There once was a mansion, one way too big for anyone to live in. Some would say it was haunted, others just abandoned. The rumors said that if you were to sneak out at night, and come near the sacred mansion, you could either hear the chilling giggles of a woman, or the glooming sobs of a child. And that what you would hear would destine your future... But inside was just a regular girl like you and I, a single girl living alongside her parents.
Being in such a big mansion, the girl always spent her free time cleaning or doing chores. Since this took most of her days, she never had the chance to do anything she thought was interesting. Despite this, she always had the brightest smile anyone had ever seen, shimmering alongside her completely white dress.
She was as pale as a doll, with long silver hair. The lonely girl payed a lot of attention to her appearance, only for it to be unnoticed, even by herself. She lived at the very upmost room of the mansion, with a large round window at the back and thin silk curtains. Her room was her only place of comfort, the only one where she could be herself.
The girl was very frail, she would often get sick no matter the season. She would always miss or forget things. But she always did her best, and would keep smiling.
At school, no one payed attention to her, since she would never raise her hand or participate in any club. Sometimes, she would even be marked as absent by the teachers despite being there. Always eating lunch by herself on the roof, doing group projects on her own. Here, she just had to keep smiling.
At home, her parents only ever talked to her when she missed or forgot one of her chores. They would always say that they're oh so busy, and that she at least should help a little, not paying attention to how much she actually was doing for them. During any other moment, it would be like she never was even there, not giving her a single praise, or even a word. Yet, she always kept smiling.
Despite being lonely, the girl never had any alone time, always being busy from her homeworks to her cleaning. Her days would be filled by mind numbing tasks that were relegated to her. No one ever noticed the lonely girl, yet somehow, they always knew to say her name when something tedious was needed to be done. Night, and its silence and its peace, was the only moment she had to herself.
And so, as the sun finished to set, she would sit on a stool next to her window, think about everything that, or more so how little things, happened today, and cry.
Cry, something she was never allowed to in the sunlight, not forbidden by anyone else, but by herself. "Why can't anyone ever notice me? Oh, why can't I live a normal happy life? Please help me, I wish to be free, no matter how..."
She would repeat these words every night, staring at the glowing moon through her room's closed window while joining her hands, hoping something would, someday, change.
...
The days started to repeat. Moon after moon, sun after sun, the same words were heard, the same steps were taken. The same rocks, the same trees, the same times wasted, the same worries, the same thoughts, the same blades...
The lonely girl felt lonelier than ever before, everything felt more and more daunting, and her smile started to fade away.
Not being able to put on her facade, the girl started to cry again and again, each night for a bit more. Because of this, she started oversleeping, having to run to school, to skip breakfast, making her days even more daunting.
Despite this, she still appreciated the quiet nights, always dreaming and hoping for a better future, for anything to happen, to change, again, and again, and again.
The lonely girl would cry, and the bell would ring once again...
...
It all changed one sunny morning.
The sun was as bright as ever, but not blinding, the ray of lights were comforting.
The girl slowly woke up to her flowing curtains, and a slight breeze coming in her room.
She was floating above her bed, also flowing through the air. It was then that she realized, she had turned into a ghost.
She seemed confused at first, but then thought "Maybe that's not too bad. My wish became true, surely something will change now!"
As she climbed down the stairs from her bedroom to the living room, she glanced over to an empty mirror. The ghost kept staring at it, but the mirror never replied back, only showing the blank wall that should be behind her.
And so, the ghost realized that no one could see her anymore, not even herself. She started to panic, and regret her decision. She quickly flowed down the stairs.
"Papa! Mama! I don't really know what happened but, I-I've disappeared! I became a ghost... I'm scared..."
Nothing. They seemed to hear her, turning slightly their ears at her direction as she was speaking, but this was their usual reaction, the exact same as when the ghost was just a regular girl.
Day after day, the ghost continued her routine, still went to school, desperately trying to find someone to talk to, someone to help her, someone who could revert what she's done.
But, it already seemed too late... Although, everyone continued to treat her like usual, her classmates would still push duties onto her, her parents still kept ignoring her. The girl became a ghost, yet nothing changed, she was not more noticed, but she was not let free either.
One night, she overheard her parents talking about her. They would do it sometimes when she was still a girl, kind of reminding her that she was indeed their daughter, but not often in a good light.
"All she does is complain over and over again, I wish she would at least be grateful for everything we do for her. Does she not realize how hard it is being her parent?"
This was the last straw for the ghost. "No no no no no! This is not what I wanted! I wanted something new, I wanted things to change. No one cared for me before and now no one even noticed that I became a ghost...! I wanted everything to start anew, I wanted to be-"
Suddenly, something clicked for the lonely ghost. Maybe getting people's attention was not worth it. After becoming a ghost, nothing changed, no one realized she had died. So why stay here?
A new beginning, a new start after everything was already over, her dream, her wish.
"That's right...
I wanted to be free..."
Freedom... Something the ghost had never really thought of or considered, something she had never known, the biggest of changes....
In her room, the curtains still flowing, with tears down her cheeks, the girl decided...
Crossing the window frame once more, this time... She flew...
To where? How far? She did not know, nor care.
...
...
...
"Hey! Wait up! Where are you going like this!?" Said a loud voice behind the ghost.
"You! The small girl, I'm talking to you!" Continued the voice, as she forcibly grabbed the ghost's hand.
The lonely ghost looked confused, no one had talked to her in such a while, she did not even think about the fact these words could have been said towards her.
"Wh- What? What do you want from me?" She did not know what else to say, and could barely see what was happening, her eyes still full of her tears.
She was about to achieve her freedom, and only now someone reaches out to her? She wondered if she was just never destined to meet her end, as if she did not deserve it.
It was only after these thoughts that she realized... "W-Wait you're also-"
"That's right! I couldn't leave a fellow ghost leaving alone you know? Did you even have any idea of where you were going? Trust me flying through the sky for days on end gets really really boring."
"Hmph, couldn't be worse than before..." muttered the lonely ghost.
"C'mon, stop being so depressing, what had to be done has already been done. Don't dwell on the past and welcome your new life! Death? Does saying that still works?"
"This is all going so fast, who even are you? What happened to you? And how do you know I-"
"So so many questions eh?" Said the lively ghost "I'm Ryo, and I guess I had a similar story than you, though mine wasn't my fault."
The lonely ghost was perplexed. Could she really trust this person? She thought to herself that maybe she would understand, that if she was also a ghost there would be nothing to fear, and that maybe, since someone finally reached out to her, it would be way to finally reach her true new beginning.
"This isn't really what I had in mind you know... I was just going to stay away from everyone, achieve peace once and for all..."
"What's the fun in that?! You spent your life rotting away in that weird castle, now that you can do whatever you're not just gonna do that somewhere else right?!
The lonely ghost was shocked, and stared at the lively ghost with an astounded look on her face. She had never considered that she was about to repeat the same story again, once more, like always. She felt a bit foolish, and so decided to humor the lively ghost's request.
"R-Ryo? Was it? Consider yourself lucky, it's been such a while since I've pronounced someone's name..."
The lively ghost's eyes started to sparkle. "Yup, that's me! And trust me, I know that, you really were stubborn eh?"
"W-What do you mean?! How long have you even been there-" And before she could finish her sentence, the lively ghost cut her off by dragging her along the air.
"I'll tell you everything eventually don't worry! Stop the questioning and try to finally live the life you wanted to fulfill! C'mon, I'll show you around!"
...
...
...
After a few months, the rumors about the mansion started to say that now, both the woman and the child were laughing together. But at certain nights, both of their cries could be heard, in unisson.