I See Dead People

Two

      Upon reaching the park, (Y/n)'s (f/f)(favorite flavor) ice cream was immediately discarded as she hopped out of the car and ran straight to the large playground, where she saw many other children playing around. Once reaching the playground, the girl stopped and turned around towards her parents' car to call her floating friend over, who seemed to be looking at something in the other direction, his bare, scarred feet planted on the ground as he stood next to the car.

      "Nanashi!" she called, receiving not a response from her older friend, but many confused and disturbed looks from the children and parents that were near, not that she payed any mind to them as she continued to call for her friend from the edge of the playground, her voice growing louder and louder until-

      "Hey!" Turning towards the unknown voice, (Y/n)'s eyes met with confused, half-lidded purple ones. "Why're you yelling so loud?" the unfamiliar boy asked, following with, "And who're you yelling at?" Looking at the boy with a shocked expression, (Y/n) rapidly flailed her hands towards the direction where Nanashi still stood, seemingly in a trance of some sort. "I'm trying to call my friend Nanashi over here, but he's not listening to me!" The indigo-haired boy just looked at the girl confusedly, thinking 'Wow, she's sure got a screw or two loose.' before shrugging her weird mannerisms off and inviting her to play with him. After all, a having one nut job friend was better than having no friends, and the kids that he was hanging out with before weren't very..friendly.

      Taking one last glance at Nanashi, (Y/n) concluded that he wasn't going anywhere in that state and decided to take up the nameless boy's offer, turning back towards him, but not before taking in his appearance. The violet eyed stranger had indigo hair that sprawled out in every direction which complemented his eyes. He stared at her with a gaze that reminded her of her dull eyed ghost friend and adorned a short sleeved white shirt that was decorated with thin, gold stripes, along with dark blue overalls that stopped at his knees. Looking downwards to his feet, (Y/n) saw a pair of small, black sneakers.

      "Okay! Let's go play on the monkey bars! Those are my favorite!" she said, running to the direction of the mentioned object, her new friend right behind her as they laughed joyously, playing on the playground until the sky turned orange.

      Soon enough, (M/n) had called out to her daughter and told her it was time to go, which bummed the two kids out that the (h/c) haired girl had to go.

      "Aw man. I've gotta go," She pouted before remembering that she had yet to ask an important question. Continuing, (Y/n) asked, "Whats your name stranger?" to which her indigo haired friend responded, "...Hitoshi Shinso." (Y/n) smiled at the name and introduced herself as well. "Well I'm (Y/n) (L/n)! Remember that!" The four year old girl opened her mouth to speak again before hearing her mom call for her once again, a hint of impatience in her tone. Knowing better than to keep her mom waiting (Y/n) gave her new friend a quick, tight hug. "See ya later Toshi!" she yelled, running away, not noticing the light tint of pink on his cheeks as he muttered, "Bye (Y/n)." and walking off to who knows where.

      Once reaching her parents' car, (Y/n) took notice that Nanashi was no where to be seen. A pit of dread settled down in her stomach as a frown took over her face. She frantically looked around the car, worrying her parents.

      "What's wrong (Y/n)?" (F/n) asked raising an eyebrow at his daughter's peculiarity. The girl turned to face fer dad, tears pricking her eyes as she stuttered, "It-it's Nanashi! I ca-an't find him!" The older (L/n)s' brows' furrowed in worry seeing how upset their daughter was over her "imaginary" friend. "Where's the last place you saw him sweetie?" (M/n) questioned, kneeling down to her daughter's height and wiping the tears that were beginning to fall. "He-he was right the-ere before I went to go p-play with Toshi-i," (Y/n) pointed to the back of the car and continued, "Bu-ut now he's go-one!" The dam around the four year old's eye's broke as she began to sputter incoherent nonsense, tear flowing freely from her eyes.

      Seeing how distressed (Y/n) was, (M/n) pulled the girl into a tight, warm hug, lifting the girl up as she continued to weep. "There there," the woman cooed gently, "Maybe Nanashi just went home for the night. He was probably tired, just like you are, so how about we head home, get you washed up and headed for bed. I bet by the time you wake up, your friend will be back!" Hearing her mother's words, (Y/n) began to calm down, rubbing her eyes and hiccuping slightly as her mom sat her down in the (f/c) car seat that rested in the back of the car. She nodded in agreement, not trusting her voice that had been reduced to hiccups.

      After strapping the girl in, the woman kissed her daughter's forehead and headed to the passenger seat. The car then drove off, no one noticing the pair dead eyes that watched the whole scene, before disappearing into the woods that lay next to the playground.

      As the car pulled into the driveway of the (L/n)'s house the female parent headed to the backseat of the car to unbuckle their child-who was now asleep-, as the male headed inside to prepare dinner. "(Y/n) sweetie, you need to wake up so we can go inside," The woman called gently, waking the small girl from her nap with a groan.

      As she peaked her (e/c) orbs open, (Y/n) saw the blurry figure of her mom in front of her, but there was something else she noticed. The four year old blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes gently before looking at the space behind her mother, where she saw a familiar white figure. Immediately, her eyes snapped open as she tried to jump out of the car, but landed in her mom's arms instead. (M/n) struggled to hold her child, who continued to squirm in her arms as she squealed.

      "Mom! Mom look! Nanashi's back!" The girl yelled, pointing to the ghost as her mother chuckled, glad to see her daughter back to her good old cheery self. "That's great dear. Now let's head inside. Your dad's cooking (f/f)(this time it's favorite food)," the woman stated, her daughter cheering, "Yay, (f/f)! C'mon Nanashi, we're eating (f/f)!" Hearing his name being called once again, the white-haired boy nodded and began to follow the two females, but not before turning around and signing to something that was behind him, an annoyed look on his face.

      As the two females entered their home, the older of the two shut the door, locking it. Just as the younger opened her mouth to protest she saw her older friend phase right through the door, which she found absolutely amazing as she gasped in awe. "Momma did you see that?! Nanashi just went through the door! He's so cool!" Upon hearing her child, (M/n) felt a pit of dread sink into her stomach as she came to a realization.

      Nanashi was a ghost.

     Her daughter's imaginary friend wasn't imaginary at all.

     He was just a dead boy.

      (M/n) felt her knees get weak at the conclusion but held strong. 'As long as he's not hurting anyone, we should be fine. Right?' She thought as she made her way to the bathroom to run (Y/n)'s bathwater.

       After (Y/n) was fed, bathed, and dressed, it was time for the four year old to hit the hay. Tucking her in, (F/n) planted a kiss on the girls forehead, whispered a "Goodnight." and left as (M/n) approached the girl's bedside and did the same, soon following her husband to their shared bedroom as she shut the small child's sticker-decorated-door.

      The room was drenched in a coat of silence for a minute or two before the four year old peaked her eyes open, coming face-to-face with the dull white eyes she'd gotten familiar with. While the girl was surprised to see her friend so close, she was happy that he was back in her presence, as it comforted her greatly despite having only met the boy earlier that day. "Hi Nanashi," she greeted with a small smile. "Where'd you go earlier? You worried me," (Y/n) questioned, only receiving a slow blink from Nanashi. It appeared that he was not going to answer any questions that night, but (Y/n) was fine with that as she drifted off to sleep-the white haired ghost watching as she did in silence.

Artwork not mine.