In the middle of a conversation with the neighborhood watch guys, a man dressed in whatever he had on came in, wearing a promotional giveaway T-shirt.
His name was Anton. I didn't know his full name. As far as I knew, he had a pretty successful business.
This time, he was visiting with Febri, one of the village's youth organization members.
They strolled over and took seats at the far end of my little café.
My throne...
Since I sold all the snacks that were hard to move or nearing their expiration date at a steep discount, and since I happened to want to set them aside today because they were going to be exchanged tomorrow—
Well, now they were just eating them like that.
"That tastes awful!"
Febri exclaimed after sampling one of the snacks near them.
I quickly grabbed all the food and put it into a box.
"Ah... sorry, those are being returned tomorrow." I carefully closed the box. "I'm going to use this place to sort some things, so I set them aside here."
"Oh, I see—"
"It's fine, just eat them for now." I quickly stopped the two of them as they started to stand.
If they actually stood up and left the café, I'd take a huge loss.
"Okay."
Mr. Anton replied.
Luckily, they listened.
"What do you want to drink?"
"Ginger, no sugar," Mr. Anton answered.
"Ginger milk," Febri replied.
"So, what were you saying?"
It seemed Febri wanted to continue the conversation that had been put on hold.
"Ghosts, right?"
"Yes, sir." Febri swallowed. "Aren't you scared?"
"No." He slowly sipped his coffee. "I'm more afraid of people."
"Huh? Why?"
"A ghost? If you throw a sandal at one, it'll just pass right through. But if you throw a sandal at a person, sometimes they'll throw a rock back."
"Heh, that's true."
"So you're really not scared?"
"You can see ghosts, right?" Febri gave a small nod. "Can you see how many are following me?"
"A whole lot." With a slight tremor, he lifted his coffee cup. "They're not aggressive, are they?"
"Well, that's how it is." Anton answered with a shrug.
"Don't they bother you?"
"How would they bother me?"
"You know, by appearing in front of you."
"No. Even if they show up, I just leave them alone."
Febri's eyes grew more alert as he looked around. It seemed as though he was simply taking in the café, but there was no doubt his gaze was fixed on things that didn't belong to this world.
"Hey, why did you two suddenly start talking about ghosts?"
I asked, curious myself, as I served them their drinks.
"No idea."
Mr. Anton's answer was brief.
Maybe he'd just been pulled into it.
"I was just curious. Mr. Anton is so casual about taking that haunted road near the cemetery."
So that's how the story started.
"I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like this place has much crime."
He had a point. If there were a lot of crime, then people would have to stay alert.
My curiosity suddenly intensified, and I became even more interested in Mr. Anton's perspective on ghosts.
"So, Mr. Anton, what exactly are ghosts?"
Mr. Anton immediately started thinking, as if he were trying to remember whether he'd locked his front door.
"Ghosts."
Apparently, I'd asked the wrong question.
"You asked the wrong question, Riyumi."
See?
"I mean, Mr. Anton... are ghosts spirits, or what?"
"They obviously can't be spirits."
"Huh?"
Febri and I were both startled, because that was supposed to be the most common and fitting description.
"Obviously. As far as I know, the only things that are soft and delicate are cats."
"Cats?"
"Just pet one. You'll see how soft they are."
"But sometimes they scratch or bite, sir!"
"Just assume they're in a bad mood."
"I guess so."
"Then what about the ghosts you were talking about?"
"Don't tell me a ghost is a ghost!"
Febri cut in before Mr. Anton could say anything.
"Hahaha." Mr. Anton laughed, then took another sip of his drink. "I don't know how to explain it. It's hard."
We were all confused about what exactly we were trying to discuss.
Then Adhi came in carrying a small bag.
"Just ask him!"
Mr. Anton called out to us, startling me—and, of course, startling Adhi, who had just arrived.
"What's going on?"
"They're asking about ghosts."
This time, Febri's gaze grew even more vacant. His eyes slowly shifted from Mr. Anton to Adhi, who had just arrived.
I quietly leaned toward Febri and whispered, "What's wrong?"
"They're stronger!" Febri whispered back.
"What's stronger?"
"All the ghosts following Mr. Anton would rather back away from him."
"Riyumi, a large glass of iced tea, with just a little sugar."
Adhi called out without waiting for me to take his order.
"Okay." I took a step, then stopped for a moment. "So, Adhi, what are ghosts?"
"Ghosts?" Adhi paused, searching for the right words. "Ghosts."
The same pattern again...
"That's not what I mean. What are ghosts to you?"
"Not spirits, but not physical beings either."
Mr. Anton smiled, apparently pleased to have finally found someone who thought like him.
"What are they, then?" Adhi set down his bag and sat with Febri and Mr. Anton. "They're kind of like hallucinations."
"Hallucinations?"
"Yeah. You can throw a sandal at them and it'll pass right through, and if you walk up to them, they run away. Weird."
"Is that true, Mr. Anton?"
Mr. Anton could only wave his hand to show that he wasn't sure.
"Is that really true?" I asked Adhi.
"Yeah. Whenever I see a ghost and walk up to it, it disappears."
"Aren't you scared?"
"Why would I be scared of a ghost?"
The more we talked about ghosts, the more I felt as though I caught glimpses of something out of the corner of my eye. Naturally, it happened while Adhi was talking about ghosts. But when I looked again—for some reason, he seemed determined to steer the conversation to something else.
Did he know?
And what did they mean when they said he was stronger?
"Sorry, Adhi, but aren't you afraid of ghosts?" Febri asked.
"No."
That short answer, without a single extra word, made me realize just how stark the difference was between Mr. Anton and Adhi.
After serving Adhi his drink, I decided to join them for a little while longer.
"Can you actually see them?" Mr. Anton asked, clearly curious.
"Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. But the ghosts supposedly cling to me."
Huh?
I glanced at Febri, who for some reason was staring blankly into space.
"Feb, don't you want another drink?" I asked, partly to make sure he was still conscious.
Febri flinched slightly, but he was still aware. "I'll just have a black coffee."
Just before I went back to serve Febri and the other customers, I asked, "Is that really true?"
"What Adhi said is true."
"How can that be?"
"I don't know."
I set it aside for the moment and started serving the customers.
After that, the three of them didn't talk about the supernatural anymore and moved on to other topics.
Honestly, it was the first time I'd ever gotten chills while telling a scary story—though it still wasn't as bad as hearing the news about two people disappearing from the high school building near my café.