The Ghost People

Hello All:

I love turning those strange dreams we have early in the morning (just moments before waking up) into short stories. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Today's brand, new story is one such example.

The Ghost People

He calls them the "ghost people"; this is what six-year-old Aaron refers to them as. Mother and Father understand these "ghost people" to be little Aaron's imaginary friends. It’s theorized that he invented them as a means to cope with the move into the new home. You see, Father's job transfer required that the family move out of state. And this relocated little Aaron to a new school with new teacher and new kids. Many children invent imaginary friends when coping with stressors in life.

The "ghost people" as Aaron describe are quite interesting. With the exception of being nearly transparent, they initially appear to be ordinary people. It's three of them—three men—one wearing a suit, and the other dressed in plain clothes, the sort of clothes that Grandpa wears—button down shirts and dress slacks. Sometimes the one who wears a suit enters the room with a brimmed hat. Aaron understands him to be the boss.

But what makes the "ghost people" so interesting?—you might ask?

They can morph into anything they wish. Often the "ghost people" transform themselves into "cartoon people". They can actually look like the strange creatures that Aaron often sees in today's modern cartoons—nothing adults would ever recognize.

Take for example the night that Aaron sat on his bedroom floor while playing with matchbox cars. Suddenly, the "ghost people" flattened themselves like a pancake and slid under the closed closet door into the main bedroom.

"Hi Aaron!" greeted one of the "ghost people". "What's wrong? Don't recognize us?"

Although what hovered nearby Aaron were colorful blobs with funny faces that would make anyone laugh, Aaron definitely recognized them. And to distinguish himself from the other two, the boss wore the brimmed hat.

"I recognize you guys." answered Aaron. "Want to play matchbox cars with me?" he offered.

One of the "ghost/cartoon people" whistled before exclaiming, "Oh, them are swell! Look at them!" he encouraged the other two "ghost people". "Ain't them nice little cars?"

"Yeah, they sure are." agreed the boss.

"You got a Studebaker?" asked one of the other two.

Aaron shrugged his shoulder. "What's a Studebaker?"

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed the boss. "Here comes the Mrs." With that, the "ghost/cartoon people" whisked away and flattened themselves up to slip behind the pictures on Aaron's wall.

"Who were you talking to?" asked Mother upon entering Aaron's bedroom.

"The ghost people." answered Aaron. "They were going to play Matchbox cars with me. One of them wanted to know if I have a Studebaker."

Mother remained silent. If her son could just make a new friend at school, it would put an end to these imaginary "ghost people".

"Mommy? What's a Studebaker?"

"I don't know Aaron." answered Mother. "It's time for bed. Pick up your toys and put them away."

Mother stepped out of the bedroom for a moment. During this time, Aaron reluctantly did as ordered. Already in his pajamas, he climbed into bed and waited with the lights on to be tucked in.

Moments later Mother entered the room and approached the bed. "Good night, Honey. I love you." She kissed Aaron on the lips.

"I wish that was me she was kissing." remarked one of the “ghost people” from behind the pictures hanging on the wall.

"Watch it!" ordered the boss. "That's the kid's mother. Is nothing sacred with you?"

As Mother stepped out she turned off the lights and closed the door. Almost immediately, the "ghost people" slipped out from behind the pictures and resumed their cartoon appearances.

"Bed time, huh?" asked one of them.

"Yeah..." sadly answered little Aaron.

"You still want to play, huh kid?" asked the boss.

"I guess..." answered Aaron.

"Hey, I got a good idea." began one of the other two "ghost people" with a mischievous smile on his face. "What do you say we play monkey in the middle?"

"No!" cried out little Aaron. Aaron did not like this cruel game of monkey in the middle. Invented by the "ghost people" it had nothing to do with intercepting a ball or playing any form of keep away. Rather it involved the "ghost people" transforming their faces into hideous monsters while chasing frightened little Aaron around the bedroom.

And that's what the "ghost people" suddenly did. They put on frightful faces of sharp teeth and huge horns on their heads. Sometimes they made themselves look like angry animals. They often growled and made loud noises while playing this cruel game. And whenever Aaron tried to get away, the "ghost people" simply stretched themselves out like a blanket to catch little Aaron and fling him back in the center. Hence the meaning of monkey in the middle.

Poor Aaron scurried around the bedroom. "No! No! Not again!"

The "ghost people" swirled and danced around the bedroom while transforming themselves into hideous animals. A couple of times they stretched themselves out like a blanket to catch Aaron and thrown him in the middle.

"Monkey in the middle!" the three of them called out.

Somehow, little Aaron managed to escape. He ran out into the hallway and into the family room where Mother and Father watched TV. "The ghost people aren't being nice to me! They're chasing me around the bedroom and playing monkey in the middle! It scares me!

In the bedroom, the "ghost people" transformed themselves back into their original form; the boss wearing his suit with brimmed hat, and the other two wearing button down shirts with dress slacks.

"Is this all we have to look forward to?" asked the boss. "Playing with toys and chasing a little boy around the bedroom to scare him?" He was more-or-less complaining their existence.

"Well we don't have to hang around this place." cited one of the other two. "There's a whole world out there. How come we never left?"

The boss lit up a cigarette and took a deep drag. Then he exhaled. "You know what gets me with you two? In all the years... In all the bad stuff we did... You never think about what's waiting for us as payback."

"We got our payback!" snapped one of the other two "ghost people". "They finally caught up with us. We got the ultimate punishment. What's worse than dead? What can happen to us now?"

The boss shook his head in disbelief while taking another drag. "See, that's what you don't get. What’s out there waiting for us? What's going to happen to us? Where will we end up for all the bad things we did to people?"

The End