reek of oil from the rice. What a day to be alive.


    I''ve had enough of this nonsense. I can''t bear another act of misconduct from that child. She could have just behaved and stayed in that closet, but now she had overstepped her boundaries and became more of a burden than I am.


    I''m a shut-in, a disgrace to society, and should be locked up in a dark place, isolated from the common folk. People like me are generalized as awkward, dirty, smelly, and every other negative generalization that the normies associate people like me with. But as of now, I see her as more of a problem than I am.


    I stood up, and with a slightly calmed mind, I made a decision.


    I must get rid of her.

 Day 2 Part 3

    She woke up.


    Her childish eyes squinted in my direction, rubbing them to unblur her drowsy vision.


    "Good morning, Mister."


    I looked back at her in surprise, and we made eye contact.


    There was no going back, the simple motion of turning my head toward her already made everything clear. She now knew that I could see her.


    Two hours earlier


    I placed a cross beside her and prayed. It''s a good thing that my drawers have the most random things that you could imagine. I certainly am not religious, yet there was a random cross in one of them. It''s quite weird, but it is what it is. I prayed with all my might, even though I don''t know how to pray in the first place. Do I start with a greeting? thanks to the creator? or state my wishes at the very start? I know nothing about it, and looking up how to pray just feels a bit awkward to me.


    "Please take her away, please make her leave, please give me back my normal life."


    I repeated this about ten times, and when I opened my eyes, she was still there, unmoving in her sleep. Quite unfortunate, but I did doubt that a simple prayer could do the trick. I also doubt that God will actually listen to my prayers in the first place. With a slight disappointment, not because of the failed attempt but because I wasted my time rummaging through my drawers, I threw the cross back in a random drawer and started to think again.


    I paced around my room, trying to come up with something. After a few minutes of absolutely no good ideas, I consulted my phone.


    "How to get rid of a ghost" I typed in the search query. It sounds dumb, but if people knew the reality of my situation, no one would be laughing at me. But maybe if they knew that I was trying to get rid of a child, then they would definitely laugh or scorn at me, but it''s still a ghost, so who knows what society would think. But she had annoyed me quite enough, plus this is still trespassing, so I''m not in the wrong for my attempts at making her go away. If only I wasn''t awkward around people, then maybe I could just yell at her like last time and make her leave.


    I read a few articles and got some ideas.


    Hmmm, let''s see... a Bible? Now where was it? Oh, that''s right, it''s in the far left corner of the supernatural section of my shelf.


    Despite not being religious at all, I have read the Bible. I read it for the story and not for the healing of faith. In my opinion, the story is quite wack with a lot of contradictions in it. I once thought about placing it in the nonfiction/historical section of my shelf, but after reading it, it felt more made up than actually coming from reality. But who could actually prove the reality of the Bible? Maybe it was quite contradictory because of its long history of being passed down and revised many times, but it''s still hard to prove its authenticity.


    Despite this, I still grabbed it from my shelf and browsed a few random pages.


    An article stated that reading some Bible verses out loud could make ghosts leave, so I did just that. My eyes landed on a verse. This one should suffice. In an almost whisper like manner, I read the verse.


    "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ¡®I will return to my house from which I came.¡¯ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."


    I looked at the girl. She was still here. I browsed again and read a random verse.


    "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death¡¯ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."


    Nothing happened.


    "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."


    Nothing happened again. Seeing that this was getting me nowhere, I gave up and placed the Bible back on the shelf. I''m not even sure if the verses I read were applicable to my situation, maybe something will happen if I find the perfect verse, but I''m not going to waste any more effort on something that hasn''t shown any signs of working.


    I browsed another website for some clues.


    Alright, so I need a white candle. Do I even have one?


    I rummaged through some of my drawers again, and miraculously, I found one. It wasn''t any of those fancy candles that were scented, but rather just a stick of wax with a wick inside.


    Now I began to question what exactly was inside my drawers. How the hell do they have such random stuff inside. It''s like there''s a whole different dimension inside of them. A cross, a candle, what''s next, a whole garlic?


    Turning my attention away from my drawers, I continued with my next attempt. I probably have a lighter somewhere in those drawers, but I didn''t want to rummage any further, so I lit the candle with the stove in my kitchen, and mounted the candle on a plate. I then placed it next to the still-sleeping girl and waited for the results.


    I sat on my bed while I waited. The small ember slowly crawled down the wick, melting the wax around it. The sight of it was calming, almost like a silent lullaby.


    I could almost imagine the most perfect scenario for it. Imagine the dead of night being interrupted by loud crashing droplets from the sky, the cold seeping through the tiny cracks of my home. I imagine myself in a dark room, slouched down on my chair, protected from the cold thanks to a thick and warm blanket and headphones blocking out all the noises of the world. I sat there reading a book, and beside me was the warm flickering candle that illuminated my world. A sense of peace fills my clouded mind, and despite its small flame, a surge of warmth envelopes my being.


    If that doesn''t sound like the perfect atmosphere for a candle, then I don''t know what else does.


    The candle continued to burn. The girl was still there, sleeping like a rock. Looking at her now, she seems quite angelic in a way. She looks like one of those children in movies that the main character tries their hardest to protect. Her long black hair gave her an air of elegance, her face lacks any unique characteristics yet is pleasing to the eye, and her white one-piece dress gave off innocence and purity. If only she wasn''t an annoying, clumsy, undisciplined menace, then she would be alright to have around.


    Honestly speaking, I do find her cute, not in a weird way or anything, just similar to a father admiring his own daughter. Her parents must be quite overjoyed to have such an adorable child, she would be pretty popular when she grows up, well... I guess that won''t be happening now. Too bad. Her appearance may be pleasing to the eye, but her behavior is a menace to the well-being.


    A few more minutes passed. The girl was still there, enjoying her peaceful slumber without a care in the world. Realizing that this was going nowhere and was a complete waste of a candle, I blew it out and cleaned it up.


    Now what? So far, I''ve made three different attempts, yet nothing significant has occurred. Guess I need to research some more.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Oh, a talisman? But isn''t that for spirits or something? Actually, are spirits different from ghosts? I''m not really sure about their biology, but just from folklore and such, they''re pretty much the same in my eyes, though I''ve only seen a real ghost and not a sighting of a spirit, so I have no real basis for comparison.


    Now to make the talisman. All I really need are four things: paper, which is easy enough to find, a paint brush, which I vaguely remember having one, ink might be a bit iffy if I have a bottle or not, and a picture of what the painted symbols look like, which I can just look up with my phone. With my next plan in motion, I got to searching, or more accurately, rummaging through my drawers, yet again.


    Let''s see... ah, nice, I found some paper, and right over there is the paint brush. Finding these was going to be easier than I thought. The hard part was the bottle of ink, which I''m not even sure if I have one since I don''t remember having a need for one in the past. Actually, nevermind, there''s one right here. Again, how do I have this much random crap in my drawers. I''m starting to think the whole apartment complex had been sneaking items in here, or maybe I treated the drawers as a garbage bin and they eventually got filled with the most random of items.


    Oh, and let''s not forget some tape.


    Now let''s get to it. With the paint brush in hand, I dipped it in the ink and started copying the design of a talisman that caught my eye on my phone.


    I''m nowhere near competent with using a brush, and calligraphy isn''t really a thing that I''ve dabbled upon. Moreover, my handwriting is as understandable as sign language to a blind person.


