Just as I fall asleep, the phone rings.
It comes in again. I pick up the phone and swipe the green button.
As I expected, the phone hang up right after I opened my mouth.
Nowhere to let my "hello" go, I draw a sharp breath and murmur "Not again...," checking the time on my phone.
It reads July 4th, 21:00.
Ever since I moved in this apartment, this happens every month. The day is irregular, but the time is always 21:00. Even when I was not available, my call history showed there was a call.
I try to recall the dates I got the calls in order to find any connections, but I am too tired to stay up any longer. I was busy helping one of my roommate's packing all day, and I could really use some sleep now.
Under the circumstance like the you-know-what virus pandemic, it is a wise call that she decided to leave the campus for a year or two. It might be hard to find a temporary job, but she definitely will have more fruitful time than taking courses online.
What about me? I ask myself. I would be lying if I say it is not stressful to take online courses, but I cannot help asking is this what my junior and sophomore years are supposed to be.
Holding my phone, I eventually fall asleep.
I pick up a gallon of milk from the refrigerator, and turn on my heels.
"Just block the unknown number already," says Kacy, the only roommate left in the room. She just came back from her daily jogging routine, and she is stretching her legs as she always does. "Can't believe you're still dealing with it. How long has it been? Like a year?"
"Like 7 months."
"Anna," She cancels her stretching and gives me the look.
"It's okay. It's not like waking me up 4 in the morning or something," I replied, pouring milk on my favorite breakfast, Chips A'Hoy.
"What if it's from a stalker?"
"We ruled out that theory a month ago, remember?"
"Oh. Yeah, you're right. We concluded it's out of the realm of possibility that someone has a feeling for you."
"Shut up," I throw a towel at her, but with a smile on my face.
"As you wish," She smiles me back and take a gander at my breakfast. "Give me a spoon of it," she says and walks toward me.
"Uh-uh," I warn her stepping back. "Keep one Jensen Ackles distancing."
"Oh, come on. He's more than 6 feet."
"Like I don't know that," I say with a slightly strong tone, and put a handful of cereal in a bowl and pour milk on it.
"Here."
"Thanks." Kacy winks at me and heads to the bathroom.
"Don't spill it on the carpet."
"I know, I know." She replies. However, the following "oops" sounds like she did it anyway.
Storm Kacy has gone away, and clicking sound of squirrels are coming in from an open window.
"Oh, I almost forgot," says Kacy, and then I hear a thudding sound. She must dropped something in the bathroom. "I happened to meet Karen back there, and she said the new roommate moves in a week earlier, on August 3rd."
Karen is our apartment's caretaker. Eating cereal, I recall when Kacy and I talked about our new roommate with her.
"Emmanuel, right?"
"It's Benjamin."
"Oh," now I remember. "An astronaut-wanna be."
"Um, he's an astronomy kind of guy, but I don't think he is an astronaut-wanna be. He doesn't like flying, and he wants to make sure his two feet stay on the earth. So it's hard to imagine he wants to float in space."
"Where did you learn all that?" I ask her, genuinely amazed.
She pops her head out of the bathroom door, and gives me the look. Again. "No wonder nobody develop a feeling for you," and she's back in the bathroom.
"Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot." I say.
After eating my breakfast, I go back to my room to change my clothes. I close the door and head to the closet. That is when I think I see something out of the corner of my right eye. I look over to the something, but I cannot find anything. Only the curtain is waving softly in the wind. I wonder for seconds, but eventually let it go and open the closet.
Benjamin moves in on August 3. His only company is a single backpack. The rest of his belongings will arrive in a couple of days, he says.
The three of us throw a small party in our apartment since the virus is still reigning the world. If it were not for it, we would be sitting in the Old Fashioned with a bunch of our friends right now.
As we talk, Kacy and I really like Ben because he has a pretty good sense of humor, and his science stories are so entertaining that we forget for a few hours we are under quarantine, or quasi-quarantine, if I borrow his word. Furthermore, I felt Kacy, Ben, and I click so well. I am sure we are going to have a wonderful year even in the predicament.
