SHADOWS OF KAYLA

NO MORE CHANCES

Kayla.

Speak of good timing. I saw Festus trotting along the streets of our block as I slid the curtains of my room open for the first time in a month, thanks to my newly discovered ability. His head turned from left to right as he looked for the right address to our house as I had given him.

My face lit up with perkiness. Once dad got the letter, I was sure he would know how to handle the issue from there on. I was grateful that I had been able to help out. Moreso, I was thankful to Josh for taking the stress to do me the favour. Which I was sure he did because he didn't want to be ‘haunted” by me.

Confirming our house number against what he had scribbled in his paper, his brows bounced up in affirmation while he headed for the gate.

“Press the bell,” I said eagerly, like he would have heard me from up there.

Festus peeped through the gates for anyone and looked around him cautiously, then raising his face in the direction of my window. Instinctively, I hid away behind the curtains. I couldn't understand if I was shy to see his bright face, or just generally embarrassed at myself. All the same, I didn't want him to see me. Who knew, I would have scared him away again.

He retreated from the gate and beelined towards to the old post box standing by the wooden fence.

“No…no, not there!” I piped with slightly clenched fists, still peeking from behind the curtains

No one used the box and dad certainly wouldn't go there to check for a letter. We had agreed he was going to hand the letter to dad directly just in time before he left for work.

Taking one last glance at the envelope in his hands, Festus opened the post box and shoved the letter inside jogging quickly back in the direction he had come from.

I threw my arms and legs around in disappointment before heading out of the room. Was that my last chance slipping right through my fingers again?

Dad rushed down the stairs and disappeared through the backdoor, for work.

“s**t! s**t!” I cursed in annoyance, flying out of the front door. I stood in the street and looked in the direction Festus has just passed through, he was nowhere to be seen. I stooped frustratedly on the floor again, feeling my eyes and temples aching for tears that were never going to drop.

I'll just have to do this myself.

I angled towards the post box and tried to open it with my trick, but my hands just slid through it like usual. Futile. I made several tries, but it didn't work. There my hardwork was, shoved in an old box no busy one was going to open.

I decided I was going to swallow the last bit of pride I had and ask for Festus' help again. Swinging my head to the road, I trotted my way to where I knew I would find him.

***

“Get the deliveries, Fes,” A tall guy in about his early thirties and in a similar green t-shirt called to Festus before slipping away through some backdoor.

“On it!” Festus chimed back, ambling his way to the door. It was then I realized there was a delivery truck outside. There I was standing too, hoping he would give his ears again. He brushed right past me, with no evidence in his eyes that he saw me standing there.

I swung my head back, feeling a pound somewhere in my chest. I was scared.

Did he really not see me?

Was he trying not to react to my presence because there were people around?

Festus climbed the steps back into the shop with a few boxes cradled in his arms, angling his head sideways to accommodate the things in his hands. He still didn't look in my direction even when I was standing where he couldn't have not seen me.

It better be an act.

I never detested the fact I could be seen by him, even though it made me uncomfortable, and I certainly would not be satisfied that he suddenly couldn't see me anymore.

“Festus!” I called loudly, waving and jumping at him, but he didn't as much as flinch in reaction to me.

I walked over to his side and relayed my thoughts to him regardless of whether he could hear them or not.

“Uh…hi, again. I really appreciate what you did for me. I really do, but there's something wrong. The letter was delivered to the post box, and the box, no one uses it. My dad's not going to get the letter.

Erm…could you please help me just once again? You can go into our house this time and just leave it in his room or something. Uh…I don't know…I just really need him to see it, that's all. This is the last time, I promise.”

My pleas we're not getting through. Truth was I only had a chance, and I already used it. My grim feather grew worse the more I was being ignored. I shut my hurting eyes, recalling his words,

“I get this message to your dad, and you disappear from my life alright?”

I was the one being the pest, I finally understood. Trying to get his attention or make him help me again would be selfishness on my part. Festus obviously did not need the figure of a troubled ghost in his life.

There it was, out the window, the last hope I could think of.

Kayla, it's just you now, again. Figure this out yourself.