Dad

Half an hour later, I was walking in the shopping street, carrying a plastic bag with a "Pizza House" label on my hands. Nearby, there were numerous piles of people lining up like building toy blocks, the sounds of buzzing and bustling rang my ears. It was a quarter to 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The street was crowded as usual at this time of hour, full of a lively atmosphere. While I hated it. It was surprisingly annoying, I preferred a quieter place, a library for example, with tons of books and stories waiting for me to explore. Still, the ghost next to me loved it.

"Alfie, look! There is a newly opened Octopus Ball Shop! Let's go, Alfie! I want to taste it!" Jay exclaimed in excitement, when it came to food, Jay would be extremely thrilled like a 5-year-old child even though he was already 18.

"Alright. I'll buy it." I agreed, wondering why Jay loved food so much. I walked near the shop and brought six octopus balls, a delicious scent fluttering inside my nose. Jay's eyes sparkled when he noticed those mouth-watering octopus balls, I had a huge sigh and picked one ball with a toothpick and held it to the air. Jay enlarged his mouth and ate the ball in one single bite, he was smiling brightly. Looking at his face with happiness, all my worries and bad memories washed away.

Nearby, there was a child who was eating an ice-cream stared at me, his eyes popped out when he saw an octopus ball disappeared in the air. He was so shocked that he didn't even notice he dropped his ice cream on the floor. Ignoring the child, I observed Jay swallowing his snack and felt puzzled, I asked him.

"Jay. Why can ghosts taste food? You don't have a body." Jay stopped eating and thought about this question for a while and answered.

"It is true that I don't have a body. But I have an entity so I have senses like humans and can do actions such as touching objects or tasting food." He paused a bit to finish off his octopus balls and continued.

"But not all ghosts have all senses like humans, some weak ghosts can't touch objects, taste food or speak." he stated.

"Other ghosts, huh? To tell the truth, I haven't talked to other ghosts except you." I wondered.

"I guess there aren't so many ghosts that can talk. Besides, it is a good thing that you don't meet other ghosts. They may not be as friendly as me." said Jay, he was worrying about me again.

"True." I agreed and continued walking until I reached an old wine shop. There were bottles of wine piled up behind a huge window. As I stood next to the window, Jay stopped floating in the air and landed on the ground. He walked towards the shop and his body went through the main door.

While I waited for him outside.

Jay came back with a bag carrying a bottle of wine.

"Here, you go, Alfie."

"Thanks, Jay. I am under 18 so I can't buy wine, but you can." I thanked him, Jay's physique of being a ghost always helps me a lot in real life.

"You're welcome, besides....that's the only thing I can do..." As he continue to speak, Jay's voice slowly got weaker and weaker, I barely heard his last words. But he quickly shrugged back to normal and touched my shoulders, saying.

"By the way, Alfie. I often wonder why that man always ask you to buy wine when you can't buy it. Isn't it ridiculous?"

"Well.....Dad just wants someone to buy wine for him. He doesn't really care about my age."

"If he doesn't care about you, why you need to listen to him?"

"Err........."

"......because without Dad, I can't live." I stated.

A few minutes later, I finally made it to my doorstep. I took off my shoes and popped out to the living room. There, I saw Dad lying on the floor watching TV as usual. Looking at him, my heart was beating fast, I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Dad, I brought you pizza and wine." I said politely and put the bag with the Pizza House slogan that I was holding on the coffee table. I watched my step as I don't want to mess on anything again.

"Great! Good timing. I'm starving," Dad responded. His voice sounded joyful. I was glad that his mood is good today. Dad opened the bag on the table and found a bottle of wine. He was delighted and pleased, there was a huge smile on his face. I felt relieved. But all of a sudden, the smile on his face disappeared when he gazed at the label of the bottle.

In a flash, Dad threw the glass bottle of wine into the air. The glass bottle flew like a straight arrow, aiming right at my face. I wanted to dough the bottle but my feet were shivering and could barely move. Before my brain could understand what was going on, I heard the sound of fragile glass shattering.

The flying bottle missed me and hit the wall instead, smashing into pieces of broken glass. One of the glass pieces flew on my arm and created a scar. The liquids of wine were being spilled all over the place, leaving a red stain on the wall. I turned my head and stared at the broken bottle dropped on the floor, there were butterflies in my stomach. My face went pale. I placed my hand on my chest, I could sense my heartbeat accelerating. My eyes matched the eyes of Dad.

He was angry.