A. Abellera: Sudden distortion in the air and her vision blurred, and then nothing. She gave her brother a quizzical look, "You can't see him?" Michael looked crushed, he turned and stared at the toy chest again and then nodded. "Billy said you have to be special to see him. I guess you're not special." He said sadly. His words triggered a sudden memory. Harper was five years old trying to introduce her best friend to her older sister, Kelly. "I'm telling mom that you're making stuff up." "I'm not she's right there why won't you believe me?" There was a loud humming in her ears and she could feel the beginning of a migraine throbbing in her right temple. She took a deep breath and focused on her brother, but before she could speak, there was a knock at the door and their mother, Yuna appeared.

"Michael, you can't leave your toys out in the hallway," she said, "somebody could trip and hurt themselves on them." In her hands, she held a beat up old-fashioned red fire truck. It was completely made of metal and looked like an antique. The paint was a dull red, chipped and faded. On the side of the long wagon it said City Fire Department in gold paint. There were two ladders on either side of the truck with a pulley and a crank to hoist them up and a little brass bell hanging from the front of its engine. "But that's not my..." Michael stopped short. "Oh, that's Billy's." "Who's Billy?" "He's my best friend," Michael said, "he lives in the house."

As a look of puzzled alarm spread over their mother's pretty face, Harper jumped to her feet with a overly loud laugh. "We were just playing a game," Harper said, "you know, making up stories about people who lived here before, right Michael?" Harper turned her back to her mother quickly as she faced Michael, she pressed her finger to her lips, her eyes growing big as she gestured for him be quiet. Michael laughed. "Harper, you're so funny." Harper grabbed her little brother and swung him onto his bed, tickling him into a fit of giggles. She stole a glance at her mother noting that her expression had relaxed a little. "All right, next time be more careful." Yuna said. She placed the truck on the nightstand and walked out. Harper heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed on the bed. Michael climbed on top of her and sat on her stomach. "Why didn't you want me to tell mommy about Billy?" He asked. A rising nervousness made Harper stomach clench as she pictured her mother's look of disappointment. "Mom doesn't like things she doesn't understand." She said. "Because she can't see him either?" "Yeah." Harper said.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a movement. She looked around the room in confusion, her head throbbed. "That's okay, as long as I can see him." Michael said. He hopped off the bed, reaching for his Lego box, Michael dumped all the contents onto his carpet and sat down. "Come on, Billy let's play." Harper was walking over to the door when Michael stopped her. "Hey, Harper wait. Billy said don't go up into the attic." "Why?" Michael shrugged. "He just doesn't want anyone up there." "Well, I don't think mom and dad plan on touching the attic for a while," Harper said, "they're focused on fixing the central air conditioning and everything else that's wrong with this stupid house." The spotty air conditioning was their first priority, they'd only been in Washington DC for two days and we're already suffering from the heat and humidity. Yet, Harper found it odd that the old house was strangely cold in certain spots like Michael's room. Michael stopped playing with his Lego toys and looked up at Harper with a serious expression. "Billy doesn't like it when you call his house stupid," he said.