“Died: 1943, Died: 1943. She’s dead! A ghost, I was talking to a ghost!” Taking a steadying breath Susan lifted her head and stared unseeing at the town around her. “Okay, Susan, just calm down. You couldn’t have met a ghost, they don’t exist. That lady must have just looked like the one in the picture, but then she wouldn’t have been dressed in the exact same clothes.” Her thoughts were interrupted by a questioning voice.

“Miss? Hey, Miss? Are you okay?” a little boy in a blue baseball hat asked.

Turning to face the questioning youth, Susan forced a smile and said, “Sure kid, I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay, you look all pale and weird,” he stated with the extreme honesty of childhood. “I think you look just like those people in the movies after they see a ghost. So did you? Huh, Miss, did you see the ghost? Did you see her? Did you see Mrs. Emily?”

Under the child’s close scrutiny, she was unable to deny the truth, “Yeah, I think that I must have seen her.”

“Wow!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening. “No one has ever told me they’ve seen her. I mean lots of people must have seen her, but they wouldn’t tell me about it.” The boy looked up into Susan’s face expectantly, awaiting further details. “Why did you look so scared?”

“Well, it was unsettling to find out I had met a ghost.” Susan stood up and watching the boy walk away mumbling about silly girls under his breath, uttered, “Face it girl, you met a ghost!”

After dusting off her pants, she bent over, picked up her briefcase and purse, and walked toward her car, shaking her head. She started the engine, wondering what type of town Justin and she had moved to. With the information and events of the day circling in her mind, Susan drove to the supermarket and bought a minimal amount of nonperishable groceries before heading home.

§ § §

When she arrived at their drive, Susan had to wait for the moving truck to pull out before she could enter. “Oh bummer, looks like I missed having to deal with the Redneck Movers. Poor Justin, stuck with them all day.” She pulled into the drive and was humming to the song on the radio when she stopped in front of the house.

“Justin, I’m home,” she yelled toward the house after she exited the vehicle. When she heard the front door open she continued, “I know you have been busy all day, but can you help me unload the bags?”

He walked over and kissed the back of her neck before reaching into the SUV and grabbing Susan’s briefcase and purse from the front passenger seat. “Sure, baby, I’ll help unload. I mean, I didn’t do that much today. All I had to do was deal with Joe and his crew of morons. So how was your day?”