You Had Me At Boo - Marian Tee Page 0,2

only their definition of happiness mattered, and everyone else got it wrong."

"Exactly! And do you know - I tried looking up self-help books for women who just hit the big four-oh, and all of the bestsellers I saw were for married women in their forties. I mean, seriously. What is up with that? Am I unimportant just because I didn't choose to rent out my womb to unborn babies?"

"Of course not, dear."

"I just feel like the whole world's written me off, Nana, and all because I'm not your typical forty year old."

Nana gave me a sympathetic smile. "Just let them be, dear. It's your life, and you must live it as you see fit. Never let other people dictate your actions. That was my mistake, you know, and I ended up letting my whole life go to waste—-"

"Aww, Nana." It broke my heart to hear her speak like that. "You've got to practice what you preach, and think positive, too. Your life is far from over—-" I saw Nana blinking as if I had suddenly blurted out today's winning numbers for the lottery.

"Oh, my dear." Nana had a rueful expression on her face. "I thought you already knew."

My brows furrowed. "Knew what?"

"I'm already dead."

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ALWAYS last. I've always believed in that. Lived and swore by it, too, and that was probably why, when the shock finally wore off, I had found the truth rather easy to adjust to.

I can see ghosts now.

It should've frightened me out of my wits, and I supposed it did...for a while. But because this was Nana we were talking about, who was so motherly and cuddly-sweet, it was impossible to stay scared, just impossible, even after seeing Nana - in an attempt to prove her ghostly existence - float out of her chair and pass through the walls.

If it had been any other ghost doing that, the sight would've likely made me pee in my hospital gown, and it wouldn't have had anything to do with stress incontinence caused by perimenopause.

But again, because this was Nana...

As the lovely Jasmine put it, A Whole New World was all about having a fantastic point of view, and thanks to Nana's revelation, my point of view now included more than one dimension. It just blew my mind, that this other world existed alongside ours, and ninety-nine percent of us would go on living their lives without ever being aware of it!

Nana and I talked nonstop that night, with the woman formerly known as Miss Constance Day giving me the 411 on all things paranormal. Ghosts, for instance, were just like humans in the sense that while there were mostly good ones among them, there were also a few rotten apples in between. There were smart ones and stupid ones, too, along with ghosts who could only scream and scream and ghosts who weren't even aware they were dead.

Although ghosts who had been "around" for some time were capable of discerning which humans could see them, Nana demonstrated a couple of tricks I could use, just in case I'd rather avoid drawing their attention.

"But the one ghost that you must steer clear of at all costs," Nana warned, "is the Man in Black."

"Like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones?"

Nana was exasperated. "Seriously, child."

"I was joking." Actually I wasn't, but no point letting her know that, right?

"He's not the kind to joke about," Nana said admonishingly. "Truth be told, none of us are even sure he's a ghost."

I shifted in my bed uneasily. "Is he a poltergeist then?" In a scale of zero to Hitler, poltergeists were supposedly at the very top of the list (read: the worst kind of evil), right alongside ghosts suffering from demonic possession.

"No one knows, child. All we know is that he's one to be feared."

Demon then, I thought with a gulp. Nana was a bit of an agnostic, so demons weren't even "real" for her. But for someone like me who had gone the Catholic route from kindergarten to university? Demons were a whole different kind of scary, and I don't think I'd ever be able to handle them.

"How do I know if it's the Man in Black I'm seeing?" I asked worriedly. "Is he the only ghost in black?"

Nana shook her head. "He's a strange and powerful being. You don't really see him—-"

What does that even mean?

"But you can feel he's there, and once you do—-"

I held my breath.

"Hide," Nana said simply. "It's the only thing we can do when he's nearby,