Richard walks into the room wearing a blue shirt.
Sarah lies on the bed, wearing faded blue jeans. She looks up.
‘You should knock.’ she says. She smiles.
Richard stares across the room at her. John turns around from the desk and looks at Richard. Richard looks at him. John turns around.
Sarah puts a magazine down on the bed. ‘You okay?’ she asks.
There is a shout from outside the window.
‘Okay?’ she asks.
‘No, I’m fine.’ Richard says suddenly. There is a chair adjacent to the bed. He walks across the room and sits on the chair.
‘What’s the plan for tonight?’ Sarah asks.
‘We’re going ghost hunting if you want to come.’ he says.
‘Yeah, I’m up for it.’ she says.
John shakes his head slowly.
Sarah looks at the back of his head. She almost scowls.
Richard wears black shoes. He looks at her. He clasps his hands. ‘Have you got much done today?’ he asks, smiling.
‘No, not really.’ she says. She smiles. She has ash blonde hair. ‘Have you?’ she asks.
‘No.’ he says. He almost giggles.
John imagines picking him up. John imagines picking him up and slicing. John imagines picking him up and slicing along his spine. John imagines picking him up and slicing along his spine like a cow carcass.
‘Are you gay, Richard?’ John asks.
‘No, man. I’m not gay.’ he says. ‘Why? Do you want cock?’
Sarah giggles in the background.
‘Some girl said you were gay.’ John says.
‘No, I’m not gay.’ Richard says. He scratches his head. He has long hair. ‘Hey John boy – do you wanna come ghost hunting?’
‘I don’t believe in ghosts, dude.’ John says.
Richard feels he is being sympathetic.
‘If I come, he’ll come.’ Sarah says. ‘That’s the way it is.’
Richard looks at her and nods.
~
It is dark outside. The trees bend in the wind. A girl walks through the darkness. Her hair moves in the wind. She imagines how a man might start talking to her. She imagines the way his voice would change. She puts her bag down and takes out her keys.
It is dark outside. There is a shout from outside the window. Sarah turns around from the window and looks at John.
‘Are you ready?’ she asks.
John lets the sentence hang. He feels comfortable in the room, with Sarah. Although we rarely talk in here, he thinks, at least she can’t talk to anyone else.
‘Yeah.’ he says.
She smiles weakly and nods. She turns back to the window.
John looks at her body. She leans into the window diagonally. She wears clear, black tights and a grey pencil skirt. She wears an olive cardigan over a pale yellow shirt. On her shirt there is a print of a boy playing in a mountain of shit.
John looks at her bottom. He remembers all the times he has looked at that bottom as her elbows get grazed on the carpet.
‘Richard’s outside.’ she says. ‘Let’s go.’
She turns in her muddy shoes and walks out the door.
~
Richard is speeding. It is dark.
Metal plays.
‘Where are we going then?’ Sarah asks, quietly.
Richard leans to his left. Sarah speaks into his ear.
‘Wait and see.’ Richard says.
John lights a cigarette. The windows are open. The smoke moves violently around the car.
~
Richard parks the car at the side of the road. They get out. Richard lights a cigarette.
‘I’m just going to piss.’ Sarah says.
The men nod.
They stare out at the fields. There is a forest at the side of the fields. It is dark. The wind blows.
‘Looks pretty dark in there.’ John says. His voice sounds distant.
A tree next to the car looks twisted.
Richard coughs. ‘Yeah.’ he says.
They stare out at the fields. John looks to his right. He looks along the road. He can’t see the end.
It is almost completely silent.
Richard puts his hand in the pocket of his plaid shirt. ‘Do you wanna cigarette John boy?’ he asks, absently.
John feels he is depressed.
‘Yeah.’ John says. ‘Thanks.’
The flame lights up their faces, briefly.
Sarah walks across the road. She opens her mouth excitedly.
‘Let’s go.’ Richard says.
Sarah smiles.
They walk along the edge of the road.
‘What were we talking about?’ Sarah asks.
‘Not sure.’ Richard says. He exhales. Smoke trails in the darkness.
‘What music do you like?’ Sarah asks.
‘Anything.’ Richard says. ‘Whatever. I don’t really think about it.’
‘Think we’ll see any ghosts tonight?’ Sarah asks.
Richard exhales. ‘I think there’s one behind us.’
John remembers a time when he would cry at such an insult. His eyes are slightly wet from the wind.
They walk in-between the trees and into the forest. The trees grow closely together. They walk around an oak tree. Richard steps over its large roots. Sarah and John walk on the roots.
‘There’s a good spot up here.’ Richard says. ‘I do believe in ghosts.’
There is a clearing. Four logs are placed in the leaves, in the shape of a diamond.
They sit on the logs. Richard puts out his cigarette in the leaves. He takes out a bag and a key. He puts his head down slightly. His hair covers his face as he snorts. He pinches his nose.
John thinks about pigs.
Richard passes the bag to Sarah, and then the key. She puts her head down slightly. Her hair covers her face as she snorts, quietly. She pinches her nose.
Sarah passes the bag to John, smiling weakly.
John looks at her nose. He feels it is perfect. Sarah passes him the key. He puts his head down slightly. He snorts loudly, almost angrily. He passes the bag back to Richard and smiles. He passes the key back and lights a cigarette.
John passes his cigarette to Sarah. He feels almost pleased, now. He sits there. He feels that whatever Sarah and Richard do is fine.
Sarah passes the cigarette to Richard. Richard nods at John. ‘Thanks John boy.’ he says.
Sarah plays with her hair.
An owl calls.
Sarah readjusts her cardigan.
The light is blue. The silhouettes of trees are black. It is dark. It is dark. The forest is dense. The trees are thin.
John watches Richard look into her eyes. After a while, he does kiss her.
John looks down at the leaves.
When he looks up they are gone.
John stands up. He feels a chill. He looks around him. The forest is dense. The trees are thin. He thinks of ghosts.
He hears a sound.
He hears a loud crackling. He hears a loud crackling in the darkness.
He walks into the forest. The light is blue. The silhouettes of trees are black. It is dark.
Thunder drones in the distance.
