were
what you would call “normal”. I didn't wake up in the middle of the
night to see ghosts all over my room. I wasn't like that little kid
in that movie who saw dead people, seeing ghosts everywhere he
looked. In fact, I started to believe my experience with Susan and
Richard was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Maybe I couldn't
see ghosts or demons or whatever. Maybe I'd never see another ghost
again.
If only.
It was a week away from my twenty-third
birthday when my life changed forever. I had an okay job that paid
the bills working at a warehouse shipping dock. Not the best job in
the world, but better than nothing. Cindy was graduating college
with a degree in accounting. I was so proud of her. She was full of
motivation and intelligence, two qualities I lack. Alicia was a
senior now in our old high school. It's amazing what happens
between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Alicia grew up fast. She
definitely didn't need me to watch out for her anymore, even though
I still did.
It was a Saturday. I went through my morning
routine of waking up and stumbling into the shower. While I was in
the bathroom I heard the front door to my apartment open and
close.
“Is that you, baby?”
A soft, familiar voice responded. “Yeah.”
Julie, my girlfriend. We'd been dating for
almost a year. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the
woman. We met one night while I was out running around town with
Alicia, Cindy, and a group of our friends. We traded numbers and
hit it off pretty well.
After a shower I walked into the living room.
She had her roller-blades in the corner. Every Saturday morning she
roller-bladed on the nearby bike trail and came over my place.
She looked great. She was showing off her tan
legs with a pair of white shorts and a tank top that hugged every
curve.
“Hey,” I said. I looked her up and down. “You
can grab a shower if you want. I'll dig us up some breakfast.”
“Okay.”
“We still heading over your parents tonight
for dinner?”
“I guess so.”
Three short answers in a row, and no eye
contact. Something was wrong.
“Julie? You alright?”
She finally looked at me. Sadness filled her
eyes.
“We have to talk.”
I don't think a good conversation has ever
happened that started out with those words. I wasn't wrong this
time either. Basically, in her words, “We're not working out.”
I don't remember everything she said. She
gave me a bunch of reasons about why she was breaking up with me.
She apparently felt it coming on for the past few months. Weird,
because we just had sex in the middle of the week. How did that
work? Was she thinking “I wonder if we should break up” while we
were naked in bed?
I said some things back. I can't remember,
but nothing nasty. Then she cried a little, and left. She said
she'd be back in a week or so to get her things.
I sat on the couch and didn't move. Shock, I
guess. It took a year to build up our relationship. To get to know
each other and become a part of each other's life. It took about
twenty minutes to end all of that.
We were supposed to have dinner with her
parents. Now I didn't know what I'd do. I didn't know what I'd do
the next day either. Or the day after that.
I was desperate to do anything to keep my
mind busy. I started cleaning my apartment. It was overdue anyway.
I had a simple one bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three
story building. The kitchen was bare, but it worked just fine.
There was a dining room, but as a male bachelor, had no need for a
dining room table. I kept my weights there instead. In the bedroom
I had a full-sized bed with a small dresser. The living room, of
course, had the entertainment center with a computer in the
corner.
Normally Alicia or Cindy would stop by on
Saturday to see how I was doing, grab lunch, whatever. They didn't
that day, and I was actually glad. I knew Alicia spent the night
over one of her friend's house, and was probably still hanging out
with her. Cindy was
what you would call “normal”. I didn't wake up in the middle of the
night to see ghosts all over my room. I wasn't like that little kid
in that movie who saw dead people, seeing ghosts everywhere he
looked. In fact, I started to believe my experience with Susan and
Richard was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Maybe I couldn't
see ghosts or demons or whatever. Maybe I'd never see another ghost
again.
If only.
It was a week away from my twenty-third
birthday when my life changed forever. I had an okay job that paid
the bills working at a warehouse shipping dock. Not the best job in
the world, but better than nothing. Cindy was graduating college
with a degree in accounting. I was so proud of her. She was full of
motivation and intelligence, two qualities I lack. Alicia was a
senior now in our old high school. It's amazing what happens
between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Alicia grew up fast. She
definitely didn't need me to watch out for her anymore, even though
I still did.
It was a Saturday. I went through my morning
routine of waking up and stumbling into the shower. While I was in
the bathroom I heard the front door to my apartment open and
close.
“Is that you, baby?”
A soft, familiar voice responded. “Yeah.”
Julie, my girlfriend. We'd been dating for
almost a year. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the
woman. We met one night while I was out running around town with
Alicia, Cindy, and a group of our friends. We traded numbers and
hit it off pretty well.
After a shower I walked into the living room.
She had her roller-blades in the corner. Every Saturday morning she
roller-bladed on the nearby bike trail and came over my place.
She looked great. She was showing off her tan
legs with a pair of white shorts and a tank top that hugged every
curve.
“Hey,” I said. I looked her up and down. “You
can grab a shower if you want. I'll dig us up some breakfast.”
“Okay.”
“We still heading over your parents tonight
for dinner?”
“I guess so.”
Three short answers in a row, and no eye
contact. Something was wrong.
“Julie? You alright?”
She finally looked at me. Sadness filled her
eyes.
“We have to talk.”
I don't think a good conversation has ever
happened that started out with those words. I wasn't wrong this
time either. Basically, in her words, “We're not working out.”
I don't remember everything she said. She
gave me a bunch of reasons about why she was breaking up with me.
She apparently felt it coming on for the past few months. Weird,
because we just had sex in the middle of the week. How did that
work? Was she thinking “I wonder if we should break up” while we
were naked in bed?
I said some things back. I can't remember,
but nothing nasty. Then she cried a little, and left. She said
she'd be back in a week or so to get her things.
I sat on the couch and didn't move. Shock, I
guess. It took a year to build up our relationship. To get to know
each other and become a part of each other's life. It took about
twenty minutes to end all of that.
We were supposed to have dinner with her
parents. Now I didn't know what I'd do. I didn't know what I'd do
the next day either. Or the day after that.
I was desperate to do anything to keep my
mind busy. I started cleaning my apartment. It was overdue anyway.
I had a simple one bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three
story building. The kitchen was bare, but it worked just fine.
There was a dining room, but as a male bachelor, had no need for a
dining room table. I kept my weights there instead. In the bedroom
I had a full-sized bed with a small dresser. The living room, of
course, had the entertainment center with a computer in the
corner.
Normally Alicia or Cindy would stop by on
Saturday to see how I was doing, grab lunch, whatever. They didn't
that day, and I was actually glad. I knew Alicia spent the night
over one of her friend's house, and was probably still hanging out
with her. Cindy was
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