The Ghost Behind the Door

The ghost behind the door lingered and wanted to be seen. 
He hid in the darkness of the night and straddled daylight at times.
He regarded the cup of tea that was left out absent and cold.
He counted the footsteps from the front door toward the bedroom.

Not at once did he spend his time trying to devise a plan to stand forth in full frontal view.
However, it was his favorite pastime. 
The ghost behind the door lived for the woman who resided in his home.
She was the reason why he dared not frighten her.

She was a sad human being. 
She slept far too much and at times he thought her curls were excessively wild. 
But he adored her. 
He adored her strength when she would pull herself together after days of crying.

She was not like the others and she knew of his existence.
Yet she did not banish him as she had done to so many others.
She let him be the owner of the space behind the door.
And on occasion she watched him peer into the specs of the last remaining minutes of daylight.

The ghost behind the door kept her secrets safe.
And he wished he could banish her fears.
He wished he could tell her that the man that broke her heart was not worth a second thought. 
But he could only step out at 3 AM and brush her mess of curls back from her face as she slept.

And even though they both knew of their presence neither dared to make a formal appearance. 
Little did he know that she did not come forward in fear of him leaving as they all do. 
As for him, he didn’t want to scare her into oblivion after knowing how fragile her heart was. 
So, they simply coexisted.

The ghost behind the door always waiting for the right moment, a moment that may never come…and many came to believe this perhaps was his hell.
But instead, it was his heaven.

For those who listen between the lines.
Elaine Degro