April 3rd: Maxim Monday – J. M. Barrie – "Ghosts were created when the first man woke in the night."
Tien kept his gaze fixed out of the window. Watching clouds drift slowly by the moon. Watching the valley in its tranquil stillness. Looking out for any disturbance, for any sign of an intruder. The slightest movement drew his attention, his eyes narrowing as he evaluated and then dismissed each shadow.
"There's no one there, Chiaotzu," he said eventually. Chiaotzu peeked out from beneath his arm, his eyes wide and frightened.
"I saw him," Chiaotzu insisted, gesturing again with a shaking hand. "He was just by that ridge! Please, Tien, I'm not crazy."
"I never said you were," Tien said soothingly. He searched the ridge again. The moon emerged from behind the clouds, casting strong silver light over the valley, throwing sharp shadows. There was definitely no one there.
Chiaotzu saw this on his face. Could read him like a book. The realisation that there wasn't anyone there, that whatever he had seen had been inside his own mind, shook him to his core. His eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Tien.
"I… I saw him," he said, but his voice wasn't insistent. It was vague and lost. Tien winced at the sound of it. "Tien, I…"
"Shh." Tien hugged Chiaotzu tight, closing his eyes against the empty landscape outside. "It's fine, you're fine, we're okay. There's no one there now, but if you saw someone I'm sure there was something there."
"Maybe it was a ghost," Chiaotzu said numbly. The words sent a chill up Tien's spine. After what they'd done, what their master had made them do, the thought of vengeful spirits was a particularly horrible one. The idea of seeing a familiar hateful face was not one he wanted to think about.
"Ghosts don't exist," he said, his tone harsher than he'd meant it to be. Chiaotzu didn't flinch, just leaned in and looked out the window. Trying to find the shape, the shadow, the presence he had seen on waking. Tien sighed and turned the boy's face away from the window, forcing their eyes to meet. "Trust me, Chiaotzu, there's no one there. You know nothing can fool my eyes."
Chiaotzu nodded. "I suppose you're right, Tien… Thank you…"
"You're welcome. Go back to sleep." But as he moved back towards his own bed he cast an uneasy look outside the window and felt that same chill trace his back. Ghosts weren't real...right?