she lived like a zombie.

with drooping eyelids, soyou crouched to lock the cafe's glass door before turning around to head home. this time, she had set a new record. a whopping 36 hours of not sleeping. every step she took was sluggish and to anyone, she probably looked like she was going to collapse any moment.

on the bus home, soyou had plenty of seats to choose from and she plopped down on a window seat, knowing she could lean her head against the cool glass. she was the only one on the bus, but that's expected since it was pretty late already.

she closed her eyes and let herself relax, allowing her body to sway with the motion of the bus. she was so exhausted that it actually took her a few minutes to realize it was freezing.

she remembered turning the aircon away from her.

muttering a curse under her breath, she didn't even bother to open her eyes. "go away, please."

throughout the years, she had learned that a 'please' could do wonders. warmth coursed through her and earned a shiver in return, the blast of cold air gone as sudden as it came.

the 20 year old alighted a few blocks away from her apartment and started walking up the steep slope, all the while thinking how nice it would be to just close her eyes and lie down on the sidewalks to sleep. being so deprived of sleep, her mind actually did consider that but a note flew over to her and smacked her right in the face.

on the sticky note was a scribbled number and barely legible words that read, 'need help? text this number and you'll be led to jesus to get your problems solved rightaway! household complications, relationship frustrations, even headaches about spiritual stuff!'

the last line snatched her hard.

at that moment, she didn't really care much about losing anything. her parents had left her when she was young and since then, she had learned to be independent and take up all sorts of part time jobs to survive. but there was this huge obstacle that's slowly but surely draining her life.

she could see ghosts.

not only that, she could communicate with them. 9 out of 10 ghosts that she talked to were friendly, but they always pop up out of nowhere and scare her out of her wit no matter how used she is to such happenings. not to mention, there were scary ghosts that refused to talk and simply stared at her.

there were two things she's absolutely forbidden to do — sleep like a log or stare at a ghost in the eye for more than 5 seconds. do either of these any she'll be vulnerable to being possessed. there was a valid reason why she couldn't catch a wink and looked sleepy more than half the time.  

she really needed jesus.