Room for Ghosts

Prompt: Room for ghosts.

Source: youtube.com/myterriblefriend

Response: Room for Ghosts

She sat still, the edge of the ancient sofa's frame cutting into her skin. The room was impersonal, cold, formal. The austere furnishings seemed to glare at her from their vast heights; the wheezing chest of drawers and the sweeping drapes seemed to hang suspended above the dreary carpeting, looming like specters.

It was a room for ghosts, she decided. She could almost see the faded gray figures hovering around the window, perched along the tired sofa, gliding above the threadbare topography of the rug.

The though was, first, intriguing. If she squinted, she told herself that the dust drifting in the air was set in motion by unseen beings. And she almost believed it.

Her skin prickled at the delightfully frightening prospect. She wriggled backward, sliding into the sofa. Suddenly, she felt trapped. There were presences all around her, she could feel it. A chilling breeze of words and whispers filled the room, brushing against her ears with phrases and feeling. Her eyes darted around the spacious parlor - it seemed as exposed as a stage, yet as confining as a tomb. She heard her name called on the wind of whispers. She shuddered.

"You are Lily, are you not?"

A cold touch made her jump and she whirled to face a smiling toddler boy. His skin glowed with a faint light and in the stillness of the room his shirt and hair seemed stirred by a breeze.

"I am Mica. You are afraid, Lily. Do not be afraid."

The door to the room opened and she turned toward it. There was her grandmother.

"Gram," she called, but no sound came out - only a rush of wind.

Her grandmother sat on the other end of the sofa, seeming not to see her. Her grandmother began to cry, but when she reached out to comfort the older woman, she could not touch her grandmother.

She curled against herself in the sofa, bursting into tears of her own. She did not understand.

She felt the cold touch again and turned to find Mica beside her.

"You were right," he said. "This is, indeed, a room for ghosts."

Notes: Well I seem to be in the business of recanting today. I am not quite finished with the weather forecast, but it will be up soon. On a happier note, I just found out that I will indeed have internet where I am going so I will be updating normally for the next week (though I'm going away on the weekend and there will probably be some extra prompts then).

Oh and this line is from the song "The Daylight Here" by My Terrible Friend and it is awesome, though not quite as awesome as their song "When I Decide." I recommend them both.