A Ghostly Halloween

I am so nervous and excited today. Today is Halloween. For a lot of people, that is neither nerve – racking nor exciting, but those people didn’t just die a few months ago and are not experiencing their first Halloween as a ghost. I am not dressing up as a ghost. I am a real ghost. 

         I know, I know. You were told ghosts aren’t real and all that malarkey. I didn’t think ghosts were real either, until I died and became one. Let me tell you, it took some getting used to.

         First, you have to learn how to float instead of walk. You might think that sounds easy enough, but it is a serious struggle. We ghosts don’t experience gravity, but it is hard to forget about. It’s kind of like ‘phantom limb syndrome’, only it’s phantom gravity syndrome.

         Then there is the not eating thing. You see all of this food everywhere, and you remember how great it tasted and you want to eat it, but you can’t. At least, most of the time you can’t. That is why I am so excited about Halloween.

         On Halloween, I have been told, we become more….solid, I guess is the word to use. Anyway, we are still floating apparitions and all of that, but on Halloween we solidify enough that people can see us………..and we can eat!!! I can’t wait to eat! I know it is just a hold – over from my human life, but I feel as though I am starving to death – pardon the pun.

         The first thing that I plan to do is go to my human home. I want to see my wife and kids. I can’t wait to see what they will dress up as today. I don’t know if I should appear to the kids. They might not be able to handle it. Once they leave for school, though, I am going to appear to my wife. I want her to make me a nice breakfast like she used to.

         Rats!!! No one told me that my family moved. Now I have to try and figure out where they moved to. I scared the crap out of some lady when I appeared in the kitchen. That was funny, so it wasn’t a total waste. Wait, I see the mailman coming. Maybe he knows where they moved to. I will appear to him and ask. 

         That didn’t work. He threw the mail up in the air and fainted. Geez, was I that cowardly as a human? I wonder how I would have reacted if a ghost revealed himself to me. I would like to think that I would have been braver than that, but who knows?

         So, I went by the kids’ school in hopes that I could get their new address in the office. I decided not to appear to anyone here, but instead tried looking at the files discreetly. I am sad to say that my kids don’t go to school here anymore. I don’t know where they are, the file just says ‘transferred’. 

         Wait! I have another idea. I will go by my wife’s job. Maybe I can reveal myself to her on a break or something. If nothing else, I will follow her home so I can see where they are living now. 

         Now, where is she? I don’t see her. I can’t find……wait, there she is. Damn, but I miss her so much! She looks so much older than when I last saw her. My death must have taken a lot out of her. There’s her friend, Kelly. They are getting together to talk. I’m going to float over to try and hear them talking.

         If ghosts could cry, I would be crying right now. My wife was telling Kelly that she doesn’t really feel like taking the kids trick – or – treating. Kelly talked her into it, though. I hung around my wife’s office until she left for the day. 

         I floated into the car and rode with her to get the kids from school. They had grown so much over the last few months! The three of them were dressed as the characters from my favorite cartoon that we watched together, ‘PJ Masks’. The boys were dressed as Catboy and Geico, while my daughter was dressed as Owlette. As soon as they got in the car, they began begging their mom to dress as Luna Girl from the series. 

         Once they were at their new house and the kids were in their rooms, I decided to reveal myself to my wife, Molly. When I whispered from behind her, she gasped. I was proud of her, though. She didn’t scream. When she turned around, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. I explained that on this day I could reveal myself to others. We gathered the kids, who thought that having a ‘ghost dad’ was the coolest thing ever. 

         I had an actual dinner with my family – something I rarely had time to do when I was alive. After dinner, we begged and pleaded until Molly finally agreed to dress up as Luna Girl. By the time she finished getting ready, it was time to go.

         “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed suddenly. “I forgot Kelly was coming with us. We won’t be able to enjoy having you there.”

         She was near tears again, apparently she cried much easier these days. 

         “It’s okay, honey, I will still be there.” I just wanted to stop those tears. I never could bare to see her cry.

         Molly called Kelly to try and talk her out of going with them, but understandably Kelly was worried about her friend and was not to be stopped from joining Molly and the kids.

         I decided it would be great fun to scare the crap out of Kelly, and Molly and the kids agreed. When she arrived, Molly told her that they had something to show her. I appeared in front of her and she just casually told me hello. Then she looked again, screamed and ran out to her car. She stood there for a moment, then came back to the door. Molly was laughing so hard that she peed her pants and had to change. The kids and I explained what was happening to Kelly while we waited.

         We had a wonderful night trick-or-treating (and scaring a few people that the kids didn’t particularly care for. Molly asked if I would for sure be back next Halloween and I told her I wouldn’t miss it for the world. She assured me that there would be holiday dinners fit for a king on Halloween from now on. I can’t wait until next Halloween!