    I painted with the brush one stroke at a time, and each stroke took about 3 seconds due to the amount of perfectionism that I was trying to execute. It''s my first time doing this, but I want to do it right. Who knows, maybe this attempt will be the one that would drive away that ghost girl, be it the talisman or my terrible attempt at painting.


    That''s one character down, a few more to go. From a glance at what I''m painting, I''m guessing it''s Chinese symbols or something. Honestly, I don''t even know if these are legitimate characters or just some squiggly lines that look impressive.


    Now that I think about it, who even makes talismans? Do normal people casually paint these, or are only monks, spiritualists, and those kinds of people allowed to? Could making one with my unskilled hands possibly be a sin in their religion or belief? I hope not, I don''t really want to offend anyone, even if there''s a language barrier between us. But I have eaten a buttload of Chinese fried rice and even regard it as one of my three favorite foods, so please let me off the hook this once.


    And with that, I raised the talisman in the air, inspecting my creation. It''s not a one-to-one copy of the reference picture, but it''s not far from it. Though it''s not perfect, I''m honestly quite proud of myself, since it''s my first try and all. I placed some tape on the talisman, and it was ready to be used.


    I tiptoed to the still sleeping girl, making sure that my steps were as light as a feather. I''m not even sure if the tiptoeing was necessary, I''ve been walking normally up until now, and at one point I was even running back to the bed, yet her slumber wasn''t even fazed one bit. Committing to the ways of the ninja, I tiptoed all the way to her, and with my not-so-steady hands, I stuck the talisman on the back of her dress and tiptoed a few steps away.


    I waited for a bit, my eyes glued to her back, waiting for any signs of movement.


    Sigh, I guess this didn''t work either. All that hard work was for nothing. Now what?


    After another failed attempt, I turned around to scavenge for another lead on how to get rid of her.


    "mhmm hmm"


    Having heard a soft groan, I quickly turned back to see what was happening. Is it actually working? Is she going to disappear now?


    The girl moved, her hand pushed away the book that her head was laying on, and instead of the book, her left arm substituted for it as a pillow, while her right hand was on top of the book that she pushed away.


    A few seconds of anticipation passed by, yet nothing happened.


    I sighed again, disappointment fully audible from it.


    You got my hopes up for a second there. I did all that work just for you to change your sleeping position, how wonderful.


    "Food" she mumbled.


    I walked a bit closer to her.


    What now, going to talk in your sleep again?


    I moved my ear closer to her face.


    "Food... delicious" she mumbled.


    I retracted my ear. A smug smile ran across my face. Of course the rice was good, it''s Chinese fried rice, my favorite after all. If you keep that up, I wouldn''t mind letting you stay around. A fellow Chinese fried rice enjoyer is always welcome.


    My mood is a bit calmer now, she''s still annoying, but I do appreciate her for praising the things I like. Do I just let her stay, or should I keep driving her away? I am going to die in just a few more days, so having a brat around for a little while would hurt.


    I took one step without any reason, and stepped on something, a grain of rice. Remembering that I haven''t even cleaned up the rice on the floor and in the closet, not to mention that my room is now even more messy because of the earlier attempts at driving her away, the fire of annoyance re-lit itself.


    Nevermind then, either you clean up after yourself or leave. But I don''t think I have the confidence and conversational skills to order around a brat to clean up the mess, so that leaves one option, she must leave.


    What else could I try? All the sites just keep repeating the same procedures, like praying and such, yet those are getting me nowhere.


    Hmm.. what about methods for driving away other beings, like a vampire. I doubt that it will work, but it''s worth a try. Driving away a vampire would mean needing... garlic? Was it garlic or onions? Umm.. yeah, I think it was garlic.


    Knowing that I didn''t have a single ingredient in my fridge, I browsed a picture of some garlic on my phone and placed it next to her.


    A few seconds passed, and I realized my stupidity. What the fuck am I doing? Am I really this dumb? How the hell will a PNG help me at all? That was so stupid that I want to slap myself as hard as possible right now, but that might wake her up, so I''m going to pass on that for now.


    Obviously, a picture won''t work, but the real deal is worth giving a try. I really wish I had some garlic right now, unless....


    I rushed over to my drawers... and goddammit, I have one. There''s a whole fucking clove of garlic in my drawer, how in the hell did it get there? I sighed. From now on, I''m just not going to question it. Who knows what other things I''ll pull out of it in the future. Heck, I''m not even going to be surprised anymore if I pull out a whole watermelon. At the very least, hopefully there''s nothing alive in there.


    With the surprisingly non-rotting garlic, I held it near the girl''s face, and nothing happened, who would have guessed. I placed the garlic in my fridge. At the very least, I now had some backup food.


    What else, what else... oh, salt, maybe that will do the trick. I don''t have any ingredients, minus the garlic I found, but I do have condiments. I searched inside the cupboards, and there they were¡ªtwo shakers full of salt and pepper. I took the salt back to the living room and prepared to try it out.


    Wait, what I''m about to do is splash her with salt, meaning that I will create an even harder mess to clean. Umm.. how about just a little bit, I doubt it will work anyway. I sprinkled a minimal amount of salt on her head, just around a teaspoon, and unsurprisingly, nothing happened. That''s another failed attempt. I thought of another thing I could try while placing the salt back in the cupboard.


    Where could I get some holy water? Again, I''m not knowledgeable about any religion, but I do think that it''s just regular water that has been infused with a holy prayer or something. I was about to pour some water into a glass from the kitchen''s faucet when a bottle of rubbing alcohol caught my eye. Seeing that it was more convenient, I grabbed the alcohol and went back to the living room. Alcohol is a mixture of isopropyl and water, so I guess it should be fine.


    With the girl sleeping in front of me, I raised the opened bottle of alcohol, and with my phone in my other hand, I read out a prayer. More accurately, I whispered a prayer.


    "Blessed are you, Lord, all-powerful God, who in Christ, the living water of salvation, blessed and transformed us. Grant that when we are sprinkled with this water or make use of it, we will be refreshed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit and continue to walk in the new life we received at Baptism."


    I splashed a tiny bit of the now "holy" water on the girl, and in that split second, I realized my mistake.


    Oh shit shit shit! My book, did it get wet?!


    I got close to the book that the girl still had her hand on and inspected it as closely as possible.


    I sighed in relief.


    Well, that was another stupid idea. I could have ruined my book if I splashed more. It''s a good thing I didn''t go all the way and splash the whole bottle. Wait, but what about the girl? I quickly glanced at the girl, she didn''t even move a single inch. Well.. I didn''t really expect much from that. I''m more surprised that she didn''t wake up.


    Countless attempts were made, yet not one did anything. I''m not saying that I wasted my time, but in fact, I did waste my time, a lot of time that I could have spent enjoying my life until my untimely end by my hands.


    I only realized now that my shoulders felt like they were carrying a whole boulder while my legs longed for a break from standing and walking around. This is probably the most amount of work I have done ever since I started my new shut-in life. It''s nice to know that I still have the capacity to actually focus on doing something other than reading, even if it is about driving away a five-year-old ghost girl.


    My body wanted to collapse any second now, but thankfully, my one and only friend is within arms reach¡ªmy bed. The warm blanket was waiting to envelop me in its ever-reliable warmth, while the pillow longed for someone to lay their tired head on it. Just the glorious sight of the bed was enough to take away all my attention from everything that was going on, as if it were enticing me to come closer and surrender to it once again.


    So I did just that and took a quick nap.

 Day 2 Part 4

    I woke up.


    I stretched my arms up high as I yawned, but the walls didn''t let me stretch all the way. It was a small room, but at least all these clothes are comfy enough to sleep on.


