The Ghost Screamer

I tell people I can see ghosts, and they get all dismissive and snooty. That, or they get kinda freaked out and back away slowly. I don't know, maybe they really believe me.

The funny thing is, I really can. Except they're not ghosts like everyone thinks of ghosts, as in the spirits of dead people who don't know they're dead, that kind of thing.

What it is, ghosts are just people. They live somewhere else, but it's somewhere else that is in the same place as where we are. The difference between them and us is that they can see us all the time; they know we're here and what we're doing. They can move right through us like we're whispers and shadows, but really they're just normal folks. And some of them like to play jokes.

Now there's some of us - people on this side - that can see them almost all the time. It takes a little effort, a little concentration, and after doing it for a while I tend to get a headache, but it's not much different from trying to watch something without looking directly at it. Then there are some folks who occasionally get a glimpse, and it's usually really right at the corner of their vision - they see something off to the side, just enough to make their hearts jump right straight up into their throats, and they turn to look but whatever they saw is gone. Only it isn't, of course - it's still there, they just can't see it anymore.

Only there's one other way us folks can see them: when they really WANT to be seen. I guess they can do some little push thing that will make them visible on this side to anyone. I think that's what happens when people talk about seeing ghosts, they're seeing someone from the other place who's trying to be seen.

So anyway, I was talking to this lady and she starts telling me about this thing that happened to her a month or so ago. She got out of the shower and was sitting down to put on her makeup or whatever it is ladies do when they get out of the shower. And all of a sudden, she looks in the mirror and there's a guy standing directly behind her - and he reaches around and slaps his hands over her eyes and mouth - only she can still see herself in the mirror, right through his hands. She can see her eyes bulging, her mouth opening to scream, everything - but she can still see the guy's hands over her eyes!

I tried to act shocked but really the only thing that surprised me was that one of them was doing something so blatant. Usually they just show themselves for a moment and disappear. What the hell was he trying to do?