"So, I'll inform you when K-index hits 8."
K-index, according to Ben, is an indicator of aurora activity. If it hits 8, there is a high chance we get to see northern lights draping over the horizon if we drive to the north for just 100 miles or so into nowhere.
"Fantastic!" "Awesome!" Kacy and I say at the same time.
"Make sure you wear a mask because we're gonna stuck in my Renegade for more than an hour."
"Will do," Kacy and I say.
Just about I take another sip of New Glarus from my cup, my phone rings.
"Oh. So it's 9," I say, and as I expected, it ringed three times and became silent.
"The call again?" Kacy asks, and I say "Yup."
"What do you mean by ‘again'? Did you expect the call from someone?" Ben asks.
"Oh. It's nothing."
"It's not nothing, Anna," Kacy says. "She's got a stalker calling her every month at 9 p.m."
Ben's "Seriously?" and my "It's not from a stalker" crashed in the air.
"Seriously. And it's creepy, isn't it?" Kacy looks at Ben and waits for his backup.
"I have to say it's creepy." Ben says.
"But she doesn't block the unknown caller, or even try to find out who's been creeping her out."
"I'm not creeped out."
Oddly enough, it does not creep me out or scare me at all. On the contrary, the call after call, I started feeling that I need to take the call even though it hangs up immediately after I pick up.
"Anna," says Kacy, drawing a sharp breath. When she is about to say something, I feel something is growing its presence near us. I look around but there is nothing other than three of us. Still, there is definitely something, even though I cannot tell what it is. It is not physical. It is, and I cannot believe I say this, but something spiritual, it is more like someone.
I look at Kacy, and our eyes locked for a moment.
"What…who is it there?" Kacy asks. She seems she is feeling the presence of someone, not something, too
Ben looks at Kacy, and then looks around. I notice that we left him out for a while.
"Sorry, Ben."
"'Ts fine," says Ben, and takes a gander at my phone. "Apparently, the call is the cause of this awkward moment, right?" Kacy and I nod.
Ben touches his chin with his two fingers, posing like The Thinker.
"Do you remember the dates?"
"What?" I ask him back.
"Do you write down the dates when you get the calls?"
"Oh. Um, yes. Give me a sec." I reply, and I stand up to get my diary that sits in my bedroom.
When I step into my bedroom, I look around and wait for a few seconds. It is quiet and nothing seems to move. I let a short breath out and walk toward the shelf and stop just short. My diary is sitting on the second shelf, and I take it. I look around my room again, but nothing seems to happen. I leave my room and close the door.
"The last time was July 4."
"Okay," Ben replies, and he takes out his smartphone, KEY2.
"Going back, and," I turn pages backwards. "June 5."
"Go on."
"May 7, April 7, March 9, February 9, January 10, and December 11, 2019."
"We moved in on December 4 last year or sometime around it." Kacy tells Ben a supplementary information.
"All right. Those dates are all full moon dates."
"What?" Kacy and I say surprisingly.
"So is today." Ben smiles, and walks toward the window.
"Wait. How did you find it so quickly?" Kacy still sounds astonished, and we follow Ben.
Ben opens the vertical blinds, but soon finds out it is not enough to see if there is the moon in the sky. Ben opens the window, and steps outside onto the balcony.
"Ah. Meet the Sturgeon Moon."
Ben points up in the sky. Kacy and I step onto the balcony and look up. As Ben said, there is the moon. Full moon.
"Stur—what?" Kacy asks.
"Sturgeon Moon. It's the name for the full moon of August." Ben replies.
"You totally sound like a nerd, ahem, I mean smart, Ben." Kacy says amazingly, and Ben smiles back.
Three of us look at the Sturgeon Moon. As a handful of fireflies glow regularly yet fragilely, the moon was silently shining in the sky.
"Didn't know we have a perfect view from here."