    "Oh, what''s this?" In front of me, there was this white box or something with some weird red drawing in the middle. I picked it up, it was a bit warm, and it felt like something was inside. With a bit of fiddling around with it, I eventually got it to open.


    "Oh wow! What is this? food!?" I took a quick sniff inside. "Hmm yum, it smells good, what is this?"


    With the spoon that it came with, I scooped up a few bits of this yellow stuff and ate it.


    "Wow! "This tastes so good!"


    I happily ate the yellow stuff as quickly as I could. I munched away until I reached the bottom of the container. I was having a hard time scooping the yellow stuff on the bottom, and my tummy was getting a bit full, so that should be enough food for now.


    "I wish the yellow stuff would never run out, it was so delicious, and I want to eat more of it soon. I haven''t eaten anything like that."


    I set the almost empty container back on the spot where I took it from.


    "Thank you so much for the food, Da- oh wait, daddy isn''t here. Was it Mister who gave this to me? I better thank him. This means that we''re friends now, right? I''m so happy. I thought that Mister was mean, but I was wrong about him. Someone who gives food to others isn''t a bad guy, that''s what mommy taught me."


    I was so happy that Mister and I were now friends, so I stood up and spun around in joy in the cramped space.


    "Ouch!" I bumped my hand on the wall. "It''s really cramped here. I wish I could go outside. Wait, if Mister is now my friend, does that mean he''ll let me go outside?"


    I faced the door of the room filled with clothes that I was in and placed my hand on it. With just a tiny push, the door effortlessly opened.


    "Oh, it''s open. So Mister is really letting me go outside, what a nice a person."


    I can see the outside, it was a bit dark, but I''m used to the dark. My room back at home is way darker than here. I can see Mister laying down on something. Is that the thing that people call a bed? Wow, Mister must be pretty rich to have a bed of his own. Me and mommy didn''t have a bed, only daddy had one since mommy said we were poor. I want to try sleeping on one someday.


    I took a deep breath.


    "Wow, the air here smells nice. It''s very different from my home." I sniffed around a bit more.


    I sat on the ledge, my feet were a bit too short to reach the ground.


    I gulped.


    "Is it really alright for me to go outside?" I looked at Mister. "Hey mister, can I really go out?" Mister didn''t say anything, he''s probably already asleep.


    "Alright, I''m coming down now." I slid off the ledge and safely landed on the ground.


    Out of happiness, I spun around a bit more and even stretched a bit.


    "So this is what it''s like to have a lot of space, Mister sure is lucky to have a room like this. I''m so jealous."


    I want to explore Mister''s room, but I need to be respectful and thank him first. I walked over to Mister, his head was covered by a pillow, so I pushed it over to see his face. Mommy told me that you must look at the other person whenever you talk to them.


    "Mister, thank you so much for the food. It was very delicious." I bowed afterwards.


    Mister looks so peaceful while he''s asleep. I couldn''t restrain myself, so I poked Mister on the cheek. Surprisingly, Mister didn''t wake up. I poked Mister''s cheek some more, but he didn''t even respond one bit.


    Mister sure is a deep sleeper. I wish I could sleep like that. My home is quite noisy because daddy is very loud whenever he plays his games. Because of this, I often get woken up at night because daddy plays his games even during the night.


    I raised both my arms up high, both hands forming a fist. "Now then, it''s time to explore!"


    I quickly covered my mouth with my hands. "Oops, I shouldn''t yell like that. I might wake up Mister."


    "?Exploring, exploring, la la la?"


    I skipped around Mister''s room.


    "Oh wow! Look at all these books! I thought it was a wall, but it was a very big bookshelf filled with books. Mister must be very smart to have all these."


    I don''t really read books, I want to read more, but mommy couldn''t buy me any because she said that they were expensive. I was very happy when mommy bought me a book on my birthday, it''s the only one that I''ve read.


    "Let''s see.. does Mister have a copy of it?"


    I tried to search Mister''s bookshelf to see if he had my favorite book, but because the room was a bit dark since the window is far from the bookshelf, I couldn''t read the titles on the spines.


    "I''ll just ask him when he wakes up." I continued my exploration. "?Exploring, exploring, la la la?"


    On the adjacent side of Mister''s bookshelf, I thought it was just another wall, but it was actually a row of drawers.


    "Mister sure has a lot of things to need this many drawers. I wish I had as many things as Mister."


    I approached one of the drawers. I''m a bit curious about what Mister has in these drawers. I''m just going to take a peek, hopefully he doesn''t get mad.


    I pulled on one of the bottom drawer''s handles, but it was a bit stuck.


    "urgg.. uhnnn.." I pulled as hard as I could. The drawer finally opened, but I was caught off balance because of its sudden opening.


    "Uaah.. Ouch!" I rubbed my bottom, which was hurt from slamming onto the wooden floor. "That hurt-" realizing my noise, I quickly covered my mouth because I thought Mister would be woken up. I glanced over at Mister, and luckily he is still asleep.


    My bottom still hurt for a bit, but it was quickly gone. Now back to exploring.


    "Oh wow! Mister really has a lot of things. I don''t even know what I''m looking at, there are so many, and this is only one layer of one drawer. Now let''s start digging for treasure."


    I dipped my hand into Mister''s cabinet and searched around.


    "Oh, a marker." I grabbed the marker and immediately thought of a great idea. I looked at the marker in my hand, then I looked at the sleeping Mister, and then my lips formed a smile.


    "F-R... I-E? N-D-S, did I spell it correctly?"


    With the marker, I wrote the word friends on Mister''s forehead.


    "Now we''re really friends!" I said to the sleeping Mister, and gave his cheek another poke.


    I went back to the drawer, returned the marker inside, and continued to search.


    "Hmm, what''s this?"


    I felt something strange, it was soft and almost felt like the fur of a doggy. I took it out of the drawer.


    "A slipper? What''s this doing here? Mister really is rich, this is one of those fur slippers or something, how nice."


    I rummaged around Mister''s drawer a bit more and found the other pair.


    "Hehehe, silly me, these are too big for my feet. I look like a duck, lol. Quack quack quack." I waddled around in Mister''s slippers.


    I got a quick glance around the room and realized something. I went over to Mister again.


    "You really should wear your slippers, Mister. You wouldn''t want your feet to get dirty." I poked Mister''s cheek again. "I''ll just leave these here. No need to thank me, Mister. Mommy taught me that friends should always look out for each other."


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I went back to Mister''s drawers.


    "?Treasure hunt, treasure hunt, la la la?"


    Mister really had a lot of things. I saw all kinds of stuff, like a pad of paper, crayons, sunglasses, and even toys like a slinky. But one thing caught my eye the most.


    "Wait is this.. a dog collar?! Mister has a doggy?!"


    I ran around the main room, looking at every nook and cranny, even under Mister''s bed.


    "Aww, Mr. Doggy isn''t here right now. Maybe he''s out for a walk, or maybe Mr. Doggy is currently on vacation. I hope I see Mr. Doggy soon."


    I once had a doggy myself. Her name was Chloe. We used to play around a lot in my room, but mommy doesn''t let us outside because she said that strangers might try to take us away. One day, Chloe got very sick. I was so sad and wanted her to get better. I woke up the next day, but Chloe was gone. Mommy said she took her to a very special vet that was very far away. Chloe was very lucky to be able to travel far away, she''ll be able to get cured, and have a vacation at the same time. I''m just a bit lonely, since without Chloe, I was always alone in my room. I hope she comes back to visit.


