We stared at each other, locked in a battle of wills, both waiting for the other to surrender. I feared if I blinked, I’d be the one to vanish — not him. This was the third time I saw him on the stairs.
“Who are you?” I said, hoping the man would say something that would ease my anxiety and calm my pounding heart. No such luck, though. He stood silently, at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. “Why are you here?” I tried again. Only silence met my words.
The doorbell broke the spell, startling me. He vanished, and I was once again alone in the house. I took two stairs at a time as I rushed to open the door. A stranger stood at my doorsteps. “Hi, how may I help you?” I said, politely.
“Are you Miss Annie?” the stranger gave me a penetrating look. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Standing a foot taller than me, he had his hands in his front pockets. He took a deep breath as if preparing himself for something bad.
“I am.” I said nothing more, waiting for him to state his purpose.
“I am Danish. My grandfather used to live in this house. It might sound absurd, but he asked me to check up on you. Do you need help? Are you in trouble?” he said, his eyes studied me from head to toe as if trying to figure out something that wasn’t there.
“Excuse me?” I didn’t understand what he was talking about. At that moment, something clicked, and a picture appeared in my mind. I looked at his face, studying each line. The high cheekbones, hazel eyes, wavy brown hair, and the nervous smile — it all reminded me of the man on the stairs. “Your grandfather, you said?”
“Sorry, if this makes no sense. He is deceased. I just…” He struggled with words. “It’s just… that… I have been having these dreams.” He took another deep breath. “He has been appearing in my dreams a lot lately and every time he says, ‘Annie needs help.’ And I see this house. I don’t know what I was thinking. I decided to drop by on a whim.” He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
If I hadn’t had my personal encounter with his grandfather’s ghost, I would’ve called the authorities then. But I had been wondering about the middle-aged man who kept appearing in front of me. “Do you want to come in?” I also did something on a whim and invited a stranger into my house.
He relaxed, and this time his smile was genuine. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Let’s just say, I have had my share of craziness.” I smiled at him, struck by the warmth in his eyes. My heart melted a little.
And that’s how our story began. A ghost brought us together, and we spent many happy years in love, living as blissful of a life as anyone could dream of.
© 2020 Fizza Younis. All Rights Reserved.
P.S. I wrote this flash fiction specifically for the Aim to Engage Challenge at Wattpad. The prompt was;
“Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there…”
P.S. If you enjoy short fiction then don’t forget to check out my published work. My books are available at amazon and are free with kindle unlimited. I hope you enjoy my stories. Thank you!
Between The Pages Of A Book 