Although there are a bunch of tall trees rustling their branches in the courtyard, none of them prevents us from enjoying the view of the full moon.
"…So, Anna," Kacy says, and I look at her. "Did you by any chance ask someone to call you on every full moon day?"
"Last time I checked, I didn't," I reply.
"Did you lend your phone to someone?" Ben asks. "Around December?"
"No. I can't find any reasonable answer why my phone rings on a full moon day," I say, looking down on my phone. I was hoping it would ring, but it did not.
"All right. Let's go back inside and find a way to find the answer," Ben says, and Kacy and I agree.
Just when I step inside, I see a white veil, or at least that was what I thought, passes by me from our living room to the balcony. I take a double look, but it was not my imagination. I am seeing it with my own eyes right now.
The white veil stops at the balcony, waving softly.
No. I take it back. It is not a white veil.
"…A girl?" I murmur. I felt Kacy and Ben look at me.
What looked like a waving white veil was her long hair. It is still hard to see because she is transparent, but I can see the profile of her. She is probably wearing pajamas, and holding something. A stuffed animal, it seems. It could be a plush bunny.
"Anna?" asks Kacy, and she stops right behind me. Ben follows her and opens a couple of vertical slides with his hand.
I hear Kacy drops a word for being surprised, and so did Ben.
"You guys…seeing what I'm seeing?" I ask.
"Yeah." They reply, still trying to grasp what they are experiencing, and so am I.
The moonlight shines on the girl. Her profile glows brighter.
I have heard the stories, but I have never seen a ghost, even once. I look back to Kacy and Ben, and find their mouths are wide open. I close mine.
"I…can't believe this," Ben says. It seems he wants to say something more, but he cannot find a way to put it into words.
"She's so beautiful," Kacy says, "and fragile," and she puts her both hands on her chest.
I look at the girl. She is indeed a gorgeous apparition.
She raises her hand toward the Sturgeon Moon, and looks back at us.
"Yeah, it's a beautiful full moon," I reply. I cannot read her face, but I felt she smiles. Then, she starts looking around, and look at us one by one.
"Oh," I clear my throat, "I'm Anna," I smile.
"Hi. I'm Kacy."
"Ben here," he squats. "What's your name?"
The girl hugs her plush bunny, and looks down. Her profile begins to glow faintly, and gradually fades away.
"Wait!" Kacy says a little loudly, but soon the girl becomes invisible. Still, the presence of her little soul lingers here.
She looked animated, yet she looked sad. Even though I could not quite see her face, I felt it. I felt she is in a sorrow.
After a minute of silence, "…Was it something I said?" Ben asks. I pause a moment, trying to remember what he said.
"I don't think so," I say. He just asked her her name.
She may have been shy, but I do not think that was the reason she faded away. I can still feel her soul, she is still here. There should be another reason.
"She's been here," Kacy says quietly. "I don't know how long, but she's been here." She looks up at me, and then at Ben.
"Well, that was an incredibly awesome experience," Ben says. Kacy and I give him a look expressing was-it-an-appropriate-sentence-to-drop-now.
"I said it because it was. She's such a beautiful girl, and obviously, she loves watching a full moon. That makes two of us, at least," Ben smiles. "And I believe she needs our help. So let's go back inside and find what she wants us to do."
"Oh, Ben," Kacy smiles. "I really like you already."
I completely agree with her. Ben is a man of heart.
"Okay. Let's go back inside," I say.
After going back inside, we talked and talked. Three of us all agreed that the girl looked sad and longing for something. It did not take long to guess that she misses her family.
Ben concluded that, considering the incoming calls from her, a full moon day is the only chance we get to see her. The next full moon falls on September 2, and according to Ben, we call it the Corn Moon. We have 30 days to figure out where the girl's family is.
The first idea of ours is go ask Karen. The girl stays in our room for a reason. The most plausible one: she must have lived here.
"Oh, I remember her," Karen says. "Her name is Emma, and yes, she lived in your room, I don't know, but probably 5 years ago or so."