    I returned the doggy collar and closed the drawer.


    "Now, back to exploring. ?Exploring, exploring, la la la?"


    In the corner of the room, next to the row of drawers, I saw a box. I was curious again, so I took a look inside. From the very second that I opened it, I saw a familiar item.


    "Oh, it''s this, the rope."


    When I met Mister for the first time, the first thing that I saw on him was the rope around his neck.


    I giggled a bit.


    "Hehehe, silly Mister. A rope isn''t a necklace. It doesn''t look good at all. Mister has a pretty weird fashion sense."


    I looked over at Mister.


    "Don''t worry, Mister, I''ll give you some fashion advice tomorrow. You''ll look very cool."


    I returned the rope to the box. I also saw a lot of other stuff, but I didn''t know what most of them were so I closed the box and moved on.


    "?Exploring, exploring, la la la?"


    I made my way to Mister''s kitchen, and I noticed something immediately.


    "What is this? It stinks so bad here." I pinched my nose, waving my hands to fan away the smell. "Mister should really clean up here, it smells terrible."


    Even though it smelled terrible, the air was still better than back at home. It''s almost similar, but I do think that Mister''s home is way cleaner than mine. Mommy is too busy helping daddy with his work to clean up the house. I once tried to help clean up, but I knocked over a glass of juice and made a mess. Of course I got scolded by daddy, and he even spanked me, but he said that he did it out of love. At least I''m lucky enough to have a role model like them.


    "Time to hunt for treasure again!"


    Just like the room Mister was sleeping in, the kitchen had some drawers as well. There were cupboards, but I''m too small to reach them, so I could only search the drawers on the bottom.


    "Let''s see... wow! Is that.. a metal spoon?! and there''s a metal fork as well! I''m so jealous. Mister is definitely rich. Oh, and the sink is filled with so many plates, they''re all a bit dirty, but it''s still very impressive for Mister to have this many plates. How lucky."


    Back at home, we didn''t really have utensils. My daddy said that since we were poor, we needed to let the most important person in the house use the utensils. Daddy is the most important person in our home, so he got to use the only pair of metal utensils we had. Mommy uses a pair of plastic utensils that she gets whenever she orders delivery. Mommy also taught me that we should reuse things, so she washes the plastic utensils to use them again later. I wasn''t really allowed to use the plastic utensils because Mommy said I might break them. Instead, I was only allowed to use my bare hands to eat.


    I opened Mister''s fridge.


    "What? it''s... empty. Why doesn''t Mister have any food here? Oh, is Mister dieting? But Mister is already very thin, he''ll get sick if he doesn''t eat more. I''ll just remind Mister to eat lots tomorrow."


    I closed the fridge and continued to explore the kitchen. I got to the back of the kitchen and realized where the terrible smell was coming from.


    "Eww, it stinks here. Mister should really really really clean up."


    It''s amazing how many containers Mister has. Back at home, we only had one of these. There are so many that it''s taller than me.


    I took a closer look at the containers.


    "Oh, there''s an open one here. Let''s see what''s inside."


    I widened the opening of the container to get a better view.


    "Now I get it, Mister is the same as mommy. He also stores his food in these containers. Oh! Are those the same white box that I ate the delicious yellow stuff from?"


    My eyes widened, and I realized something.


    "Oh no! I forgot all about it!"


    I ran back to the room Mister was sleeping in and frantically opened the closet.


    "Phew, thank God it''s still here. It''s a good thing no one took it."


    I grabbed the white box.


    "I should store this in the container as well."


    I tried to run back to the kitchen, but my foot accidentally bumped into Mister''s bed, and I fell down.


    "Ouch! that hurts."


    I sat down and held my foot. It hurts a bit, but it didn''t bump into the bed that strongly, so it should be fine in just a moment.


    I stood back up, but I was missing something.


    "Oh no! I dropped it. This is bad, Mister is going to yell at me again, I made a mess."


    The yellow stuff was all over the floor. I ran back to the kitchen and was finally able to store the white box in the container.


    "I need to clean this mess up. Where does Mister keep his broom?"


    I searched the entire kitchen but didn''t see anything useful. I also already know what''s in the room that Mister was sleeping in, so there''s no broom there either. The bathroom was the only place left. I ran over to the bathroom and went inside.


    It was very dark, and I couldn''t see much, but I did kind of see the switch for the lights. I reached for it, but I wasn''t tall enough. I tiptoed and jumped a couple of times until my small hand finally reached it.


    "Wow! Mister''s bathroom is very clean."


    Back home, our bathroom smelled weird, and the walls were all yellow. The walls in Mister''s bathroom were all sparkly white, and it is very clean here. Mister''s bathroom had so many things. There''s this big white pot, a circular metal thing that was poking out from the wall, a toilet, a pail and bucket, soap, bottles of shampoo, and a big mirror on the wall.


    "Hmm? That''s weird, this is a mirror, right? Why can''t I see myself?"


    The mirror showed everything behind me, but it was only me that the mirror didn''t show.


    "Oh, is this... magic?! How cool! I haven''t seen a magic mirror before."


    I continued my search for the broom, but sadly, there wasn''t one here either. I went back to the main room. I searched every room, so that leaves one place left. I walked over to the doorway. There wasn''t much here, only a pair of shoes, a plant by the corner, an umbrella, and no broom."


    "Umm.. now what to do? Maybe.. hmm. Oh! Maybe the neighbors have a broom. I''ll just borrow one."


    I reached for the door knob, but yet again, I was too short to reach it. I used my earlier strategy and jumped up and down. Luckily, I was able to reach it as well. I pulled the door open and saw the outside world. It was night, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. There was no sound to be heard from outside, only the whistling of the wind and the rustling of the leaves. Without going outside, I already realized that Mister lives on a high floor because I was as tall as one of the trees.


    "Wow! Now I''m sure Mister is very rich. I always dreamed of living somewhere high up. The cold air feels so nice."


    Suddenly, I heard a sound. It was coming closer and closer to me. I thought that it was a monster, and I was ready to close the door and run, but I was both relieved and surprised at what I saw.


    "Mr. Birddy!" I waved to the white bird that landed on Mister''s fence.


    "Hello, Mr. Birddy, how are you today?" Mr. Birddy didn''t say anything, he might not have heard me. "Mr. Birddy, can you hear me?" Still, no response. "Hey, Mr. Birddy! I''m right here." I waved even more.


    I tried to get closer to Mr. Birddy so he could hear me better. I walked forward, but I bumped my head on something.


    "Ouch! What was that?" While rubbing my forehead, I looked outside, but nothing was there.


    "Hmm? What did I walk into?"


    It was probably nothing, so I tried to walk outside but I bumped my head again.


    "Ouch! That''s very mean of you, Mr. Doorway."


    I was confused. I have never experienced anything like this before. Was it some sort of magic trick? The only time that I heard about magic was from the TV shows that Daddy was watching. I wasn''t allowed to watch because Mommy said that it would damage my eyesight, so I could only listen from afar. I slowly held my hand out, reaching for the outside, but I couldn''t reach it. It was fine at first, but the more I reached out, the heavier it felt. It first felt like pushing a box, but as I extended more outward, the weight suddenly turned into an elephant.


    "Wow! It''s real magic!" I stopped trying to go outside. "Hehe, sorry, Mr. Birddy. It looks like I can''t go outside today. Mister casted a barrier spell on his door to keep the bad guys from entering. Let''s play again sometime."


    Mr. Birddy still didn''t respond, he wasn''t even looking at me. In just a split second, Mr. Birddy jumped up, flapped his white wings, and flew away. And just like that, Mr. Birddy disappeared into the night and returned to his family.


