I woke up.

My eyesight was fuzzy, and I didn't know what was going on for a moment. I rub my eyes a bit, hoping that it will help them focus a bit more.

I realized that I was lying on the ground, the pain was gone, but my disappointment was immeasurable.

I failed in my attempt to kill myself.

The moonlight invaded my room. It was because the curtain rod couldn't support my weight and broke in half at the most crucial moment of my suicide.

I couldn't believe it. Am I really this unlucky? Even before my death, I couldn't get anything that I wanted. All I end up with is pain and disappointment.

I untied the noose that was still slightly digging into my neck. It still hurts a bit. I couldn't see it, but I am sure that there is now a bright red, or maybe a darkish, line on my neck, something that will further add to my reasons as to why I will never go outside again.

I continued to lay still on the wooden floor and closed my tired eyes.

"Hello?" a soft voice echoed across the room.

I flashed my eyes open and looked around in confusion. I sat down to get a better view of my room. There was nothing there that could be the source of the voice. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Did I lose it and start to hear voices in my head? I wasn't so sure. I'm definitely twisted, but I'm not that insane.

I sighed in relief as I stood up, swiping my clothes to remove any dust that had attached to me when I laid on the floor.

"Good evening!"

A chill went up my spine. I heard the voice again, and it was close, very close.

I hesitantly turned around.

It was a girl. Her skin was pale as snow, her face resembled that of a child, and a big smile was on her face. She wore a casual white dress, and her hair was dark black.

The bad part about this was that she was looking at me, and even trying to converse with me. But the worst part was that despite her looking like a young child, presumably by the age of 6 or so, our eyes were leveled with each other, we were basically the same height. I immediately found out the reason for this as I got a quick glance down. Her feet, they weren't on the ground. She was floating.

My eyes widened, and I began to shake.

I hurriedly turned around and dashed for my bed.

I took my blanket and covered my entire being with it. I wrapped myself around it so that girl, or whatever she was, couldn't take the blanket off of me.

I don't know what was going on. Was she really a ghost? If she is, then why is she here? Out of all the people in this apartment, in the entire world, why me of all people? Am I really this unlucky to even attract the attention of the dead?

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked the girl.

I curled up even more. I even covered my ears with my hands. I didn't want to listen to whatever that thing was saying. She couldn't possibly be real. It's a dream, it's all a dream.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep it off.

Suddenly, I felt a tug on the blanket.

"What are you doing? Come out of there and play with me," said the girl.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

My shaking worsened. Not only was she a ghost, but she could interact with the world. She could touch and move things, which isn't commonly portrayed in movies or books. Normally, a ghost would just phase through objects they tried to touch, but she was different.

"Are you playing hide and seek?" asked the girl.

I didn't respond.

"Hey, come on, let's play!"

She kept tugging on the blanket, but I didn't give her the satisfaction of a response.

"Hey! Come out of there, please!" she pulled harder. "Please come out and play with me!"

I sighed.

I took a breath in and out. Now that the immediate shock from seeing a ghost was gone, all that was left was confusion. I wasn't scared anymore, actually, I'm more annoyed than confused at this point.

She continued to tug on my blanket while using her annoyingly high-pitched voice of hers to ask me to come out and play. Because of this, I realized that she was more or less harmless and that she was in fact an actual child, a ghost child.

Nevertheless, I'm not coming out of the blanket. Even if she is a child, that still doesn't explain her existence. She was floating, I'm positive of this.

Now that I've calmed down, I remembered something. When I caught a quick glance at her face, she looked similar to the girl in my dream. I'm not really sure since that memory is quite fuzzy now, since it's a dream after all, but her voice definitely matched the girl in my dream, since they were both equally as high-pitched, and annoying.

Then I remembered something else. In my dream, I remembered her muttering the words don't and die.

I clicked my tongue.

My annoyance quickly turned into anger. I hate it when I never get what I want, but I despise people who try to get in my way. Even if it's not through physical means and only through words, I still hate it when people try to influence my thinking. They could say anything they want, they could force all their norms and morals on me, but I won't listen. I've experienced many instances of this in my life, and every time, it annoyed me more than the last.

Even if it is something as morbid as death, I already hate her for getting in my way. Even if she was only asking for me not to die, I still despise her. Mind your own business and let others do what they want, even if it involves death. If you're not affected or connected to the issue, then look away and let it happen. This world does indeed reward those who try to be heroic, but only for a short time, after a while, you're back to being a nobody. Being in the spotlight can boost your confidence, but too much of it can turn you into an attention-seeking vermin of society.

"Come on, let's play!" said the girl as she enthusiastically tugged on the blanket.

I continued to cover my ears, not because I was frightened by her, but because I didn't want to hear her annoying, high-pitched voice anymore.

"Hey! Please, let's play! I'm so bored."

I sighed again. My body is seething with rage. She intruded in my dream and my room, she tried to stop me from committing suicide, and now she's trying to annoy the living hell out of me.

If I were a normal person, then sure, I would play with her, but I'm not. I hate interacting with people, especially with children. People like to watch children play because they say that they're pure and innocent, but I just see them as a nuisance. They're rash, simple-minded, boorish, rude, and every other negative synonym that I can think of.

What's the point of playing around with people? If you read books, then you gain knowledge, If you exercise, then you gain strength. If you play sports seriously, then you gain skill. You can do a lot of things that are actually worth your time. Playing around with people only exists for the sole purpose of maintaining your status in your friend group, and having fun is only an added benefit. In this case, playing around with a ghost will only make people think that I've gone insane, well... maybe that's not so far from the truth, but even if I do acknowledge it, I don't want to hear it coming from someone else.

Before I became this shut-in, I interacted with my so-called friends once. But it wasn't fun at all. Nothing good has ever come from hanging out with people, only wasted time and even money.

"Let's play!" said the girl.

She tugged on my blanket again.

I've had enough. I don't want to speak to anyone, but this is an exception. My annoyance had already skyrocketed, and I just wanted to be left alone.

I took a deep breath.

"Please come ou-"

Before she could even finish, I shouted with all my might, "SHUT UP!"

I could feel that my voice echoed across the entire room, even when I was under my blanket.

I haven't shouted in a while, heck, I can't even remember the last time I've spoken a word. It felt quite good actually, almost liberating. It's as if all my pent-up stress and anger shot out of my mouth and vanished in the air.

I didn't hear anything from the girl, and the tugging had stopped.

I'm quite satisfied with this but it wasn't enough. I've already shouted at her so might as well go all in.

"GO AWAY! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I yelled even louder.

I didn't hear any sort of response. Maybe she left already. I'm not sure. But I'm still not getting out of this bed.

After calming down a bit, I only realized now that I cussed at a child. I'm not really sure if I could justify it, but I don't really feel any guilt about it. Deserved or not, it's her fault for trespassing in my personal space.

Still covering my entirety with the blanket, I closed my eyes and went to sleep, hoping that when I woke up, all of this was just another bad dream.