THE MOMENT
“I love it,” Miranda smiled at the realtor. She'd been advised not to seem too eager, but it was hard not to be. So far it was her dream apartment on the beach, with a view facing the ocean, and completely affordable. Arguably ‘too’ affordable, but she hadn't gathered all the facts yet.
“If you're that taken with it, you're only a couple of signatures from moving in,” Connie, the real estate agent said. “But, I should verify you've read the lease. You do know about Gary, right?”
Miranda was glad the subject came up. She'd been too unsure to bring it up herself. Gary the ghost had to be a joke, and Connie's mention seemed to be part of the set up. But, according to what she read, Gary was well-known in the building, and even relatively popular.
“He's real?” she asked. Connie nodded. “So, the hallways are really haunted?”
“No, I wouldn't call it a ‘haunting’,” Connie shook her head. “He keeps a pretty consistent schedule. Not that you have to avoid him, he’s a friendly ghost; but, if you want to it's as simple as waiting till after sunrise or sunset, those are the times he'll be in the hall.”
“Oh, okay,” Miranda nodded. It was feeling a bit too specific to be a joke anymore, but that only left her more unsure. Her parents always warned her about the ‘fantastic’ side of the world. “So he only haunts the halls at sunrise and sunset, that's workable,” she said.
“No…,” Connie shook her head, this time without the smile she’d come with as part of her job. “I need to make this clear. Gary is a welcome tenant and valued member of the community. No one's haunting anything,” she said.
“But, he's a ghost, right?” Miranda asked.
“Yes,” Connie agreed.
“And you said he keeps a schedule. Sunrise and sunset, he's wandering the halls, right?”
“Is Gary's presence going to be an issue for you? You seem quite determined to paint the situation in the worst possible terms.”
“Well what would you call it? He's a ghost!”
“ I think maybe this apartment isn't for you after all…, “ Connie said.
“No wait! It's perfect! I'm sorry! I just don't know how to act around those kinds of people,” she said. “Supernaturals I mean!” she was quick to realize how it sounded, but not quick enough to keep from saying it.
“Gary may be a ghost, but he's a great guy,” Connie said. “His payments are always on time.”
“I'll be happy to meet him!” Miranda volunteered. “I'll join him for his next haunting at sunset!” Connie sighed and shook her head.
“For goodness sake! The man is dead, he doesn't have a lot going on in his apartment,” she said.
“Sorry?” Miranda didn't know what to do with that information.
“He's not haunting anything!” she said. “Gary uses the hall like a normal person to go down to the beach at sunrise and he comes back up at sunset. He's just enjoying his retirement from life, why is that so difficult?”