    "Bye bye, Mr. Birddy." I waved goodbye.


    "Aww, looks like Mr. Birdy is shy like Mister. I really hope he visits again."


    I closed the door, and it was back to exploring.


    "?Exploring, exploring, la la la?"


    I did say explore, but there was nothing left to explore. Mister''s home was decently sized, but it is a bit smaller than mine. My home had a few different rooms but I didn''t really get a chance to explore them more because I was always inside my room, so it was really fun to explore Mister''s. This might be the best day ever. But what should I do now? I have explored every corner of Mister''s home. I don''t really have anything else to do, I just slept, so I''m feeling very energetic.


    Oh! What if I just read Mister''s books? Yes, that sounds like a great idea.


    "Mister sure has a lot of books." Seeing Mister''s bookshelf again, it felt very huge. There might be thousands of books in here, and it is very hard to choose what to read, but I had a plan.


    "?Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which, book, will, I, read, tonight, I, want, fun, and, adventure, eeny, meeny, miny, moe.? Aha, I choose you!"


    I reached for the book.


    "hugmm.. ughmmm... can''t.. reach.... ah, nice, I got it."


    The book was red, and it had this eye on it. "1984? What a weird book." I sat down beneath Mister''s window. There was cloth covering it, but there was a gap that let the moonlight in, so I used it to see the words in the book.


    "Time to read!"


    Some time passed.


    "Wow! Thought police, ministry of truth, newspeak, there are so many new things that I am learning from this book."


    Again, I only had a single book that I was allowed to read, and it was a children''s book, so this is the first adult book that I am reading. It''s very fun and interesting, but there are a lot of words that I don''t know the meaning of. This book is definitely for adults, but if I keep reading it, I''ll become intelligent, right? I continued on with my reading, and I got to chapter 4 when my eyelids began to grow heavy.


    I yawned. "This book is very interesting, but I''m getting.. yaaawn.. a bit sleepy."


    I called it a day and closed the book. I stretched my arms up high and yawned again.


    "Looks like it''s time for bed."


    I really enjoyed today. Mister sure is nice to let me go outside and explore his home. I should really thank him tomorrow, he might even play with me, I''m so excited. The night was fun, but I really need to go to sleep now, or else I might fall asleep when I play with Mister tomorrow. Mister''s bed looks so warm and comfy, but I don''t want to bother him, and I think he won''t like it if I sleep next to him. Mommy told me that a bed is only for those who deserve it, so I don''t think I''ll be allowed to sleep there. I looked around to see if there was a good place to sleep. I don''t really want to sleep in the closet again because I want to try somewhere new. Oh, how about Mister''s desk? I have never tried sleeping on a desk before. I often hear about high school students sleeping on their desks in the middle of class, they must be very comfy.


    I sat on Mister''s chair and placed the book on the desk. It''s not a pillow, but it will be fine, I''m already used to sleeping on the floor back at home, so it should be the same.


    I rested my head on the book and started to count sheep until I slowly fell asleep.


    "Goodnight, Mister. Let''s have fun tomorrow."

 Day 2 Part 5

    I woke up.


    The sunlight was beaming down through the gaps in my makeshift curtain, turning my room from dull to a slight yellow in atmosphere. It was midday, and yet she was still there, asleep on my chair. If there''s probably anyone who can match how much I sleep throughout the day, then it''s most definitely her. I do sleep a lot, but not for this long. I suppose if you do add up all the hours that I nap in a day, then it would be similar to hers, but she is still just a child so sleeping more is justifiable, unlike my reasons. I do accept that I''m sluggish and lazy, but of course, I don''t want to hear that coming from other people.


    I approached her from behind. Yep, she hasn''t moved a single bit. All the effort I put into trying to chase her away ended in failure and nothing was gained. In fact, I actually lost a lot of things like time, effort, energy, patience, and salt.


    I sighed.


    My book was still in her hand. I had forgotten to take it earlier before I napped. If she lays on it more, the alignment of the spine might get damaged and I wouldn''t want that. I''d rather disturb her sleep if it meant that I''d be able to save one of my precious books from her. I just hope to any and every god that there isn''t any drool on there.


    I gulped.


    This might be a first for me. With my cold and nervous hand, I grabbed her just as cold hand and lifted it up a bit. Yes, it is indeed my first time touching a girl ever since hitting the awkward age of puberty. I''m not going to be weird about it since she''s just a child, just pointing it out there.


    Touching someone should be a normal occurrence, but because the world has become a dystopia where strict societal rules have been established through social media and empowerment, just the very thought of walking in close proximity to a woman makes every guy tense. If I were to even dare walk close to a woman, then people might suspect me of being a creep. That''s why in the past, when I still had the courage to go outside, I always walked at least a few feet behind them and dared not look in their direction.


    Touching her hand shouldn''t be creep-worthy since I have every right to do so. First, she is currently trespassing in my property. Second, she is in possession of my book, which I didn''t give consent to. Having her hand lifted up, I swiftly slid my book out and carefully lowered her hand back on the desk.


    In many failed attempts at kicking her out, I finally managed to pull something off successfully, and that is to get my precious book back.


    I took a closer look at my book. The cover wasn''t stained with drool, the spine was still aligned, and there weren''t any folds in the pages, all is good all is well. I sighed in relief.


    Due to my impeccable knowledge when it comes to my books and nothing else, I already knew the exact location where she pulled my book out from, I returned it to the shelf, and this was the moment where my peaceful shut-in life would be interrupted once again.


    "Good morning, Mister."


    Being caught off guard by her sudden greeting, my head suddenly turned in her direction. She stretched her hands up high and yawned right after. She''s awake and was now looking straight at me, and I was looking straight at her. Oh fuck, what have I done? The very moment I looked back at her, my entire cover was blown. I could no longer rely on my trick of acting like I couldn''t see her. I could no longer ignore her existence. I looked straight into her eyes, and because of that, she now knows that I can see her. Fuck.


    "Mister?"


    I needed to respond, she clearly knows that I can see her, and my eyes were still locked onto hers. I want to respond but the words... I just couldn''t get them out. No matter how hard I tried to open my mouth, I couldn''t say a single thing. I thought that I could do it, when she was still asleep, I was fully confident that I could say whatever was on my mind to her face-to-face, but it looks like that was just a lie, and in actuality, I''m still the same social recluse that can''t even speak to a damn child.


    I simply nodded and let out a nervous smile.


    She got off the chair and went closer to me, and in response, I took a step back.


    "Hey, Mister, want to play together?"


    I didn''t want to play with her, at least not now. I can''t even speak with her, so how am I going to even play with her? First things first, I needed to get used to her presence, I needed to get used to being with someone else. It may seem counterintuitive to get over my fear of socialization before I die, but just think of it as a step towards self-satisfaction before my demise.


    No matter what happens, I will still kill myself. No matter what good comes my way, there are already a lot of bad things that have pilled up that prevent me from continuing on with this life.


    "t.." I want to say at least a single word, a single word is a large step that I needed to overcome. "t.. t-tomorrow." my eyes automatically closed after saying my first word, as if anticipating her response was the equivalent of closing my eyes before looking at my exam scores.


    "Oh, too bad then. Alright, Mister, I''ll wait tomorrow."


    I opened my eyes and looked at her. I thought that she would be saddened by my refusal, but the bright smile on her face said otherwise.


