Transparent Whisper

"Once you die, you can't bring anything with you. But whatever's inside you will stay"

***

 Mephiline Sotaro, was an ordinary girl. She has light-pink hair and ocean blue eyes. With her shortness and cute face, it proves her innocence by just looks, but not her life. 

 At the time when the sun shines at its brightest, in her home, its depressing as night. All of the lights were on, but for her, it wasn't. She felt like a girl sitting in a corner of a blank room, and why you ask?

While sitting on that corner, she hears broken glass and curse words said beyond the door...

Her only parents fighting and screaming due to financial problems and bills. It may seem ordinary because your just reading this in a website, but for her, it's war.

The living room tends to be the battlefield and for her safety, her room remains the safe zone.

 To avoid hearing the gunshots and bombs, she'd have to cover her ears and hum a lullaby.

As explosives shakes the ground, she'd sit down to save her balance.

To prevent the blood splattering on her face, she has to bow her head downward, close enough to touch the floor, like an umbrella. This was too difficult for her, yet again, she never got used to it. Doubts flooded her thoughts, whispering:

'Is this my fault?' 'Was this my sin?' 'If it is, why do I keep hiding like a turtle in a shell?' 'Why can't I make an end to this?' 

But as the sun sets and the moon rises at its highest peak, as the darkness crawled in the streets, chasing away the light. Yet, the lights gather inside Meph, giving her a positive mindset, she was able to forget everything. That only works whenever she's near her grandmother.

So every night, she jumps off the balcony and balances on the neighborhoods' roof. Then, hops down and towards the cemetery, like a ninja. As she runs on the empty streets, she felt the big bright moon following her every move, so yes, only "Luna" only knows her secret. 

 After a few blocks away and she reaches her destination. There she stood still in front the gates, pushing them gently. She felt the breeze while laying on the grass, beside her grandmother's tomb. She smirked.

"Do you miss me?"

She said. Yet, no one answered, except the whistling wind. Seconds passed and she continued to talk to her beloved grandmother whose like the real mother to her. Too bad, she can't hear nor answer Meph's requests.

"You don't have to answer if you don't have to, mum said you're in a deep sleep, I don't want to wake you up..."

She stated, trying to give her best smile.

"Speaking of sleep, when will you wake up? Mom and dad kept screaming in the living room, if you're able to open your eyes again, please stop them for me, please?"

***

   4 years later, the cycle repeats. There weren't enough money for Meph, so she was home schooled. Meaning, there's no different days for her, since she doesn't have friends either. Unexpectedly, this one day, changed her eternal life. 

As she was heading to the cemetery to unwind. She rushed unlike any other day, instead of walking, she ran, for what? you asked, did she bring good news to her grandmother? Well, no. She was afraid of the dark correspondingly, she has to run from it as fast as she can, because she noticed "Luna" wasn't there to watch over her.

"Mom said, if the moon isn't there, its called the New Moon" She recalled, catching her breath. 

 I'm coming grandma. She pondered as she pushed the gate, aggressively.

While rushing to her tomb, she tripped and rolled down the hill. It hurts, but she can't stop it. This left her no other choice but to accept fate. 'Will I die?' 

***

Suddenly, all she saw was black. She realized, this place is darker than home, what is this place? She wanted to search for faint or tiny light lurking in the room, but her arms and legs refused to move, in other words, she felt numb.

'Whenever I force myself to move, pain replaces it, making me unable to budge, not even an inch. I can't demonstrate a motion yet, then why do I feel tears streaming down my face? She meditated. 'Luna isn't here for me and grandmother is asleep, will someone help me?'. She pondered...

  ***

 Instantly, she heard a small, faint voice, it was all unclear. But it's certain it was from someone else's lips. She slowly opened her eyes. Want to know what she saw? It was a girl with dark hair wearing somewhat believed to be a school uniform, she was somewhere around her age, standing in front of her. The girl sighed.

