Ghosts in the Temple

Taka and I arrived back at the temple gate at around 2:30 AM. The sounds of the city didn’t reach the building in the middle of the complex of temples and monasteries and the stars were bright. As I looked up at the gate made of wood weathered to black and the traditionally sloping tiled roof, a creepy thought crossed my mind:

“Taka, how old did you say this building is?” I asked.

“This part is about 400 years old,” he replied.

“I don’t want to sound silly, but do you think that there are ghosts here?” Saying this, I already knew that I sounded silly. In fact, Taka would probably think that I was so ridiculous that he would discontinue our new friendship.

But he responded, “Oh yeah!” and then went into a detailed account of the ghosts wandering the premises. There were ghosts walking in the graveyard, ghosts in the hallway, and ghosts in the bedrooms. Sometimes when he woke up at night, there would be a ghost standing over him. Sometimes when he opened his eyes, a ghost would be several inches from his face.

While brushing my teeth, I threw panicked glances into the mirror, half expecting to see a ghost standing behind me. I dreaded going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, fearing that a ghost would catch me unawares on my way to the toilet. I tried to settle on my futon, but couldn’t get the idea out of my mind.

“Taka!” I yelled through the sliding door. “When you’ve seen the ghost in here, where was it exactly?”

“Well, it’s usually standing right where your futon is. But don’t worry, it doesn’t mean any harm.”

I thought about how I would feel waking up to a gentle ghost hovering over me, wearing the white funerary robes that Taka told me tends to be his favorite outfit. I thought about it until my palms went clammy and my eyes wouldn’t stay closed. And then I decided that, if I did wake up to a gentle ghost hovering over me, I definitely wouldn’t like it.

“Taka!” I yelled through the door again. “Will you move your futon in here?”

“Ugh,” he sighed in disgust. “Ailey, it’s JUST a ghost.”