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��and our top story this hour,� Dedicated Field Reporter Candice Donnelly was saying, �a woman who escaped from a mental institution is back in state custody. The woman, 31-year-old Julia Mendoza, escaped last Friday night. She was found wandering, disoriented, through a Los Angeles suburb around noon today. Officials say there had been reports of Mendoza entering people�s homes, but every time, she was gone before police had a chance to apprehend her��
Francis went temporarily deaf as they showed a photo of Ms. Mendoza. His jaw dropped.
�Julia?� he said. �What�?�
His ghost�s face was staring back at him from the TV screen. Francis was speechless.
�That�s her�� he mumbled incoherently. He was having a revelation. �That means�there�s no ghost�� Francis shook himself out of the trance. �There�s no ghost! See?! I was right; there are no ghosts, just crazy people breaking into my house!� Quite frankly, he didn�t like that idea much better. �So she just came waltzing into my house uninvited?� Now he was irate bordering on livid. �How did that happen?! And twice! It happened twice!�
It did happen twice, Francis thought, calming down slightly. And both times I just let it happen. He remembered the first time- Saturday morning. The two kids with the candy had come, and he bought two chocolate bars (they were good, Francis remembered, but melty). And then he went to brush his teeth, and there she was in the mirror behind him. He never locked the door after talking to the kids. That�s how she got in.
And then the second time- Monday night, as he was going to bed. It was a cool night, Francis recalled. He had opened the window in his bedroom, finding the lack of screen. He left to write down a note to himself to replace it (which he never got a chance to do), and she was standing in front of the open window. She had come in through the window.
�I can�t believe it,� Francis said. �I can�t believe it. A ghost? I really thought that? Unbelievable!�
So, the ordeal was over. There was no ghost (I knew it all along, Francis told himself). Francis felt relieved, to some degree. He stood up from the sofa and walked over to the door. He locked it, then unlocked it, and then locked it again. He then pulled at it and pushed it with all his weight to ensure that it wouldn�t budge. Then, he shut and locked every window in the house.
Francis� life returned to normal. He went to work the next morning with a new lease on life and a smile on his face (okay, so it wasn�t completely normal). He was at his desk earlier than usual and he hummed to himself as he tidied it up.
When Jeff arrived, Francis greeted him in an all-too perky manner.
�What are you so happy about?� Jeff asked, somewhat alarmed.
�I took your advice,� Francis began, �and I drove to work this morning. And guess what? There was a fifty-dollar bill in the parking lot, just lying there, waiting for me to pick it up! Isn�t that something?�
�Seriously?� Jeff was immediately jealous.
�No. But it would be cool, huh?� Francis laughed loudly. Jeff walked away shaking his head, muttering something about �too much caffeine�.
It was a slow day. The phone didn�t ring for the first time until about 10:30. Francis picked it up immediately, saying his line- and really meaning it- and then pausing to listen. He heard nothing.
�Hello?� he asked. �Anyone there?� There was no answer. Francis listened for a few more seconds, and then went to hang up the phone. As he did so, he heard a voice on the other end. He brought the receiver back to his ear. He could hear a quiet, whining voice, saying something unintelligible. It was impossible to tell if there were actual words; Francis could just make out a whimpering sound.
�Yeah, okay,� Francis said, and slammed down the receiver. �I�m having a good day,� he said, pointing an accusing finger at the phone. �Don�t ruin it for me.�
Jeff was walking by. He stopped short and looked at Francis.
�What?� Francis asked him.
�Who are you talking to?� Jeff asked, suspicious.
�Myself,� Francis said. �What�s it to you?�
Jeff just looked at him, and then began to shake his head again as he returned to his desk.
�Forget him,� Francis said with a fake attitude. He stretched. His back cracked loudly. �Ew,� he said. �Might need a chiropractor.�
When 5:00 rolled around, Francis practically bounded out of the building (while Jeff looked on in disgust) and began his after-work stroll through the city. He saw Julia Mendoza�s face about a dozen times as he walked. She was on the cover of almost every newspaper he saw. Every time he saw it, it reminded him of his brief encounter with the paranormal.
�So gullible,� he muttered as he found a cab and climbed in. �So, so gullible.�
Chapter 6
It was 11:00 when the movie Francis had been watching ended. It was a great movie- oversized piranhas terrorized a group of models stranded on a deserted island.
Francis yawned. �It�s always good to see people more obnoxious than me getting eaten by carnivorous fish. What joy.� He turned off the TV and stood up, yawning again. �Me equals going to sleep,� he said.
He was still unbelievably happy. It was nice to not have to worry about insanity and ghosts (or insane people posing as ghosts, Francis thought).
