The Truth of Ghosts

 They said a ghost lived in the house. Or a monster. Either the woman was screaming in the night, or a banshee was doing it. The conjecture was accurate, in the sense that if a coin must flip, one can be assured that it will be either heads or tails. Which is to say, the woman screamed most nights from the pain.

    In the light of day, she sat by the window, or, on a rare occasion, outside. She drank tea calmly, or sometimes hot water if her pain had lessened her ability to sew for other people. She did not know what caused the pain, only that it was there and that during the day it was more difficult to bear.

    When the wizard past through, tipping his hat to the woman as she sat drinking tea, he was unaware. He stayed in the town long enough to hear the screams and tales of ghosts and monsters. He was the kind of person who paid attention, and so put two and two together. He asked the woman if she wanted a spell. She nodded. The screams stopped. 

    The woman smiled more. No hint of a grimace tainted it. She walked further. She sewed clothing for other people and then a few pieces for herself. On occasion she bought a very nice cheese to eat for tea. She made friends with a squirrel and a little black bird.

    The woman never let herself think, what if the wizard had come earlier? because, what if the wizard had never come at all?

    In that way, she lived unhaunted.

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