In an area that experienced all seasons, Autumn was soon going to turn into Winter. People in that area were saying it was going to be very cold and harsh, so they were trying to enjoy what little "good" weather they were having left before the temperature would drop. Parents were bundling their kids up, trying to make sure they didn't get too cold. Teenagers would be told by their parents to wear warmer clothes. Most did, anyway, but Kate didn't care. She went to middle school wearing a hoodie, and she would continue to do so, even in the winter.
One Monday afternoon, a school bus dropped Kate off at her house, if you could call it that. She lived in a trailer park that was a couple of miles away from the nearest town with her dad. It was one of the trashiest places around, and the only people who lived there were the really low income families who had nowhere else to go or people who used drugs. Most people avoided this area. Kate was used to the look of the place and was unphased by any of it. She opened the door of her trailer and went inside.
As usual, the place was trashed. She didn't even bother trying to clean; she gave up on that long ago. It seemed that, no matter how hard she tried, the place was always filthy.
Kate didn't bother saying anything like, "I'm home!" or calling out her dad's name. She just went straight to her bedroom, which was the cleanest room in the house. That was saying a lot, since she had dirty clothes and papers scattered all over the floor. She dropped her bookbag on the floor and fell back on her bed. It had been a long day, and she was tired, so she fell asleep.
A sharp knock at her door immediately woke Kate up. She heard her father's voice say, "Kate?"
Kate got up out of bed and opened the door. Her dad looked angry after seeing her sleepy expression. "Were you sleeping again? Jesus, you sleep all the time! Come here and clean up the place. I'm having a few buddies over tonight, and I need the place to look half-way decent."
She didn't protest. "Okay."
"I'm going to go out and get some stuff. I hope you'll have SOME of the work done when I get back." Then, he left.
Kate didn't bother to ask what he was going to get; she knew it was booze. He'd invite his friends (if they even were friends; she could never tell from the way they acted) over every week to play cards and to drink. She was glad she didn't have to be around them when they did that stuff, and her dad didn't want her out of her room then, anyway. Not because he feared for her safety, but because she "got in the way", as he put it, so she just stayed in her room those whole nights. That wasn't different from any other night; she stayed in her room almost all the time. Now, though, she had to clean.
It was hard to make the place look decent. They had one trash bag left, which would barely hold all the trash that was in the trailer. They had no clean rags and no cleaning supplies except for dish soap. She hid the trash bag outside and did her best to scrub the table, counters, etc. It didn't help much, but at least it looked a little better than it did.
Kate's dad came back as she was finishing scrubbing the sink. He carried a total of five six-packs of beer into the trailer. "Put these away, will 'ya," he told Kate, and she did, while he sat on the couch to relax.
After doing a few more things, Kate told her dad that she was done cleaning. She went back to her room as he lit a cigarette, giving her no thanks for the work she did, but she didn't care; she wasn't surprised.
Inside of her room, Kate looked at her bookbag, then shook her head and laid down on her bed again. She was too exhausted to do her homework, but she guessed it was a good thing. Maybe she'd actually sleep through the night, if she could even sleep through the noise her dad and his friends would make later.
Kate could often remember her dreams; they were like movies that most of the time, she starred in. It was better than watching TV. She was having one, now, but it was one of the strangest ones she had ever had. It was about a ghost. It came out of nowhere and talked to her, and oddly, she wasn't afraid of it. She was a little annoyed at it, but she didn't know why. At first, the ghost's voice was barely audible, but it became louder and louder until it sounded like it was right next to her. The last thing she remembered it saying was, "Hey, wake up."
The teenage girl opened her eyes, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. She heard loud noises and voices and laughs coming from out in the kitchen/dining room. It was dark, and she knew her dad's friends were still there. She had no idea what time it was, but it didn't matter.
"I don't know how you can sleep through all that noise."
"It's normal," Kate said, yawning. She wasn't sure if she was ready to wake up or not. She didn't know if she was still tired.
"Those people could wake the whole neighborhood. Betcha the cops'll come before long, huh?"
"No. No one ever complains, so there's no reason for them to come here."
"Do they all live here?"
"No. My dad is the only one out there who lives here. They're playing cards."
"Geez, I don't remember anyone ever getting that loud over a card game."
"Eh, it's my dad's thing. I don't really pay attention to it."
"Like you're not paying attention now?"
"Huh?"
"Kid, turn on the light."
"I don't know why I need to."
"Just turn on the light."
"Okay, whatever."
Kate got out of bed and turned on her bedroom light. She turned around. She blinked and turned it back off. "Damn, this is one hell of a dream."
"Hey, turn that back on! I may be a ghost, but seeing in the dark is not one of my special powers."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever makes you happy, I guess. Not like I care." And she turned on the light again.
As she walked toward her bed again, the ghost said, "You really don't know what's going on, do you? Come on! You're not dreaming, kid!"
"God, that voice is so loud."
"Yeah, well, this voice is going to yell at you until your mind starts working. SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Kate shook, startled. She was fully awake and alert, now. "What? What?" She stared in front of her, and her mouth opened wide. "What the hell?!"