    Oh how I envy people who have the enthusiasm to look forward to something. The more I became an adult, the more nervous I became about things in the future. Exam scores, preparing for college, preparing for getting a job, moving out of the house, all things that were difficult for me to prepare for, but at least now, I don''t have to worry about those things anymore, since I will die tomorrow, or the day after, depending on the delivery service.


    "Let''s play tomorrow, Mister. That''s a promise, right?" she held out her pinky towards me.


    And now another thing will be added to the list of things about which I am guilty. I''m going to die soon but now another lie is going to be added to my sins.


    I did say that there''s a possibility that the delivery might not come tomorrow, but I seriously hope that it will. All I wanted to accomplish was talk to her, not play, so I purposely tried to delay our playdate for tomorrow, when there is a good chance that my death day will be on the same day. I sighed in my mind. I already said tomorrow, so I should just stick to my word and make a promise with her, even though it would be broken the next day.


    I held out my pinky, lacking the confidence to move it closer to hers. With just one finger extended, it became easy to observe how much my hand was shaking. I don''t know if she just ignored it or simply didn''t see the shaking in my hand, but she took the initiative and interlocked our pinkies.


    "That''s a promise, Mister."


    "P-promise."


    She let go of my pinky and stretched her hands up high as if celebrating.


    "Horayy! Mister and I really are friends now."


    "Y-yes... f-friends."


    She looked at me and gave an even wider smile, a smile that showed pure bliss and only bliss, as if there was nothing bad that could ever happen in the world, an innocent smile of a child. A contagious smile that even made me do the same, but I fully knew that there was guilt behind mine.


    I really do envy people who can smile like her. Most of the time, people only smile in order to act like they are happy, while not actually being happy, it''s all for the sake of appearance. Behind every smile there''s worry, fear, nervousness, boredom, and every other negative emotion that makes it not a genuine smile.


    Ever since "that" day, I couldn''t smile the same way as her anymore.


    I sat on my bed, preparing myself for whatever was going to come out of that mouth of hers. This is it, an actual conversation with someone, something that I haven''t done in quite a long while. I may say that I''m prepared, but in reality, I''m not.


    "Hmm? What''s this?"


    She started spinning left and right as if there was something she wanted to see on her back. She managed to reach for the piece of paper that was taped behind her and held it outwards for a closer inspection. Sweat started to form on my forehead as I witnessed her curiosity toward the talisman which I had forgotten to take out earlier. I grew nervous about what she would think about it.


    "This is... a cool drawing! What are these symbols? ancient runes?"


    I sighed in relief. I thought that the very thought of having something involuntarily attached to her clothes would appall her, but I guess that won''t be the case.


    "Hey, Mister."


    My posture suddenly tensed up, and I sat as if I were face-to-face with the CEO of a big brand company, waiting to see if I got the job or not.


    "Mister, Did you draw this?"


    Lying would have been easy. Even if we were the only people in this room, I could have simply said no and that would be it. But for some weird reason, it felt okay for me to admit what I did. It didn''t feel as if she was looking for the culprit to scold, but rather the source of her amazement.


    I nodded.


    "Wow, that''s so cool! You''re really good at drawing, Mister." With the talisman in her hand, she spun a few times while holding it outwards as if she was playing ring around the rosie. Afterwards, she approached me and placed it on my lap.


    "Teach me how to draw one sometime, Mister." Her face leaned towards mine.


    You''re too close, very close for comfort. Don''t you know what personal space is? I leaned back, trying to get away from her, and gave a convenient reply that would satisfy her, leaving me alone.


    "S-sure... sometime." I answered while immediately breaking eye contact, looking over in a random direction.


    Her small mouth widened yet again, forming an innocent smile, a smile that doesn''t know the difference between truth and lies.


    Satisfied, she backed away from me and skipped towards my bookshelf, humming some kind of nursery rhyme.


    Phew, looks like she''ll finally give me a break.


    "Mister?"


    Oh god, what is it now?


    "Why is there snow?" She looked up at the ceiling.


    "S-snow?" I looked up as well, confused but knowing fully well that it could never snow at this time of year, especially since we were indoors. Upon failing to notice anything out of the ordinary, I looked at her in confusion.


    "Look, there''s one right here." She held out her hand. A small white particle could be observed.


    Before I could even formulate a thought, she immediately licked her hand. What the heck? seriously, why do children eat anything that is tiny without a second thought? Don''t they know that there is such a thing called bacteria?


    "Bleh, ichs sho shalty." she had her tongue out as she talked.


    "S-salty? umm.. oh!" I quickly covered my mouth.


    "Mister, do you know anything?" Her face only displayed confusion and curiosity.


    This time, I really needed to lie. I can''t tell her that I poured salt on her when she was asleep. The talisman was fine, but this one is absolutely something that I couldn''t admit.


    "I-it''s.. probably n-n-nothing." A bead of sweat dashed down my neck. If a detective were in front of me right now, no doubt I would be found out in the blink of an eye.


    "hmmm... yep, it might have just been dust, salty dust."


    Good, she bought it.


    She turned around and eyed my shelf.


    "Also.. I remember feeling a bit cold in my dream."


    I tensed up again. She definitely meant that time I splashed water on her. I scrambled into my thoughts to conjure up another excuse.


    "Oh! I probably dreamed about a swimming pool. I hope I can dream about it again. I want to learn how to float on water."


    I quietly sighed in relief. Seems to me that you already know how to float.


    "Hey, Mister."


    Damn, what is it now?


    "Are all of these your books?"


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "Y-yes."


    "Wow! You really are smart, Mister. Your room is like a library, there are millions of books here."


    That''s a bit of an exaggeration, the last time I checked, I counted around one thousand six hundred twenty-something novels. I do take pride in my library, yes, it is definitely a library since the minimum is one thousand books in order for a collection to be regarded as a library. They are my pride and joy, practically like children to me. If there is one thing that I will be saddened by when I die, then it is definitely leaving behind my library.


    Honestly, I am a bit flustered by her words. I''m not exactly smart just because I have a lot of books, but of course, I''ll gladly accept any praise coming my way.


    I gave her a quick nod, and she smiled in return.


    Being honest with myself, I am still nervous. Answering with simple phrases are baby steps in socialization, but if I keep doing it and do not take a wider step into the world of communication, then all these interactions would have been for naught.


    As of this moment, I now have a new goal, and that is to be able to talk to her without being a nervous wreck, to be able to actually hold a decent conversation.


    In the first place, it''s not talking that I was originally afraid of, but rather what the other person thinks about me. But because I never wanted to hear what others thought of me ever again, I hid myself in my small little world, and with it, both my confidence and communication skills hit rock-bottom.


    If I do manage to become an effective communicator, then maybe I''ll be able to retain this skill in my next life, which I will soon journey towards, hopefully. With that being said, it''s now my turn to do the talking.


    "Ehem, so... how did you g-get here?" I asked her, but my eyes refused to look at hers. Talking might be doable, but eye contact is harder to overcome.


    "Who, me?"


    I nodded.


    "Hmmm.... umm... ehmm... I..." She had her face up and held her chin, while her eyes wandered aimlessly around my room. "I... I don''t know."


    "Y-you don''t.. remember?"


    "Hmm... nope, can''t remember a thing."


    "D-do you know.. w-why you''re h-here?"


    "Umm..." she continued to think in the same way as before. "I don''t know either, Mister."


    "A-are you s-sure?"


    "Yes, Mister. I really can''t remember anything. It''s very weird."


    "Are you.. r-really really s-sure?"


    "I''m really really really sure." She swayed her head from side to side, still trying to think about it.


