lying

"Why does everything have to be so hard?"

A kid was talking to the dog.

He was sitting outside in the cooler outdoors. The heat inside the old stone house was suffocating for him. He was sweating bullets inside the house. The leftover heat from the afternoon dry sun was lingering and he was cooling himself off outside in the middle of the night.

Midnight, to be precise.

"I hate how I have to live like this," he sighed out. His chest area became fuzzy and it somehow became hard to breathe but then he exhaled. He looked out to the windows and the dark corners round the house. He didn't want anybody hearing him. "I wanna be there."

He looked up to the moon.

"I wanna be a star."

The dog only pouted as it just slumped its head on its paws as it stared at the kid staring up towards the full moon.

"I wish I was shining like the moon," he whispered to nobody.

A tear slipped his left eye.

Then, another from his right.

He pulled the rough hem of his tee and quickly wiped it up. He sniffled and scrunched up his nose in irritation. It scratched his oily nose and he winced. He let out an audible sigh.

A bat shot out of the mango trees above him and went fast into the night. A mango fruit fell down below. It was bitten already and the dirt it fell on wasn't doing it any favors.

The dog went and sniffed it up and licked. It tasted disgusting judging from the fast movement of it pushing itself back away from it. The kid just laughed heartily.

He stood up and pat his ass off any dirt. The dog followed him. He guided it towards the cage. Said his good night's and went upstairs.

"Accept cash or credit?"

The ghost looked at the kid.

With a teasing smile, the kid sat close beside him — too close for his liking. He just looked back at him in irritation.

"What you smiling on about?"

He stood up and went inside the abandoned home. The kid followed him further into the house. It was cooler inside. He glanced out through the large windows. He could see only grazing land. Just golden and sunny dry fields. There were patches of red soil far out in the distance but he figured it'd be very far away before he reached the place.

"What were you thinking about?"

The ghost took a glance back at him as opened the back door and went thorugh the screen door onto the patio out the back. The kid pushed the screen door and followed him.

"Nothing," the ghost replied settling himself on the wooden floor. "Why are you here?"

"Nothing," the kid replied. He pouted looking to his sides and gestured his hands up, opening his palms up and gesturing his shoulders up. He looked back at the ghost, who was still looking at him annoyed.

"Just chilling."

The ghost looked at him like he was an idiot. He was quite right. It was cooler inside than it was outside.

"It's cooler in than outside, you know."

The scorching sun was making the landscape ablaze in these smoky illusions and graphics. He looked far out. If he was still alive, he'd be shielding his eyes slightly to see clearly what the kid was doing now after sitting himself close beside him. But being a ghost has its own little perks.

"What's there to see in this hellscape?"

The ghost rolled his eyes at the kid. There wasn't much of a view here. It was just deserted in the middle of whatever they were in.

"Where are we again?"

The ghost sighed, "Outback."

"Oh," the kid said, then added. "This place is a dump."

"Just enjoy it."

"Who could?"

"You could try, you know."

"I never could," he retorted and he snorted as he threw his arms back and laid his head on them as he sat on the patio.

"Come closer."

The ghost never looked in his direction.

"Hey," the kid waved his left arm in front of the ghost who just looked towards him in irritation.

"What do you want?"

The kid just returned his arm under his head and stared at the view in front of them.

A sunset.

"I'm just trying to grab some conversation with you, you know."

"I don't want to," the ghost snorted. "Find someone else."

"As if there was anybody else here."

Oh.

They stayed in silence as the sun set happened in front of them. Well, the sun was setting in the opposite direction as them but they saw it all.

The hues of violet, and the reddish shades painting in the sky.

The kid placed his right leg over his left. The ghost slumped to the wooden wall as they viewed it.

I like it when we're like this.

The ghost looked to his side – towards the kid. He had this silent knowing look about him as the colors in the sky lightened his face. His eyes narrowed, and the ends of his lips turned up in a smug fashion. He looked mature and determined.

You can take a picture. It'll last longer.

The ghost just snorted and laughed at that. The kid faced to the side and looked at the ghost.

He looks so much younger when he was laughing, the kid thought.

He does.

He appreciated it all.

The ghost's presence in the midst of all this was calming and reassuring. It was odd for him. It felt like being in his room again when everything was going down on him. After classes, after dinner. It felt like being in his own little safe space.

A space of his own.

Their own little world.

What he didn't know was that the ghost felt the same way.

Maybe.

Maybe.

****

It was in the night when they were lounging in the living room. The bedroom in the homestead was derelict.

Shattered glass and the posts of the beds disassembled on the floor, the room wasn't fit for anyone. Never mind the dust covering everything and the creepy painting of a woman hanging just adjacent to the door.

"Luckily," the ghost started. "Death gave us snacks."

"Yeah," the kid agreed and popped a couple of chips in his mouth.

"These pastry things are good enough for a healthy lifestyle, right?"

The kid just shrugged and focused on eating the chips.

They were on the couch again. The kid laid there as the ghost just sat on the leftover space above his head. The kid wanted to lay down on his legs but well —

He was a ghost so no can do.

"What are we supposed to do here anyway?"

The kid asked as he popped another chip in his mouth and continued speaking, "Not that I'm complaining or anythin'."

"I don't know," the ghost just looked out through the front window of the decaying house. He looked out and then, he suddenly felt the urge to look towards the corner to their left.

