Please note: this is 100% fiction!

The first time I saw him was about a month after I moved to my new house. It was the first time I went for a jog after finally getting myself settled in the new house. With music playing in my ears via my earbuds, I jogged aimlessly with no turnaround point in mind.

Next thing I knew, I was somewhere in the wooded area not far from the city park and suddenly, there he was, standing on top of a bridge. I stared up at him and gave him a slight nod, acknowledging his existence.

“Wait, you can see me?” His words startled me.

I paused the music and pulled the earbuds from my ears. “Yes?” I asked. Why would he ask such a thing? I wondered. “Why… do you ask?” I wished I could retract my words the moment they came out of my mouth because it was at that moment I noticed, he’s somewhat translucent. He’s not human. He’s a… “ghost.”

He started to approach me and for a moment, I felt like I should be frightened like a normal human being but then, I was never frightened easily. Maybe it’s the reason why this small town attracted me so much.

“You were the first person to had acknowledged me in over a century.” He said. As he came closer, I suddenly realized how young he was. He couldn’t be someone older than 25. “Being a ghost, it’s a lonely existence.”

“I never realized I can see ghosts.” I must had said it out loud because he smiled.

“I guess some people have the gift.” He smiled.

Since that night, I’ve been returning to that spot every night. As creeped out as I should had been, I found him to be a good conversationalist. I’m guessing a century of solitary really makes one talkative. He’s quite entertaining with his tales of when he was alive.

It turned out he was waiting to propose to his girlfriend – Eliza – when he was mistakenly shot because someone thought he was an outlaw. “It is possible I have some unfinished business before I can move on,” he said, “but I don’t know what,” and no matter where he wandered during the day, he would always end up at that very spot on the bridge at the stroke of midnight.

“Do you need help figuring your unfinished business?”

Whatdoyousee