Chapter 16

Alex and Alyssa's dad, Allen was his name, often unreasonably yelled, in my opinion, at the girls and at their mom, Cheryl, so I got a small taste of what they had to live with and it would certainly wear on anybody day after day after day.

No one went to bed until eleven and I had to wait and watch Allen and Cheryl have sex which would have been exciting right after I first received my invisibility power but I was dating Brianna now and kissing her too, so viewing parental sex was something to endure instead of enjoy.

It wasn't until midnight that the house was quiet. I sat weightlessly at the end of the bed while Allen and his wife settled in to sleep. I mentally coached myself to stay awake.

It took forever for the clock to turn 12:30 and I probably could have started now but I forced myself to wait longer.

At one in the morning, I stood by the bedside near Allen. I became tangible. I took his ear lobe between my fingers and squeezed tightly. He gasped and I vanished. He groggily rubbed his ear and tried to settle back into slumber. I waited a few minutes before using a feather I brought with me and tickled under his nose. The instant he stirred I disappeared.

"Come on," I muttered.

I was pleased to see Allen pull his covers back and sit up. Once I was awake in the night, I often had to go to the bathroom. I had hoped the same would be true for Allen. He walked into the master bathroom. I followed with excitement and trepidation. He stood in the dim light of the bathroom window and went pee. I took a deep breath and appeared. I flicked on the light.

"Wh-?" he said seeing my appearance and for some unknown reason instinctively swung at me.

I'm sure his reaction wasn't just because I suddenly was there. It was my appearance.

In my closet at home, I had an old Halloween mask and a mummy-like costume and make-up that looked like fake blood. The mask was too small now so I cut out the back and used string to hold it on my face. I was straight out of a nightmare but it was the more sedate Ebenezer Scrooge that gave me this crazy idea.

I disappeared and his fist went through me. I appeared on the other side of him.

"Aaaaal-len," I said, trying to sound ghostly.

"Wh-what?"

"I have a message for you."

"What? From who?" He appeared to be more coherent now.

"From ... uh ... me. You will no longer yell and scream at your wife and daughters."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"My wife?"

"No yelling at her or your daughters." I coughed in the middle of my ghost voice. This was kind of fun! I was an actor!

"Uh ... okay."

"I will know if you do. I will see."

"Sure, sure, okay."

He reached out. I disappeared again and appeared behind him. My power really helped the ghost effect.

"Do not try to touch me," I said trying to sound commanding.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am the..." I tried to think fast. " ... The Watcher."

"Watcher?"

"Yes, I am watching you and I am not pleased. You will be nice to your family. If you do not shape up, you do not want to know what will happen to you."

"What will happen?"

"You do not want to know," I repeated. I had no idea what to do if he didn't do it. My entire plan was to scare him into being nice, so it wasn't much of a plan.

"I'll try."

"No. You must do." I pointed at him with my forefinger but I was too close to him to look ghostly without him possibly quick grabbing me so my finger ended up looking more like E.T. which was not scary.

I vanished and sighed out in relief. I did it!

Allen stared at where I once stood visibly. He slowly flushed, washed and dried his hands, and returned to bed. I wondered what he was thinking.

I invisibly went into the living room and lay down on their couch. I feel asleep and waited for Saturday morning.

I woke to the sounds of rustling in the kitchen. I got up and saw it was Cheryl. I returned to the couch and rested until Allen was up.

Allen showed up fifteen minutes later. I followed him.

"Honey," Allen said. "Did you hear or see anything weird last night?"

"No." Cheryl looked at him curiously. "Did you?

"I'm not sure, honey. It might just be a dream."

A dream? He thought it was a dream. Not good.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I think so. Why?"

"You haven't called me honey in a long time."

"You are my wife."

"It's just..." she paused. "I like it."

"Just being nice to my wife."

So did my nighttime visit work or not?

"You slept in late," Cheryl commented.

"So?"

I saw Cheryl's body posture change. I think she expected a verbal attack.

"I ... I guess you were satisfied," she ventured.

"I had a tough night of sleep." Allen sounded gruffer.

"Oh ... I'm sorry."

I wondered if Cheryl expected to be blamed.

"Where are the girls?" he asked.

"It's Saturday."

"They should be awake by now."

"They're teenagers. They need their sleep."

"I've told you before that I expect them to get up when we get up on the weekends," he said angrily.

"Allen..." Cheryl gently protested.

He pointed his finger at her and she shut up. I followed as he traipsed to the girls' rooms. He flung open a bedroom door, turned on the light, and pulled back the covers. It was Alex in a night shirt.

"Get up!" he said loudly. "It's a new day so there are things to do!"

Alex groaned and put the pillow over her head. He ripped it away and flung it across the room.

"Up!" he repeated.

He went to Alyssa's room and did the same thing. She was dressed in pajamas. The girl's reddish-blonde hair stuck to her face as she sat up blinking from the brightness.

"Oh, Dad... ," she complained.

"Don't Dad me! Get up!"

Done with his task, Allen returned to the kitchen.

He said, "The girls are up, so you can make breakfast now."

"Yes, dear," Cheryl said quietly.

I had enough of this. He was still living his typical way. I wanted to grab a knife and scare him further but the kitchen would be occupied for a while and wouldn't provide enough privacy even if it were empty.

I noticed the garage door that connected to the kitchen. I passed through and explored. I found his tools. I became visible just long enough to pick up a hammer and a long screwdriver.

I headed to the parents' bedroom. I turned solid and found a pen and paper. I wrote "I am not a dream" and placed the paper on his pillow.

I took a deep breathe and yelled out, "Nooooooooooo!" as loud as I could. I disappeared.

I hadn't considered that Cheryl would follow Allen into the bedroom. Allen spotted the paper. He picked it up and read it.

"What is it?" Cheryl asked.

"Just a note I left myself," he said, pushing the paper into his pants pocket. He sat heavily on the bed. "I think the sound was just the house settling."

"Oh, okay. It sure sounded like someone."

"There's no one here. Let the girls know that everything is okay. I'll be out in a little bit."