I was on another one of my moonlight strolls through the asphalt streets of the city. My companion walked beside me in absolute silence. Words were but a hindrance in the absolute oneness of our companionship, and we were silent. The roads were completely deserted but for us, making us feel like gods. We walked along, our breaths misting in the cold air, our bodies walking parallel.

An empty field crept up alongside the path, making it seem like the world ended on that side. It had a wall along it’s border, one of those dilapidated things which have become one with nature. They have no sense of beginning or end, simply rising up off the ground. The trees are intertwined with the large stones forming it, as if the architect had planned it all along. Even their shapes, formed by the ruthless tides of nature, seem to be their destiny. It felt like we were meant to be gazing on it at this moment. We took a seat on the wall, huddled together, blowing warm breath onto our hands.

Staring back at us from the light mists was a dark foreboding of not being alone. It was almost pitch black, with only the eerie light of the moon lighting up the field. The wind slowly shook the fog like a puppet master tuning his strings. We could see a few plants large enough to be seen on the field. Apart from that, the field seemed entirely empty, with the uneven floor like waves frozen mid-motion. The mists seemed to crystallize, and shapes formed before our eyes. I blinked a few times, just to make sure, but it wasn’t a trick of the eyes. The shapes seemed to be moving around without any apparent pattern, just flitting from one place to the next. Some of them collided, and wisps seemed to emanate from them. The longer I looked, the sharper their features became, till I realized with a start that they looked like children. Little children lost in some game they were playing. Sounds wafted in our direction; inhuman high-pitched shrieks which would have otherwise worried me, seemed perfectly fine tonight. Unaware of our existence, they continued their rambunctious play, sounding like the joyous wail of a new-born on his birth. They looked like little puffs of clouds, but on closer inspection, one could see how unnaturally they bent the light, and how they stood out from the mists in the background. They were translucent, their bodies shaped like ghosts from the kids’ show on television. I couldn’t make out their faces, but there was definitely a human face there.

Floating around each other, one chased another, to the point where they collided, and then started chasing another. The collision broke the form of the ghost, like a smoker’s smoke disrupting the existing flow temporarily. A trail formed, like the ghost had just dived in water, and drove the water apart. The form combined again out of the smoke, and the game continued. There were those standing on the edge of the playing field, who moved but little, and inside, who were running like ants toward food. The shrieks came from those inside, as if they were the only ones having fun. The outer ghosts were quiet, standing protectively in a circle, guarding the ones inside. The children made sure not to break this line. The outers made no sound, but silently hovered in a large circumference. They seemed like guards protecting the innocent play. Silent spectres, they gave off the scent of danger which so easily scares me. I don’t know what it was; whether it was the cold in the air, the sense of danger instilled by the outers, or my disbelief at the sight before me, I started shivering. My companion held me tenderly, patting my back to stop the shivers. Our arms entwined, we went back to the sight before us, mesmerized by the strange game in front of us.

The sound of tires on asphalt came rumbling along the road, followed by headlights from a car making a turn. We turned towards the light and were temporarily blinded. Accustomed to the darkness, the light seemed bizarre, like a bad cherry in a perfectly baked cake. It went by as soon as it had come, but the effects lasted longer. We turned back to our playground, but it was empty.

The mists had become bare again. The sounds had been muted. Where ghosts were twittering about earlier, there was only silence. The scene was as drab as a cemetery from an old black and white film. A crushing sense of loss filled me. Those forms had been my life for a few moments before, and now they were gone. Where they had being playing in gay abandon, there were now depressing mists idling by. I didn’t understand why beings who were separated from me by an unconquerable abyss affected me so much. Beings who were so different, formless, and shapeless, so deeply affected me. I didn’t have a connection to them before this night. They had not influenced me in any way before this. This would possibly just be another memory which would fade away as time passed by and life went on. It could have just been my mind hallucinating at night. And then it came to me.

I was closer to them.