Not Forbidden

"You know, you are starting to creep me out," David said. He knew no one was there, but he knew that she could hear him; that she was there. He had finally decided that the spirit, or whatever it was, was a woman.

"Why is that?" the voice asked after a moment of silence.

"You know me too well, as if you have always been watching me."

"Maybe I have."

"No. I remember. You said that you had been watching me for years, not from the beginning."

David caught a sigh coming from the spirit. "Can you show yourself?" David asked.

"I can. But I won't," the spirit said.

"Why not?"

"You're not ready for that."

"But you can smack me around?"

"Of course I can. Physical contact is not forbidden."

David nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt ghostly fingers being run through his hair, felt them on his neck at the collar of his shirt. He felt one finger tracing a line across his cheekbone, and another cupping his face. David felt his breath hitch in his throat and tears start in his eyes, the touch bringing back sensations and long suppressed memories.

David quickly stepped away for the contact, not sure if that would help. "Please," he whispered, "don't do that."

"But I have wanted to for a long time," the spirit whispered

"Who are you?" David asked.

"Now that is forbidden," the spirit said wistfully, "you'll have to discover that one on your own."

"How am I to do that?"

"Look to the stars...."