"Are you okay?" Charles asks.
"Wow, you look like you've just seen a ghost. Wait, you just did!" Asher says, chortling at the end.
"How'd you guys get here?" I'm so confused my confusion is confused. Are they really ghosts? Can Charles see them too?
"Well these are our parents and this is their house so, I'm guessing you can see the picture now." Kenneth says, still avoiding eye contact.
"Uhhhh, we moved from Shamiso's old village. Why do you ask?" Now Charles is confused.
Join the club.
"No...uh...not you.....I mean....uh...are....are those your kids?" I say, pointing at the triplets.
Israel lets out a frustrated sigh.
"He can't see us idiot. I thought we had already established this," he says. "How dumb is she?" He turns to his brothers.
"Don't say that, she can still hear us," Kenneth nudges him.
"Uh....yes those are my boys," Charles says, quickly moving towards the boys.
He can see them too! I am not crazy!
"Three....two....one," Asher counts, smirking.
Charles moves past the boys and takes a framed picture. It is as if they are invisible to him. Which means it is a possibility that they are not lying. And I might actually be crazy. There are three ghost boys standing in front of me. Yep, definitely crazy.
Charles hands me the picture.
"They're adorable," I choke out, staring at the picture. They really are. In the picture.
"I'm the one in the middle and Israel's the angry looking one," Asher says, before receiving a punch on the arm from Israel. He yelps in pain, rubbing his arm. Can ghosts even feel pain?
"Uh... can you hear them?" I ask.
"He can't damnit!" Israel shouts.
"I'm sure someone miles away could, they scream a lot. The boys can get a little frustrating," Charles laughs.
"Heeeyyy!" Asher whines.
"He's not lying, I bet you were the worst," Kenneth says.
"I totally wasn't. I'm the least annoying. Right Grace?"
"Maybe?" I shrug.
"Not maybe, it's definite. You'll see for yourself," Charles says.
"Tell him you already have," Israel mutters.
"What?" My eyebrows furrow.
"I said you'll see for yourself," Charles replies. "Are you okay? It's like you can hear more than one voice."
"Wow it's like he's a mind reader," Asher gasps, covering his mouth.
"You have no idea," I mutter.
"What was that?" Charles gives me a bit of a worried look.
"Ummmm..."
"Tell him you're hungry and can't wait any longer," Asher says.
"No," I blurt. He should stop talking.
"Excuse me?" Charles looks really worried now.
"No, tell him you need water," Kenneth says.
"Sorry, may I please have some water?" I give him one of my politest smiles.
"Okay, let me get you some," Charles is looking at me weirdly now, like I have grown two heads.
He steps out of the room and I am standing close to the boys in a millisecond.
YOU ARE READING
The Painting
General Fiction''Hey," I greet them. The scary looking one doesn't spare me a glance. The one with green eyes keeps talking, but the blue eyed one looks up at me for a second then back at his book. He sort of does a double take and his eyes widen as he looks back...
