Ethreal Companion

845 words
Written for both "The Writer's Cramp"  and "The Great Adventure" 
Prompt: Write a STORY or POEM about discovering a friendly ghost in your house.

"So, you're happy now?" The soft feminine voice startled Kel-drey-nar, Kel to his friends, into dropping his newest copy of "Boy Toy".

"Honestly Thea, do you have to?" He glared around until he saw the mist that signaled her existence. "You know females aren't allowed here."

"After dark," the pulsating curves of white mist glided from the large gleaming metal locker that held his clothing towards his bed. A few droplets formed on the cold sheet metal floor. The dorm was designed to imitate a starship as closely as possible. Most everything that one might expect to be wood was bright silver or dark brushed metal. "It's daytime right now. Besides, you told me I didn't actually count as a female."

Kel took a deep breath as he reminded himself that she was right on several levels and let it out slowly. She was wrong about Melachen however. He'd actually hoped Melachen would stay. The guy was obviously gay, and it was bad for him to repress it like he did. Thea continued approaching him, a look to her mist that reminded him of the day they first met.

"Mom, I've got the chair," Kel called. Sweat had gathered on his fourteen year old brow as he struggled with the wooden chair.

"Just set it in the dining room and come get another dear," his mother called. "Just wait until your father sees all the work we've done." Kel half walked, half stumbled into the dining room wondering how he was supposed to be handling military school that coming Fall. He was the least coordinated kid in his school, and probably also the weakest. Well, probably the weakest guy at any rate. He set the chair down, turned and tried to walk.

He didn't get very far, as for some reason his left foot was rooted to the spot. The unexpected development caused him to topple forward. "Ow," he moaned, rubbing at his achy head with his newly bruised arm.

"Oh, did that hurt?" The friendly female voice came from his foot which suddenly unstuck.

"What?" Kel sat up, as he now had both feet available again and looked around, but all he saw was an odd mist coming closer, and closer. If he were pressed to give a more thorough description of it he might have called it curvy, but he'd have had little firm evidence to back his claim up with.

"I could make it up to you," the mist was very close to him and the voice was soft and suggestive.

"NO!" He pushed away from the mist which had begun to touch him in a very odd way. "What...? What... what are you?"

"Don't say it like that, I'm just a girl," the mist replied, but Kel was already shaking his head. It had a female feel to it, yes. That was why he really didn't want it to touch him, but it wasn't just a girl. It was an alien, or some sort of mythical creature, or maybe an accidentally summoned demon.

"No, you aren't," he modified his voice, "girls are more... solid."

"Kel? Are you okay in there? The rest of the chairs are off the transport, come on out here and help your mother," Kel's mother called.

"Oh that," the mist replied, "that's just because I'm Thea, a girl ghost." The mist hadn't smiled. How could mist really smile? No, it hadn't, but Kel knew that was the expression it had on somehow.

"I've, uh, got to go," Kel replied, turning the idea over in his mind. Did this mean his parents had bought a haunted house? That sort of thing didn't really exist though right?

"I'll see you later then. I'll just hang out in your room until bedtime. Yours is the one with the dagger patterned sheets right?" Thea remained cheerful in tone.

Kel made a sound he didn't like admitting to, let alone trying to define. It was something between an, "Eeep," and a, "Yuhuh." Then he ran back to the transport like his feet were on fire.

"Don't come any closer," Kel instructed briskly, "it makes me ill."

"You're so mean," Thea complained, but she stopped moving forward all the same.

"If you don't like it you should have stayed home," Kel replied picking up his magazine and closing it, returning it to the safety of his brushed black nightstand.

"And missed you striking out with all the guys you like? No way," Thea returned brightly. She claimed to be a good ghost but Kel remained unconvinced. She sure wasn't good to him. The high pitched alert tone prevented him from following that thought. A drill? It seemed like odd timing.

Nonetheless he scrambled into his South Quarter uniform and took hold of his dagger. A lot of people laughed at his weapon until they saw him use it. It was the one skill military school had really given him so far. As he rushed to the door Thea faded into non-existence. She never stayed for fights, something about a vow to remain non-violent.