The Ghost in the Attic : 01

The Ghost in the Attic
Names are Stupid : 01

He doesn't know his name, he never has. For the longest time he didn't even believe he had one to begin with because no matter how hard he tried to recall it, nothing would come to mind. He'd draw a blank whenever he attempted to remember anything about his past or what he'd been called before. Pretty soon, he just began to assume that he simply must not have a past or a name at all.

That's why I can never remember it, he'd thought one day while wandering through the overgrown garden framing the back end of his home, there just isn't anything there for me to remember.

It didn't matter to him, this whole having no name business. Having a name was stupid, he'd said to himself, only stupid people have names.

But even though there was this part of him that wanted to believe that, there was a different part that felt a little bitter over the fact that he just couldn't, for the life of him, remember who he was.

It all changed one sunny afternoon though. The old lady who tried to claim ownership on his property years and years back had been standing outside, speaking to who he would later find out to be the a new owner she'd sold his house to.

A ghost lives in the attic room, she'd told the strange man that day. She hadn't been back to the property for years because of it, she'd said. Well he's the only one who lives in this room so it was then he realized that his name must actually be Ghost.

He was happy to have remembered it finally, happier than he'd been in years.

Of course! he'd sung to himself as he skipped through the dusty halls, running his fingers along the walls and causing the grime to streak in his hand's wake, I'm surprised I didn't realize it before. I must have been crazy not to remember such a clever name.

Today though, Ghost isn't so happy. He stands still, hands pressed against dingy glass and light eyes peering down at the courtyard from his small bedroom window while the softest of frowns is painted on his youthful face. There are people coming, a family he's never seen before getting out of the car that'd just pulled up at the edge of his property line.

He doesn't like it. He already doesn't like them.

Every so many years, someone buys the old land with intentions of fixing it up. Beautiful, he's heard them say. Wonderful if only the weeds and cobwebs were cleared out. A fixer upper, whatever that meant. So they'd move in, sometimes a single, sometimes an entire household but always a nuisance to him from the start.

This is his house. His, and he likes it exactly how it is. He likes the dusty and the dirty walls. He enjoys how overgrown the backyard is and how the height of the vegetation soars above his head. He likes the holes and the secret tunnels beneath the floorboards. He enjoys it when they creak.

He doesn't want anyone coming in and changing what's his.

But yet again, another family has come to try. A man, tall with dark hair and tanned skin, shadowed by his petite wife - all full of light and sun. Then finally, a small boy, younger than himself from what he can see, sandy blonde hair, dark sky colored eyes and carrying with him an obviously well loved oversized stuffed toy.

Ghost narrows his eyes at them as he watches the adults begin a routine he's seen countless times before. Pointing and waving at this or that while excitement spills from two sets of lips. He shifts a little to get a better look when the male moves just beyond his view and it's that movement that freezes the small child in his steps, drawing those dark blue orbs directly up to him.

Ghost snorts as their gazes meet, a shadowy look soon shifting across the boy's features in response. Yes, he definitely doesn't like that one, looking at him all funny like. He's probably just as stupid as his parents there, complete with an equally stupid name. He's glad though to know that this new set of owners has a child because adults are purposefully blind to his presence, they only ever seem capable of hearing what he does. So as the small boy finally pulls his eyes away and scurries off towards his mother, tugging at her shirt and pointing to his window, he can't help but smile.

Adults may be stupid and blind, but their kid is going to make it a lot easier for him to do what he's done many, many times before; scare them away from his home. He wants to be left alone, he wants his house to be left alone and he'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

Pushing away from his window, Ghost turns to move towards the door of his room, his hands slipping deep into his pockets and the widest of smiles forming on his lips. He has a feeling this will end up being a lot of fun, more fun than he's had in years, he's sure. For as much as he hates that there are now people moving in, there's this part of him that he knows is going to really enjoy having someone to play with again.

Whether they enjoy playing back or not though, isn't going to be his problem.