Beyond The Lost

2

I returned home after the visit with my dad, preparing for a midday walk and making lunch. As soon as I lit the stove, I took a step back just before placing a pan on top of the fire.

"How'd it go?" A voice whispered in my ear shortly after I began carefully frying two eggs. "Is his hair long again?"

"No." I shrugged. "Looks the same."

"How is he?" I eye the markings covering my walls in black ink, swallowing softly. I used to write them in hopes this spirit would leave, but now I write them to hold her inside the house.

"He's alright, I think."

Her next words are untraceable but cold on my neck. I feel her hands wrap around me, pulling my spirit into the ground.

I simply sigh and grab the salt, pouring a circle around my feet and listening to her presence circle me in anger.

"Mom, please. Leave me alone."

I managed to eat my lunch and walk outside. To my surprise, I had to bring an umbrella. Rain poured onto the warm concrete, leaving steam to rise in the empty streets.

The night my mother died and my father was taken away, I was out on a walk too.

I sometimes worry on these walks that my mother will leave or allow more angry spirits into my home, but I know deep down that she wants only her own anger and that no one else can get inside even if it's their deepest wish.