Standing in her office, Kacy, Ben and I exchange smiles under our masks. 6 feet away from us and behind the desk, Karen also smiles sitting on her favorite chair. We can tell it by looking at her eyes although we cannot see her mouth thanks to her mask with a floral print on it which, according to her story, one of former Japanese residents in her apartments sewed and mailed to her.
"She really likes the view from the balcony. What makes you ask me about her? Did you happen to meet her?"
The three of us exchange looks.
"Um, sort of," Ben replies.
"What do you mean by 'sort of'?" Karen asks, of course.
Kacy, Ben, and I ask each other by eye contact how we should explain. All of us agree that we should tell her the truth. I look at Karen.
"We saw her in my room last night, but we believe it was her spirit, not herself."
"She could still be alive, but...," Kacy looks down.
"Oh my goodness," Karen put her hands on her mask.
"I know it's hard to believe, but--"
Before Ben finishes his sentence, Karen looks at him.
"Actually I believe your story. I think I saw her soul, too, the other day, last month. The day you called me," Karen looks at Ben, and he gave her a surprise look. "I was walking on the courtyard, and that's when I saw her. On your balcony. I thought it was just my imagination because she was gone in a blink, and I didn't want to even think something bad had happened to her. But now three of you telling me that you saw her, I believe it was her. Oh, I should've guessed…," Karen takes off her glasses. "She really loves the view from the balcony, your balcony. When she was here, every time I saw her, she told me how beautiful the full moons look from there."
"Full moon," I murmur. "It was a full moon yesterday."
Karen looks at me and smiles, wiping her tears.
"I guess she couldn't miss the opportunity," Karen puts her glasses on. "All right. Let me call Ms. Baker. Could you guys sit down there and wait?"
We sit down on a couch securing enough distances among us.
Through the open window, rustling sound of Green Ash trees come in with the wind.
On September 2. The Corn Moon day has come.
Kacy, Ben, and I clean up the rooms so that Emma and her family have a beautiful reunion under the Full Corn Moon tonight.
Karen talked to Jenna Baker, Emma's mother on the phone on August 4, the day after we had seen Emma. We were sitting on a couch waiting her response, and, honestly, we were afraid that Jenna might think we were crazy. However, it turned out we did not need to worry about that. When Karen looked at us, we were sure that she believed our story. Still.
"I don't know how I should talk to her family," I say.
Ben looks at me as he try to tie the garbage bag.
"Actually, I don't either," Ben says. "It's gonna be the toughest time of the year, beside the quarantine, but I also believe it's going to be the most beautiful moment for the Bakers. I'm not sure if it gives them the closure, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I mean, uh, it could be the first closure, but—"
"Met Karen over there. She said the Bakers comes here at 20:50-ish," Kacy opens the door and comes in, holding a welcome home bouquet in her arms. Ben and I gives her a surprise look, and then look at the bouquet.
"What? Is it too much?" Kacy holds the bouquet high.
"Oh, no, it's fine. It's beautiful," I say.
"Yeah. But um, you might wanna open the door more quietly. Never mind, though."
It seems Ben lost count of how many times he has said what he just said.
"Okay," says Kacy, and she walks into the living room.
"…I wonder why she didn't scare Emma off."
"I know, right?" I smile.
Night falls and the sky is clear.
Candles are lit and flowers are blooming on the table.
"Sure we don't need to wear masks?" Kacy asks nervously.
"Windows are open. The ventilation is working pretty well. I believe we don't," Ben replies.
"All right, if you say so, Mr. Scientist."
"In the making."
I smile at them, and then check my phone if it is charged. The battery icon says it is 98 % charged. The figure seems more than enough.
The door was knocked three times.
"They're here," says Kacy. She clears her throat and walks toward the door. She looks back at us asking "Are you ready?" without saying it but by her eyes. Ben and I reply by nodding.
Kacy opens the door widely.
