Lonely Ghoul

"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires.”

(William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act 1, Scene 4)

It's a cool Halloween night, not cold but not warm, just a comfortable breezy night. I decide to escape my lonely prison and get her to escape hers. She’s had a particularly hard day and I want to make an attempt at levity. As I turn the corner to her street my heart stops at the sight of a stunning ghoul. Clothes as black as night around us from head to toe. Her leather jacket matching her combat boots, half of her beautiful face made to be a different kind of beautiful in contrast with her costume, and the other half just her. Her enticing eyes lock onto mine and she forces a smile. She wraps her arms around my neck and I pull her into a tight hug, one that shocks us both.

"How are you?" Her soft shaky voice breaking the eerily silent night.

"I'm alright," She breaks the hug off and stares into my eyes attempting to see into my soul, as I stare back and swim in hers. "More importantly, how are you?"

No sooner had the words left my mouth her reply was in my ears, "I'm fine." Clipped and cold, trying desperately to hide her true feelings.

"Come on, I thought we had banned that word. We said no lying to each other, and that my dear friend, is a lying word." I say in a mock scolding tone, hoping to pull out that shy smile to no avail.

She sighs in annoyance either by my know it all attitude or that she can't hide anything from me. As she's telling me about her problems I start to think of something to make her feel better. Her eyes begin to fill with tears, but she struggles to hold them back. Once she's finished all I could think of was to hug her tightly again. One arm wrapped around her waist holding the small of her back and the other holding her head close to my chest, my shirt catching her tears as I comfort her.

After a few moments I attempt to break the hug gently but she squeezes tighter. I slowly start to shift from one foot to the other. We dance in our own kind of way becoming the only two people in the world, the music of our hearts erratically beating together and the silence of the ghostly night.

She lifts her head and looks into my eyes a genuine smile on her lips as her bottom lip curls under her top as she bites down. A mischievous look flashes in her eyes and lingers.

"What are you thinking about?" My curiosity peaked as my heart thrums in my ears.

"Something that I probably shouldn't be thinking about." Her lips curl into a smile again, but this one full of curiosity, as she turns her head away in attempts to hide it. The ghoulish makeup staring me down growing more enchanting by the second.

I gently place two fingers under her chin and tilt her head back to me, "Something like this?" The words leaving my mouth as our noses press against each other. I feel her lift on her toes and press her lips to mine, stealing the last breath I would take tonight. As the world freezes around us I feel the warmth shudder through me from her touch as goosebumps rush to my cheeks.

As we stand there in the night with the silence of it all, I pull her closer than before. So I could read her like the blind read braille, with the growing goosebumps on her skin.