    Her eyes were serious, she''s really thinking about this very carefully. I doubt that she could lie about this, especially since a child normally wouldn''t lie about this type of thing. But if that is so, then what in the world is going on? Is she just some wandering spirit that suddenly appeared for absolutely no reason? and her appearing in my house is completely by chance? If that is the case, then I have no reason to deny it whatsoever. If anything, I actually do hope that it is the explanation that I am looking for, since it would mean that we have no special connection whatsoever and I''m just unlucky to be the victim of a random haunting.


    Oh, but there is one more important question that needs to be addressed.


    "D-did you.. see what I d-did?"


    "Hmm? oh! You mean the yellow stuff? No, it was already there when I woke up. So you really were the one who gave it to me, Mister. Thank you so much, it was delicious." She smiled with her usual wide smile.


    "U-um.. you''re welcome. B-but that''s not.. what I m-meant."


    "Oh, then what is it, Mister?"


    "The r-rope, when we.. first m-met."


    "Ohhh, when I first met Mister, right?" Her realization in her eyes said it all, she definitely saw what had happened that night.


    "Y-yes, did you s-see?"


    "Yes, I saw you with the rope."


    Fuck. I can''t believe that a child saw me trying to commit suicide. It''s not really something that a child should see, even if she''s already a ghost. What do I do? I''m really scared. I''m scared of what she thinks about it. Does she think that I''m some weirdo? Does she think I''m a waste of a human life? Is that why she''s so kind to me, because she feels bad for me? Or is she secretly disappointed in me? An almost adult person, trying to run away from life right in front of her. I won''t be surprised if that''s the case, since children her age do have the capacity to hate and lie to people. Children are especially effective at lying, since their innocent child faces are the best asset to persuade basically anyone.


    "It''s very funny, Mister." she started to giggle.


    What? funny? Does she think my suicide is some kind of circus performance?


    "W-what do you mean?" I formed a tight fist behind my back, hiding my anger.


    She continued to giggle. "It''s because the rope looks weird on you, Mister."


    "W-weird?"


    "Yes, very weird. A rope isn''t a good necklace, Mister. I''ll teach you what''s fashionable some other time."


    "N-necklace? W-what exactly did you.. s-see me do?"


    "Umm.. when I first met Mister, Mister was laying on the ground and wearing a rope."


    I started to laugh.


    My stomach hurts from my laughter, but I just couldn''t hold it in. I haven''t done this in a while, and I had forgotten the ecstasy that comes from laughing. Even if she''s right in front of me, I don''t feel ashamed about laughing my brains out.


    "Mister?"


    I calmed down a bit, but there was still laughter in my voice. "Y-yes, the rope.. it really is w-weird."


    Phew, looks like she doesn''t understand it one bit. Others would quickly think about suicide when there''s a rope around someone''s neck, but in her case, I guess she isn''t educated about that yet. That or she''s just very ignorant about social issues like that. Either way, she is just a child, so her misunderstanding of my situation is for the best.


    "Now you''ve learned your lesson, Mister. Never wear a rope again. People will make fun of you." she pointed at me.


    "I-I... can''t promise t-that."


    She placed her hands on her waist and pouted.


    Honestly, she''s cute when she pouts like this. Her face puffs up like a fluffy marshmallow, and her cheeks would make absolutely anyone want to pinch them out of admiration for her cuteness. I may be suicidal, but I still know what''s cute when I see it.


    I don''t think she needs to know what suicide is. Even if she''s a ghost, teaching her what it means to kill yourself feels pretty weird and immoral. There''s absolutely no objective reason to not teach her what suicide means, in fact, it''s more beneficial to be knowledgeable about it since the more knowledge you have, the better you understand the world. But something in me feels terrible about even mentioning the word suicide in front of a child.


    I guess I still have the capacity to think with my emotions. It''s for the best, especially since I will "wear the rope as a necklace" once again. Plus, it will make things less complicated.


    I took my eyes off her for one second, and now she''s suddenly sitting right beside me. She''s too close. I wanted to stand up right away, but doing so immediately would be extremely awkward that even a child would notice it.


    "Woww! So this is what a bed feels like. It''s sooo soft!" With her hands, she repeatedly pushed down on the bed, as if she were kneading it, much like a cat.


    "Y-you''ve never b-been on.. a bed?"


    "No, Mister. This is the first time I''ve been this close to one. My family is very poor, so we didn''t have enough money to buy a bed for everyone. Only daddy had a bed."


    That''s a bit strange to hear. It''s quite unfortunate that they are poor and could only afford one bed, but even so, the child would obviously be the priority to give the bed to, right? I doubt that any bed is too small to fit an extra child in. It''s quite strange that the father is the one using it, unless...


    "H-hey... is your f-fathe-"


    "Mister, can I lay on the bed?"


    She interrupted me mid-sentence and probably didn''t hear me. Her eyes were sparkling as bright as the stars, glistening as if the entire galaxy were inside them. Is she for real? Is this really her first time laying on a bed?


    "S-sure, g-go ahead."


    "Yippeee! Thanks, Mister." she immediately stood on the edge of the bed, which was totally dangerous, and jumped, landing in the center of the bed face-first.


    "It''s sooooo soft!" She rolled over and made snow angels on my bed.


    "Hey, Mister."


    "Y-yes?"


    "You should really store your food in the fridge and not in the containers. You''re very lucky to have a fridge, you should use it more."


    "S-sure."


    I didn''t really understand what she said. Containers? What is she talking about? But in order to not make things more complicated, I agreed regardless of the full context.


    "Umm.. h-hey."


    "Yes, Mister?" She continued to make snow angels.


    "These s-slippers... was it you?"


    "Hm? ooh! yes, I found them in the drawers when I was exploring."


    "E-exploring? when?"


    "When you were asleep, Mister."


    "O-ok.. thanks."


    "You''re welcome, Mister."


    I guess this meant that she was snooping around my room last night. Judging from her character, she probably made a lot of noise and talked out loud a lot, so how exactly was I not woken up by it? Now there was another thing added to my annoyances, which is that she''ll probably do more stupid things tonight while I''m asleep, much like the mess she made last night, which I haven''t cleaned up yet.


    Well... guess it''s time to finally clean this mess up. I''ve stepped on more than enough rice grains to know when it''s time to get it over with and clean up.


    I stood up and took out the oil-stained clothes in my closet. It''s quite a relief that only some of the top ones were affected.


    "Mister, what are you doing?" she was still rolling around on the bed.


    "C-cleaning up."


    "Cleaning what up?"


    "T-the mess y-you made."


    "Oooh, huh?" she stood up on the bed, "did I get your clothes dirty, Mister?" She jumped off and inspected the clothes that I took out.


    "Oh no! I''m so sorry, Mister. I didn''t notice it when I was eating. I''m really really sorry, Mister. I''ll help you clean up all the yellow stuff."


    "Y-yellow.. stuff?"


    "Yes, the yellow stuff." She confidently pointed at a grain of rice, as if they were really called the yellow stuff.


    "T-that''s.. C-Chinese fried rice."


    "Chinese fried rice? Wow! So this is from another country. That must be why it''s sooo delicious."


    I nodded.


    "I''ll help you clean up, Mister. What are you going to do with all those clothes?"


    "W-wash them."


    "I''ll do it for you, Mister." she grabbed the clothes in my hand


    "N-no, I can h-handle it."


    "I insist, Mister. I''ll clean up my own mess." She held them tighter and looked me directly in the eyes. Her eyes were earnest, she seriously wanted to atone for her actions."


