― Anthony Doerr
Ghostly Visitor
It was weird waking up the following morning to a lovely ghost sleeping on my couch. She looked so peaceful, curled up with a pillow and her cheeks rosy, flushed with sleep.
I crept into the kitchen and closed the door and then set about quietly making coffee and bacon and eggs.
As I was preparing the meal I realized I hadn't yet had a chance to inform Zadie who was coming over early to help me adopt a dog from the animal rescue.
I hadn't a chance to phone her yet and tell her. It seemed so much had changed in the course of a few hours.
My cell vibrated in my pocket. It was a push notification from my driveway alarm alerting me to someone approaching the house.
I quickly turned down the heat on the stove and rushed to disarm the security alarm to avoid awakening Lisanne.
I just managed to open the front door before Zadie pushed the Ring doorbell.
"C'mon in," I said cheerily, "I've got a surprise for you."
She frowned, "Don't tell me you've already adopted a dog."
"No, actually, I wanted to tell you about a different kind of rescue."
She looked at me puzzled, but walked into the foyer.
The couch was empty, the pillows put away and the covers neatly folded.
"That's funny," I said, glancing around and looking totally confused, "she was just here a few minutes ago."
"Who was here, Cain? You're not making any sense."
"The ghost girl from the family album, only her name's not Anais but Lisanne."
Zadie looked at me closely, "Are you sure you're fully awake? There's nobody here, Cain."
I went over to check the couch and suddenly heard Zadie scream behind me.
I turned and saw Lisanne standing in the doorway, holding several plastic bags and Zadie recoiling as if she saw a ghost.
"It's okay," I called out, "she's not a ghost. She won't hurt you."
I came over and put my arm around her but she cowered behind me, certain the girl was a phantom who bewitched me.
"This is Lisanne—Anais' granddaughter—she happens to look like her—that's all. She's flesh and blood like us."
Lisanne put down what she was carrying and spoke to Zadie.
"Cain's right—I'm real. I came here to talk to his father only to find out he was deceased. I'm sorry I frightened you."
"You certainly are a clone of Anais—actually, the likeness is scary."
"I didn't think resembling my grandmother would be a problem. I didn't think anyone would remember her."
"Probably not," Zadie agreed, "but we've been looking through family photo albums and voila! We were able to I. D. our intruder."
I intervened. "It seems Amos raped Anais and then sent her away her along with the child she conceived. The girl grew up in poverty and then had a child of her own, out of wedlock. That child was Lisanne who grew up in poverty and now has come back to see if my father would acknowledge Amos' paternity and help pay her tuition to college."
Zadie began to fit the puzzle pieces together. "But your father was deceased when she arrived."
"Right, so she hid out in the house because she couldn't afford a hotel room and was waiting for a chance to talk to me."
"I'm sure she wanted to make sure you wouldn't take advantage of her the way Amos did to her mother."
"Exactly."
Zadie, sat down on the couch and sighed with relief. "Well now, at least we know you're not being haunted."
Lisanne reached into one of her bags and retrieved a manilla envelope. "Here," she said, handing it to me. "Here are various pieces of I.D. that confirm Anais is my grandmother. I'm not looking for charity but compensation for the harm that was done over the years to my family."
"And you will get that," I reassured her. "That's one of the reasons I returned to Willow Grove, to make amends for my grandfather's crimes. You're actually family."
"This is all so overwhelming," Zadie exclaimed, "It's hard to take in all at once."
"I agree," I laughed,"so why don't we begin by having breakfast? We can sort out the rest over time."