"Phew, I thought she won't wake up, I guess she's alright. Well, I have some errands to do, time to leave..." She uttered and turned from the opposite direction and slowly left.

Meph doesn't understood what she said but for her, it seemed the girl was talking to herself since she wasn't with somebody. It was surprising, she just ignored her and left like nothing happened? Who was she to be exact? Nobody goes into the cemetery at night, especially alone other than me.

These questions filled her head but asking them one by one would eat up time, right? What's the best question to ask to answer all these questions?

Less than a nanosecond, she asked.

"What's your name?"

It wasn't loud yet not a whisper but it's not the average volume Meph usually speak.

She stated the question as fast as lightning, to stop the girl from walking away and at least notice her.

Meph sat down properly checking for some scratches nor bruises, waiting for the other girl to answer. 

The girl's eyes opened wide, as if she was surprised or shocked. She started shivering.

"Y-you can s-see m-me?!" the girl asked out-of-the-blue and slowly took a step backward. Reading that was confusing wasn't it?.

After hearing her response, it made Meph more curious. She rubbed her eyes. "Uhh, yes? If you think i'm blind, you're mistaken." She replied, slowly standing up as her knees trembled and fell back down.

"I'm Mephiline, how 'bout you?"

Suffering in pain from the fall, she asked. The girl stood still and smirked, giving Meph a weird vibe.

"I'm Jude, and I'm a ghost"

She answered, handing out her hand. "In other words, I'm a deceased person, nice to meet you"

   Meph was astonished, and so are you, knowing a ghost saved her, although she didn't fully believed that. Until she accepted her hand, she fell back down, why? Her hand got through Jude's hand, as in, literally gone through.

What was that? When I grabbed her hand, it felt like, thin cobwebs. Is she really what I think it is? She thought. Looking at her palm to the girl. Jude snickered.

"Sorry, I forgot I'm a dead, I can't touch human flesh nor solid objects."

Meph was currently amazed, she remained hesitated while Jude was talking.

"By the way, are you fine? That was quite a fall back there." She continued. 

 "I can barely stand and I think my skull broke."

Meph responded, scratching her hair. Jude grinned. She ripped her uniform sleeves and wrapped it around Meph's injury. She grinned and patted her head. At the same time, Meph was touched.

It was the first time she felt like this, to be helped by someone. Other than that, her heart skipped a beat and blushed. Jude suddenly rolled beside her.

"So, what brings you here, pink head? Can I call you that?"

She asked. Meph slightly nodded and told her that she was here for her grandmother. But as she told that, she noticed something... 

 "Wait, so if I can see you, that means I can see the others who died here?"

Meph asked, inquisitive. Is this my opportunity to see my grandmother and talk to her with a response? She hesitated, careful not to scream in happiness.

Jude sighed. "I'm not a supernatural expert, but I think i'm the only one who wanders around here since I died without a grave, then I went flying around."

She answered with a frown on her face. I'm sorry, Meph, I understand how much you love your grandmother, you just hid it inside you. She pondered.

***

Years passed and they are very good friends...

Meph and Jude would talk with each other every night. Sharing their life, problems and insecurities...

***

But one night, Meph wasn't there to talk with her. She is said to be sleeping early this day. But something unexpected happened at the cemetery...

***

Jude was walking around the field of graves, waiting for Meph. Suddenly...

She paused...

She saw one tomb, with Mephiline's name on it...

'Mephiline Sotaro, born: March 4 2009 died: January 8, 2019'

She rechecked. She read the letters on the tomb, again and again. Unexpectedly, she wasn't surprised because of Meph's death, she's surprised because she finally had a tomb... Because she knew it all along...

Why? Because Jude is the one with flesh and bones. She's a human girl with the third-eye. She can see ghosts, not Meph...

The legend says: The dead doesn't have to know that they're dead, because unrevealing its secret might awaken his or her bad side...

The End