"Hi folks," says Karen, "Room 208ers meet James, Jenna, and Liam," and she steps back. Emma's father James, her mother Jenna, and her brother Liam were nervously standing in front of the open door.
"Hi, um, nice to meet you," says James, looking at our faces.
I was looking for the first words when Kacy opened her mouth.
"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Kacy. This is Anna, the lucky girl who gets the call from Emma, and this is Ben. Our science guy and our brain."
While I call Kacy by her name with a chiding tone, Ben introduces himself.
"Pleased to meet you. Please come in."
Apparently, it breaks the ice. The Bakers smile as they say thank you and I spy they let their muscles relax.
Maybe I overthought how to talk to them. They are here because they believe our story. They are here to meet Emma.
After James, Jenna, and Liam stepping into the room, we look at Karen.
"She knows where to find me," Karen smiles and leaves.
The Bakers look around the room as they walk slowly.
"Looks familiar to you, I assume," Ben asks.
"Yes, yes," Jenna says, "it feels like…we're winding back the clock."
They have lived here for years, and so has little Emma.
"The wallpapers," Jenna murmurs.
"Yeah," James touches the wall. "It's…still the same."
Liam leaves his parents and goes to the balcony window.
"The view," his eyes looking out the window. "The trees, they're still the same."
The moment he says it, I realize that he knows Emma likes it there.
"Excuse us for walking around, but, it's just… it brings back memories…" Jenna looks at us. "…You might have heard what happened to Emma from Karen."
"We heard about the car accident," I reply.
"It wasn't long after we moved out of this city."
The school bus Emma was in got hit by a car. The casualty hit double digits, and Emma was the only one who left this world for good.
I just cannot begin to imagine the loss and pain the Bakers have been going through.
James pats Jenna on her back.
"I should've been with her."
The voice came in, and we look at Liam.
"If I hadn't had a cold that day… Why did I catch a cold? I should've been there and protected her. I should've held her tight. I could've saved her."
"It wasn't your fault, Liam."
"We went," Liam takes a deep breath. "we went into a fight the night before, and I said something I shouldn't have."
He could somehow finish the sentence, but he could not hold back tears.
"Oh Liam."
"I'm sorry," his tears drop. "I'm sorry Emma. I didn't mean it."
"Liam."
James and Jenna brace sobbing Liam in their arms.
Just about I call his name, my phone rings. The Bakers look at me, and then my phone, and so do Kacy and Ben.
I am ready to swipe the green button when I spy a fleeting shadow moving across the room.
"There she is," is all I can say right now.
The little beautiful apparition gradually makes its profile clear. Her hair gently sways as though it feels the wind coming from the balcony window.
Eventually, the apparition gets materialized.
"…Emma?" asks James, yet the tone of his voice is telling that he is sure who is standing over there.
"Daddy, Mommy, Liam!"
"Emma!"
James, Jenna, and Liam open their arms, and Emma run into them.
I see their hands actually tapping Emma's back.
"Oh Emma…!"
Tears dropping from their eyes, and so do from mine. I see Kacy cupping her mouth with her hands and Ben adjusting his glasses.
"Can't believe this. Emma, you're here. You're actually here."
James pats Emma's head, Emma smiles.
"Oh Emma. We're with you. Stay with us. We're not gonna leave you, never again. We're with you forever."
Jenna says crying.
"Mom, don't cry. Smile."
Emma kisses her cheek, but it did not help Jenna to smile.
"Emma," says Liam, and Emma looks at him. "Emma, I—"
Emma made a short nuh-uh warning.
"Please don't spoil the night, Liam."
What she said apparently caught Liam by surprise.
"Apology's been accepted," says Emma, and she smiles at him.
"Emma, I didn't mean it," Liam hugs Emma tightly. Emma holds him back.
"Of course you didn't mean it, Liam. I know it. You are my hero. The best of all brothers, the best of all sister's keepers."
The volume of Liam's cry dials up a notch.
"I missed you all," says Emma.
"We missed you, Emma."
Emma gives them the best smile of hers.
