"Are you a ghost?"
That was the first thing he asked me when we met ten years ago.
He was a small, precocious child, with beady, black eyes and ruffled hair. He seemed to be the sort of person that liked anything that had to do with the word 'adventure'.
We were standing on an empty bridge in the middle of the night.
And while I was looking out at the distant stars that twinkled above an ocean of still water, he crept up behind me.
When I turned around, I saw his eyes filled with wonder and surprise.
I said something at the time, but I can't remember what it was specifically.
But I do remember one thing clearly.
That dumb kid was lost.
We sat on the edge of the bridge with the glare of the bustling city casting our faces in a dim light.
The bridge was abandoned. It was old and disused and desperately in need of repair.
"Are you haunting this bridge?" He asked.
I smacked him on the head.
His eyes grew big and wide like beaming headlights.
"You hit me!"
"So?"
"You're not a ghost!"
I slapped his face.
But he didn't feel it because my hand passed right through him.
"Oh..." He said wistfully.
I looked down the side of the bridge, hoping someone would come along and steal away this bratty kid.
"I'm lost." He admitted.
"Obviously." I lamented.
"I think you're lost too..."
If I had a heart I'm sure it would have skipped a beat.
"Why don't you come with me?" The bratty kid asked.
"Where to? Do you even know how to get home?"
"I'll find it." He said confidently. "So, how about it? Won't you come home with me?"
"Do I look like a stray cat to you?"
The boy suddenly looked around, as if he was searching for something.
"There's nothing here." He observed.
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"My name is Tomoya. What's yours?"
"Dunno."
"You forgot?"
I smacked him on the head again.
He lapsed into a pensive silence. For a moment I felt guilty, because I thought his brain might have short-circuited. But he suddenly declared, "You need a name!"
"Names are overrated." I replied. "If you want to talk to someone just point at them and shout."
"That's rude. You have to call someone by their name."
"But don't lots of people have the same name?"
"Then just wave at them."
"What if they think you're waving at someone behind them?"
"Umm... then I guess its okay to point at them."
"What if they can't see you?"
"Umm... shouting is still rude."
I looked away.
He was a stubborn kid. And I had a feeling that that would never change.
"How about Hamu?"
I gave him a questioning look, "What made you think of that?"
"I had a ham sandwich for lunch... and I'm really hungry now."
"Ugh... whatever."
A piece of steel wire fell down somewhere in the distance. The din of broken metal echoed loudly across the entire bridge.
"I'm scared." He said.
"Don't be." I reached out to pat his head. "You're not alone."
"Can we go home now?" He pleaded.
I let my eyes roam over the bridge. It was lonely and desolate and yet I knew it had a strange connection to my existence.
Something inside me, made me feel like if I didn't leave at that very moment, I never would.
I glanced at the bratty kid and took him by the hand.
"Looks like my schedule has just cleared up... so where is exactly is your home?"