Ghost Sweeper

In Alfie's viewpoint...

Half an hour later, I was walking in the park, the sunshine shone through the gaps from the trees surrounding me. I always love the park at this moment of time. It is peaceful, quiet and less crowded. It is the perfect place to talk to ghosts.

"Jay, how's the taste?" I asked as I looked at the ghost floating beside me, Jay was slurping the straw of his drink deliciously.

"This pearl milk tea is delicious! I always love the drinks there." Jay said happily. We just came back from a pearl milk tea shop, we spent hours standing there, waiting for the long queue to move. Sweating, my legs were seriously swollen after long hours of standing under the sun. But when I looked at Jay's face, I felt my efforts had paid off.

"I'm glad you like it but my legs hurt. I didn't expect we would need to wait for such a long time." I sighed.

"Yeah, there are so many people visiting that shop. Last time we went there, there weren't so many people. I wonder why the number of customers suddenly increases?" Jay asked me in doubt.

"Well, shops always get popular when they close down." I answered.

"Is it? Why?"

"Because people show sentiment." I explained to him. Jay finished off his drink and threw it away in a rubbish bin nearby.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He nodded his head, he seemed puzzled by what I said. I was too lazy to explain to him.

"Jay, let's take a short walk before we go home. I want to breathe in some fresh air." I suggested.

"Come on. It's getting late, school is already over at this period of time." Jay persuaded me.

"Just a while would be fine." I insisted and kept walking. Jay turned away his eyes and asked.

"Alfie, is it you don't want to stay at home?" Jay's question startled me, I slightly lowered my head.

"Err.....ha...ha....you really do understand me, do you?"

"Yeah, I don't want to stay at home....." I agreed, "The air there sucks. It's hard for me to breathe."

"Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday? That the man hit you?" Jay worried as he recalled the sounds of the man screaming.

"I......" I remained silent, I didn't dare to speak. Jay bit his lips and tried to make his voice sound gentler.

"Alfie. If you hate home, you can always get out of there." He suggested. His words triggered my anger, I wondered why he could always think so less.

"What are you saying?" I argued loudly, I wish I could get out, who didn't? I would have gotten out already if I could. But I can't so that's why I'm in pain. I tried to calm myself down and explained to him.

"You can't just get out even if you want to get out. It's not so easy. You need to consider a lot of things."

"Like what?" He asked directly. My mind went blank suddenly.

"......like where you live, what you eat, house rent and a couple of other things."

"If you are thinking about money, then I can help you earn some." I suggested.

"How?" I questioned, doubting how Jay could help me.

"Online work, of course! Typing, translating, writing novels. There are lots of different jobs in the world, more than you can imagine. Even a ghost like me can do it." Hearing him, I sighed as I looked at his naivety.

"......Even if you help me to earn money, that may still not be enough." I said as I escaped from his eyes, "I may need to do some part-time jobs. Studying and doing part-time jobs at the same time is tough. I don't want my academic results to drop. Besides......" I hesitated before I continued.

"Besides?" Jay asked, urging me to answer.

".....living alone have much more problems than you can imagine," I insisted, "It is not that simple-----"

"Alfie." Jay called my name suddenly. I stopped talking and stared at him.

"You aren't living alone." He stated, comforting me.

"Alfie, I'm always here. Others can't see me but it doesn't change the fact that I'm here."

"I know leaving home is hard. Even if you decide to leave home one day, there will still be lots of preparation work and things to consider. But I'm saying this to you is not because I want to convince you to leave home. It is because I want to give you a choice. I don't want you to regret your life because of making wrong choices." He explained.

"Jay.......I......." Hearing Jay, I hesitated on how to answer him. As if Jay read my mind, he gazed at my eyes and made a smile.

There are a number of words I want to say to him but no matter what words I want to say, they don't seem appropriate.

"Alfie, you don't have to give me an answer now. I'm sure you still have many doubts and questions. You can take your time and think about it. When you're ready, I'll be listening," He comforted me.

".......alright," I promised him.

"Alfie!" Suddenly, someone called out my name, I looked upwards and saw a familiar face waving his hand at me.

"Mr. Eric?!!" Feeling surprised, I walked near Mr. Eric to say hello, "What a coincidence, we can meet here." Mr. Eric seemed to be very glad to see me, he couldn't hide his bright smile.

"Yeah, I'm surprised we met. Why are you wandering around here?"

"I just lined up at a shop and brought a drink. I was about to go home. Why are you here then?"

"I have been wandering around to find you." He stated.

"Huh? Why?" I asked.

"ALFIE!! GET AWAY from him RIGHT NOW!" Jay warned loudly, I turned around and saw him running towards me as if he was warning me something.

"Jay?!" I called out his name in response, thinking why he sounded so anxious. I ignored him and turned my head to Mr. Eric saying, ".....sorry I am just talking to myself.......where were we sayin------"

"WATCH OUT!!!" Jay screamed, he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me onto his chest. I had no idea what the heck he was doing.

Mr. Eric was holding a straight white sword with its razor-sharp tips pointing at me. Responding back, Jay called his sword and swung it vertically, protecting me against Mr. Eric's attack.

"Mr. ......Eric?" I stated hesitantly.

"I'm surprised you can call a sword." Mr. Eric neglected me and studied Jay from top to bottom, "In my memory, there aren't many ghosts who can visualize weapons."

"Who are you?" said Jay angrily, he glared at Mr. Eric with a murderous look. Mr. Eric showed no fear and pushed his sword harder against Jay's.

"Carlo Eric, a ghost sweeper."