"Oh, before I forget," says Emma, and she runs to me and punches me in my leg.
"Ow!" comes out from my mouth. I cannot believe I felt it, but I believe she is quite a puncher.
"What took you so long?"
"Emma, I'm so sorry. I just couldn't pick up my phone on time."
"It's okay. The choir was short of a singer, anyway." says Emma, and she looks at Ben.
"You mean, me?"
Emma smiles.
"Anna, Kacy, and Ben, you guys sing a beautiful triad."
She wraps her arms around us.
"Oh Emma…" Kacy holds her back. Ben and I also embrace Emma.
I feel her warmth.
"Thank you for noticing me. I didn't know how to ask you a favor, but you guys figured it all out. I've wanted this for long. I need to tell my family I love them so much one last time."
"Glad to be of your help." Ben replies, smiling. Kacy is just nodding. Her tears make her impossible to speak, it seems.
Emma looks back to her family.
"Um, as much as I wanna stay here, I've gotta go. The moon is calling."
"Oh, no. No."
"Please don't go."
We all want Emma to stay. She is back. I cannot believe it, but she seems to be resurrected firmly. She is here. She can stay.
However, we all know that we have to let Emma go for her sake.
Emma steps forward to the Bakers.
"It's okay, Dad, Mom, Liam. I'm always with you," says Emma, softly tapping them in their chests. "Remember, I love you all. Always have, always will."
"We love you, too, Emma. Always have, always will," Jenna managed to say so.
"You really have to go, Emma?"
"I have to, Liam."
"You remember what I said that night?"
"I do, Liam. But like I said, apology accepted."
"I take it back." Liam wipes his tears. "Emma, you'll make a great astronaut," Says Liam, trying to give Emma the best smile of his.
"Of course I will, Liam. I'll be the first woman stepping onto the moon."
Emma looks around each of us smiling.
"Watch me!"
She walks toward the balcony. She looks back on us one last time, and steps up. The way she walks almost seems like she flies herself to the moon. Apparently, that was her goodbye. Gradually, her body becomes transparent.
Eventually, she melts into the light of the moon.
Silence grows among the Bakers and three of us.
Then chirps of cricket starts to come into my ears. I have not hear them for a while. When I take a look at the clock on my phone, I realize 20 minutes have elapsed since it rang.
"You guys know one of the other names of tonight's full moon?" Ben asks, breaking the silence. Apparently, nobody knows it, and everybody waits Ben to go on. "It's also called Hungry Ghost Moon. It's Ghost Day today on the Chinese calendar. The day when people on the other side come out and visit their families."
I recall what Ben said earlier, about the closure. So this is what he meant.
"The first closure," I murmur. I sense Ben smiles at me. The Bakers let Emma fly to the moon tonight, and it was the first closure Ben was talking about.
"First? You mean, there will be the second?" Kacy asks.
The Bakers look at him curiously. Jenna puts her hand on her mouth, and put it down back as she speaks.
"Why not? There's no wrong way to have multiple closures," Ben shrugs.
"So, Emma comes back every September?" She asks.
James holds her shoulder and his son's. Liam and Jenna also look at Ben.
"I believe so. I believe Emma knows about Hungry Ghost Moon, too. Honestly, I'm afraid she's more familiar with the moon tales than I am."
The Bakers smiles, tears brimming their eyes. Jenna cups her mouth with her hands.
"Could you let us come here again next year?"
"Of course," the three of us, if I may borrow Emma's word, sing a beautiful triad.
"We'll clean up the balcony much nicer next year," Kacy adds.
The Bakers smile with the tears brimming their eyes.
Emma is on the moon by now. She is on the other side. We have to let her find peace over there; however, if it is okay to have multiple closures, then the process of farewell can take a step by step approach.
I step out onto the balcony and look up at the moon.
"I like it here, too, Emma," I murmur.
Ref: NASAの記事
注：ネイティブチェックしていないので色々とメタメタだと思います
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The Corn Moon
