How to Pack a Poltergeist

I beckon towards the oak flask’s ornate aperture. “Fernando, please get in. The truck’s waiting outside.”

I knew moving out would be stressful, but never imagined it would be this bad. Then again, I never imagined I’d be best friends with the ghost of a 16th-century Spanish pirate.

Fernando whooshes past me towards the foldout table in the middle of what used to be our living room. The ashtray resting on top begins sliding towards the edge.

“Don’t you dare—”

Glass and ash litter the floor.

“For fuck’s sake, Fernando, that was antique! Ok, fine, I’ll leave you here for the next occupant to deal with.”

A trail of dust flies up as Fernando slinks to the corner.

“Sorry I lost my temper, buddy.” I kneel beside him. “This job in Seattle’s a big deal. You want me to be happy, right?”

The ash on the ground swirls until it forms the word SÍ.

“You don’t want to go?”

The ash dances again. NO.

“Or stay here alone?”

NO.

“You’re…scared?”

SÍ.

I pat the air tenderly. “You’ve battled armadas and sea beasts. This move’s nothing by comparison. You’ll have new neighbors to scare the shit out of, new cats to terrorize, plus your favorite telenovelas will still be on TV.”

Fernando musses up my hair before sweeping the glass and ash into a neat pile. The flask wobbles as he flies inside.

“Alright Capitán, time to…set sail!”

Even from inside the flask, I can feel him rolling his good eye.

Ben Daggers is a close-up magician, escape room creator and light sleeper based in Osaka, Japan.