    "F-fine." I let her carry the clothes.


    "So what do I need to do, Mister?"


    This will probably be the longest sentence that I''ll ever say, so here goes.


    I motioned every step with my hands as I said them. "F-first, fill the bucket with w-water. T-then.. pour detergent in. And p-place the clothes i-in and s-scrub them."


    "Detergent?" she leaned her head to the left.


    "I-its written on a b-bottle." I traced the shape of a bottle with my fingers.


    "All right. So fill bucket with water, add detergent, place clothes in and scrub. Is that all, Mister."


    "Y-yes... call me when y-you finish."


    "Aye aye, Mister." She saluted like a pirate.


    With the clothes in her hand, she walked off into the bathroom, finally leaving me alone in my room. It was only for a little while, but the silence in the room was refreshing. The silence was quickly disturbed once again when the sound of flowing water echoed out from the bathroom. Looks like she''s somewhat capable of doing something. I''d better check on her later. As for me, I guess I''ll clean up the rice that''s still on the floor. I grabbed a rag from the kitchen, and it was now time to clean.


    Phew, I''ve built up quite a sweat. Everything is now nice and clean. Not a single speck of rice remained. I better check on her now, hopefully she hasn''t done anything stupid and made an even larger mess.


    I sneakily peeked inside the bathroom. She sat on the small stool, and the bucket was in front of her. She was slowly and carefully scrubbing each piece of clothing, as if she were worried they would tear if she was a little rough with them. I smell an almost lemon-like odor in the air. It looks like she found the right bottle of detergent. Looking at her now, I could almost praise her for her efforts. She really is taking this seriously.


    I smiled and walked away.


    After all this cleaning, we both deserve a nice lunch. And by nice, I mean Chinese fried rice, of course. I wandered off into the kitchen and prepared lunch.


    "Mister, I''m dooonee!"


    I went back to the bathroom to see the fruits of her efforts. The newly washed clothes were all piled up in the bathtub. I took one and inspected it closely. Not a single trace of oil.


    "Y-you did a g-good job." I gave her a thumbs up.


    "Wow! so I did well, Mister? I''m so glad!" She spun around on one foot, showcasing her smile in the bathroom.


    I wrung out the water from the clothes and hung them on the towel rail, some on the ledge of the bathtub. Going back to suicide, the towel rail might have seemed like a good alternative to the curtain rod, but it was too hollow and thin to be able to support my weight. Washing all these clothes might seem like a waste of time and not what a person who''s about to die would do, but obviously my clothes might get donated to someone after I die, so it''s best for them to be clean to not trouble the next wearer.


    With that all done, we both left the bathroom and went back to the bedroom, where a surprise was waiting for her.


    Her face instantly brightened up even more as she saw two white containers on the floor. "Mister! Is that... the yello-I mean the Chinese fried rice?"


    I looked at her and nodded. Her eyes widened even more, with stars almost visible in them.


    We walked over to them and sat on the floor. She seemed really excited for the rice, but while we were sitting down, she didn''t touch it right away, but her eyes were glued to it and her fingers were restless, as if she were hesitating. I slid the container and spoon closer to her, motioning that I was giving her permission to eat it.


    "Can I really eat it, Mister?" she was almost drooling at this point.


    I nodded.


    "Wowww, thank you very much, Mister. You''re the nicest person I''ve met." another smile is visible on her face.


    We both took up our spoons, opened the containers, and enjoyed a nice lunch.


    Being too focused on the fried rice, she only noticed now that there was another thing she could consume.


    "What is this, Mister? It''s very black.. and cold." she grabbed the bottle in front of her.


    "I-it''s a drink.. t-try it."


    She twisted open the cap and the most refreshing sound of a carbonated drink being opened gave her a surprise. Her eyes widened and she was obviously confused, but even so, she wasted no time in taking a sip.


    "Woooaah! What is this, Mister? It''s tickling my mouth."


    "It''s.. called s-soda"


    "So this is soda. I''ve heard it before from daddy, but this is the first time I''ve tasted one." she took another sip, "yum! very refreshing." she burped afterwards.


    I was still skeptical at first, but looking at her now, I guess ghosts really can eat.


    "We''hr jidd yu mghet da phood mishtr."


    "Umm... c-could you swallow f-first?"


    She quickly chewed and swallowed, while the food going down her food pipes was visible on the surface of her neck.


    "Where did you get the food, Mister."


    I tilted my head, confused by her question.


    "Did you get it from the containers?"


    Again, what does she mean by containers? I''m now more confused.


    "I-I bought some... this m-morning."


    "Oooh, so this is freshly made. That''s why it''s warm." she grabbed the container and pressed it against her cheek, feeling the warmth of it.


    "S-sure." Does she not know that microwaves exist? "B-by the way..."


    "Wat ishhit mishtr?"


    Again, chew your food first before you talk.


    "W-what do you.. want to eat t-tomorrow?"


    "Tomorrow? You''ll let me choose what we''ll eat tomorrow, Mister?"


    I nodded.


    Her spoon dropped into the container, and her face brightened up. "Really!? Are you sure?"


    I nodded again.


    "Are you really really sure?"


    I nodded one more time.


    She leaned closer to me. "Can I order anything?"


    "S-sure."


    She stood up and spun around, "Yippee! I can eat anything I want!" She then sat back down again and started to think by closing her eyes and folding her arms, as if this was the most important decision in her life. "Do I want pasta.. or chicken? But wait, I always wanted to eat burritos... or maybe seafood... hmm, what should I choose?"


    "U-um, have you chosen s-something?"


    "Yes!" She suddenly stood up. "I choooosee... Sushi!" She raised her arms with her hands open wide, as if an image of sushi would appear above her.


    "W-why.. sushi?" I have nothing against her choice, in fact, I couldn''t agree more with her. I''m just a bit curious.


    "Well, it''s because I remember mommy saying that she wanted to eat good sushi. I don''t think mommy got a chance to eat one yet, so I''ll taste it for her.


    "Um.. alright."


    I know we have plenty of food in the fridge, four servings of Chinese fried rice to be exact, but it wouldn''t last up to dinner tomorrow now that I''m feeding an extra person.. or entity. Well, at least I''ll get to enjoy my favorite food before I end it all tomorrow night, hopefully. I ordered tomorrow''s dinner on my phone, and carried on with eating lunch.


    "Haymishtr.. I jhst remunbrd smthing."


    I sighed in my head. For the last time, chew your goddamn food first.


    "I saw a doggy collar yesterday in Mister''s drawers.."


    My spoon plummeted to the bottom of the container, but my hands were still positioned as if it was still holding onto it.


    "..that means Mister has a doggy, right? I really want to see Mister''s doggy. Where is he right now? is he with Mister''s parents or something."


    My eyes were glued to the bottom of the container. I picked up the spoon and continued to eat every single piece of rice, scraping every corner of the container. Afterwards, I downed the bottle of soda, stood up and headed for the kitchen.


    "Mister?" She stood up, still waiting for a reply.


    "They''re far away.. very far." I answered without looking at her. I left her in the room. I threw the trash in the garbage bag, drank some water from the tap, and headed straight to the bathroom.


    "Call me if delivery is here." I entered the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I filled the bathtub and hopped in immediately without even washing my body first. Once again, the steam enveloped everything in my surroundings. The more seconds passed, the more things became a blur, as if the entire world became enshrouded with fog, hiding me away, hiding all the things I never wanted to see or remember ever again.


    I shut my ears, emptied my mind, and closed my eyes.