Syn's Ghostly Encounter

      I never let myself believe in something so foolish, but this time something about it - I just couldn't quite shake the thought that it just might be real. Was my mind playing tricks on me or could there really be a ghost floating around my dorm room?

      "Pull yourself together Syn," I order myself as I close my eyes and hope when I reopen them the ghostly apparition hovering beside my window would be gone. I didn't even believe in ghosts for cripes sake.

       I hoped against hope as I crack open my eyes. Nope, he was still there, his smoky gray eyes alight with amusement. "What do you want?" I demand, my quivering voice betraying my confident facade.

       The ghost's smile widens as he shakes his head and comes closer, freezing me with the icy drop in temperature that accompanies him.

        I scoot back toward my headboard and grip the blankets against my tank-top-covered chest. "My roommate will be back any second," I threaten, hoping I'm right.

        I just hoped my new roommate Britta didn't bring yet another guy home from whatever frat party she'd been partying at tonight. Talk about awkward. I frown at the thought, momentarily forgetting the ghostly intruder, that is until he holds out his hand to me.

       His sexy smoky gray eyes urge me to take his hand as I study him in the moonlight. His golden hair shimmers in the light and he looks to be in his early twenties. Had he been alive, and not a ghost, he might be considered attractive; sexy even. Definitely not the kind of guy that would ever notice boring, old me with my uncontrollable black hair and skin darkened from spending the entire summer working in my uncle's olive grove back in Greece.

      Getting impatient with my perusal of him the ghost reaches over and yanks me out of bed.

     I drag my feet indignantly as he pulls me toward the window. "Wait, hold up buddy, I can't walk through walls like you. Besides, we're on the third floor. I'd drop like a rock and I'm definitely not ready to join you in the spirit world."

     The ghost smirks at me irresistibly in a "watch me" sort of way as he continues through the thick wall, pulling me right along with him.

     Before I can form an argument we're flying, or rather floating, through the night, invisible to the college students stumbling back to their dorm rooms after a long night of partying.

     The ghost brings us to a halt in the courtyard of an upscale restaurant across town from the university. As we drift slowly to the ground I realize that the courtyard has been transformed from it's usual patio dining appearance into something... else.

     A candlelit table set for two sits in the center of the courtyard as a low fog blankets the cobblestone deck. The ghost pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit down. Above our heads a sky full of stars and a full moon shines down on us. Hadn't I just been wishing for a guy to sweep me off my feet just yesterday?

      I reluctantly sit down and the ghost pushes me closer to the table before sitting down across from me. As soon as he sits down a feast appears on the table in front of us.

       I stare at the ghost in surprise, "You did this all for me?"
 
       The ghost nods, but remains silent.

        "Why?" I ask quietly.

        The ghost shrugs as a gruff male voice with a hint of a southern accent pops into my head, "I've been watching you for a long time. It gets lonely wandering around campus by myself, unseen by anyone. You were a vibrant star among a sea of faces, I had to know you."
         
         "Were you a student here?" I ask as the ghost pours me a glass of red liquid, wine probably. "before you..."

          The ghost looks pained for a minute, "Yes, I was."

           I nod understandingly, not wanting to pry. "What's your name?"

           The ghost shakes his head, refusing to answer.

           I roll my eyes, "oh come on! I'm on an impromptu date with a ghost at three in the morning wearing nothing but a tank top and a tiny pair of sleep shorts and you're honestly refusing to tell me your name?"

          The ghost smiles appreciatively as his eyes roam over my outfit before responding. "It will be easier this way. Trust me."

           I bite my lip but find myself nodding anyway. We begin digging into our meal, some kind of fancy Italian pasta dish with scallops in it, as the ghost begins peppering me with all sorts of questions. He asks me about my family and my major as he caresses my hand across the table. Every time I ask him a personal question he deflects with a question for me. If not for his translucent appearance I'd think he was just any other guy, albeit a secretive one, trying to impress on a first date. And despite the shroud of secrecy I reluctantly find myself becoming attracted to him.

        After dinner he pulls me into his arms and insists that we dance. The moonlight shines down on us as we dance, my cheek pressed against his surprisingly solid chest as his hands rest gently on my hips. I draw back slowly and look at him as he angles his head towards mine. My eyes flutter closed in anticipation of the kiss. As his lips press firmly against mine my entire world explodes in a burst of color.

      When I open my eyes I'm back in my bed in my dorm room. The early morning light peeks through the shades Britta forgot to close the night before.

       "Was it all just a dream? A perfect, realistic dream?" I wonder aloud.

      As I glance around the room for any trace of the ghost's visit the night before I find a single red rose laying on the table beside my bed. Beside the rose a small note card sits propped against the base of my college-issued lamp.

                    To answer your first question, the answer is you.
                               You are what I want.
                                 I’ll see you soon.
                                         Love,
                                                -M


                                      To be continued...