He did.

It was dark. The moon was shining bright through the window. Well, it was quite bright outside with the moon but it did provide some vision for them, enough to do things with ease. Plus that lonely flashlight on the corner was a lifesaver.

He saw a figure standing in the corner. It was quite tall. It looked like a man. Then, it disappeared.

"Where'd it go?"

"What?"

The kid asked confused. He lifted his body up as he turned to look towards the ghost. He was still staring at the corner.

"I think we're not alone here," the ghost said. He sounded unsure.

"What?"

The ghost stood up and floated towards the kitchen. The kid looked perplexed and stood up and followed him towards the back where the kitchen is.

"Is anybody here?"

The house was silent except for the wind going through the broken-down windows.

The ghost looked left and right. The kid followed his gaze.

"Is there anything you're seeing?"

The kid asked quite apprehensive now because of how unsure he was of what was happening to them.

"I may be dead," the ghost started as he looked like he was following something towards the back. "But I can't see every dead thing here, you know."

A pause as he looked through the holes on the screen door. The kid followed close behind him but then something pulled him by the collar.

The ghost immediately looked back and saw the kid struggling as something was pulling the collar hem of his shirt. He leapt forward but couldn't catch him as the thing wasn't visible in the darkness. He immediately floated fast towards the flashlight and directed it towards the thing.

It ran away fast from them.

Well, ran as in it transformed into just some dark animation that zapped out of the light. Something like that.

The ghost then hurried towards the kid's side and lifted him up.

Great, his emotions were up.

The kid fell forward towards his legs and tried catching his breath. He felt his neck from side to side as he huffed in annoyance.

"Bastard nearly suffocated me."

The ghost couldn't take a closer look. It was too dark. He went to grab the flashlight but when his hand tried to grab it from his side, it wasn't there.

A growl.

They both heard a growl — a nasty growl from somewhere near them. The both of them looked towards their side.

Red eyes shining in the darkness.

In a moment of horror flick stupidity, the kid lunged himself forward in the direction of the creature, oh sorry — the bastard.

The creature fought back as it anticipated the kid lunging himself at him. It was his aim after all.

He scratched the kid — once, twice — all in the chest. His shirtless body covered in deep cuts as the creature, having been able to get a hit at him, ran fast away.

The ghost couldn't move at all. He was too stunned by what happened. Him floating out on the spot where the kid was left earlier. He could only stare and observe everything that went on. Then, the kid followed the creature out towards the front door where it broke through the screen door, making a large hole in the sheet panel.

"Kid!"

The ghost shouted at him as he zoomed himself fast behind them. Following closely, he saw them ran deep into the dry woodland. It was in the middle of the night and the moon was the only thing shining any light on them. Had he still been alive, this would have been terrifying for him.

Dark shadows were creeping around them. A tall figure in the distance, a lone average figure glowing in white nearby — he felt this was too terrifying for humans — live ones. He felt like he should've warned the kid about this. This wasn't a safe place to be even if he couldn't see them.

Where the hell did Death drop us off in?

As he floated on, he lost track of them. He was hearing moans and groans from lonely spirits around them. He never expected much from Australia. He thought there wasn't much horror in this lonely desert continent. He grimaced.

The kid's not safe here, he thought.

The thicket where they were in was getting immensely thicker. The dry woodland became quite heavy for him. Like the humidity and the air became thicker and heavier. It felt suffocating. He shouldn't be burdened by this — he was dead. The dead don't breathe but he felt like he was.

He was dying — ironic for the dead — to shout out for the kid so he could find him but that was dangerous at this point. There were spirits on the prowl at this point and they were alerted. He didn't want more to come and decide their fates for them.

He felt more burdened. He felt heavier for some reason. Nothing pressing down when he looked back and looked up. Just the pressure from the air or ether he was floating in was going haywire with something. Something he couldn't quite put his finger in.

A lone figure looked at him from far behind the trees. It was something mysterious like it was anticipating him but it was also hesitant. He sensed that the thing might know something. He headed there.

It floated away.

It was a ghost like him.

"Wait," the ghost called to it. "Wait!"

He was floating in a diagonal direction. He was hitting tree branches and stout plants. He wasn't in pain from it since it felt like light nudges for him but it was irritating as it blocked and hindered his sight.

Then, it stopped.

There was a clearing in the middle of the woodland. It felt alien to the ghost as he halted in the air and plopped his feet back on the ground. It looked ancient and odd. It looked like somewhere no one – dead or alive – should go into.

He then breathed out a sigh.

He gasped to himself. He could breathe?

"Shit," he said. The creature then turned around and he looked familiar. "The fuck are you doing?"

It was the kid.

The ghost came closer. The kid was simply standing there.

As the ghost came closer, he felt this overwhelming sensation in the air. Then, something hit him in the back. It hurt.

It hurt?

"Kid," he called delicately. He was aware that this wasn't a safe place to scream out anybody's name even if the kid was a few meters away from him. Simply standing. Simply there.

A chill sent him halting as this was the first time he's felt any chill coming unto his body. Then, he heard footfalls on the coarse ground. They sounded abrupt and crisp. The darkness didn't waver but the footfalls neither.

The ghost looked to his side. He saw a woman running. It looked like she was running away from something. Then, he heard growls coming from the distance. This alarmed him as men with light – he didn't know if those were flashlights or something else but the ghost ran forward and—