Most people think ghosts only come out at night. They'd be wrong. 

A kid tripped along the path, about five years old, chasing a chipmunk. Nobody called out for him to stop or be careful. Indeed, no one in the park seemed to notice the behavior in the slightest. 

A twelve-year-old kicked a soccer ball at the net as hard as she could, and it arced above people's heads, and then away. If she cared that somewhere in between it got lost in the sunshine, disappearing altogether, she didn't comment on it. 

Instead, a new one appeared at her feet. 

Adults streamed by, parents with strollers, couples strolling, runners and bikers whizzing past. No one even glanced at the soccer net. 

"Can I play?" a voice piped up from her left. 

The girl started, her face finally showing some expression other than a focused determination. "What?"

The five-year old, who'd finally stopped chasing the chipmunk, looked up at her and smiled. "I love playing soccer! I play with my dad all the time."

The older one looked at him for a moment, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, closed it again, then asked, "What's your name?"

"Luca. What's yours?"

"Samy," she said. Then she stepped back from the ball. What are the chances, she thought, there's another kid like me here. "You wanna try?"

Luca nodded enthusiastically. The ball sat there patiently, then, as he went to kick it, shrunk just slightly so it was his size. Then he kicked it a few feet, ran up to it, and kicked it again, so it rolled into the net.

It disappeared.

"Where'd it go?" he asked.

Samy shrugged. "It just does that. But there's always a new one. Yeah, there." She pointed a few feet back, where a new one had spawned and sat waiting patiently.

"My ma always says I'm losing soccer balls in the woods," Luca says, coming up behind her as she went to dribble the ball. "I told her they went off themselves, but she didn't get it."

Samy nodded seriously. "They do that."

"Can you walk me home? I'm supposed to be home for dinner."

"Where do you live?" Sammy asked.

"Cedar Street. It's not too far, I can practically see it from here!"

"Sure, let's go." Samy held out her hand, and Luca took it, skipping along as they joined the rest of the people on the path. 

"Ooh, look at that tree, it's so pretty. The leaves are so red." Luca reached out to pick up a bright red maple leaf suddenly. A stroller passed right through him. When he stood up, brandishing the leaf in front of him, he hadn't seemed to notice. 

A little girl holding her mom's hand, looked, eyes wide, at the leaf. "Mom, mom, look, the wind's holding the leaf still."

"That's great, honey."

The little girl reached out to touch it.

Luca held it out to her. "You can take it," he said.

She grabbed it without a word, looking at it in awe. "It's a magic leaf," she whispered.

"Well, I just found it on the ground." Luca looked abashed.

Samy held in a laugh. "C'mon, let's get you home."

It was the prettiest day yet this fall, which was probably why they were out here, if Samy was being honest. Sometimes she forgot where she'd been. Where she was. How she'd gotten there. But here there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the trees burned red and orange and yellow, the breeze kicked the leaves off the trees, swirling them along the gravel path. 

"You're lucky to live so close to the park," Samy said. "It's the prettiest one here."

"I know! My mommy takes me here all the time!" He bounced up and down with each word. "Maybe you can come with me and her sometime!"

Samy smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to."

-

Samy walked away from the little boy's house, taking in all the sights and sounds around her. She didn't know if she'd be in this part of the world tomorrow. Or the next. 

Luca had faded into his door, but whether he'd made it inside or not, she didn't know.

So instead, she picked a random direction. Clouds had begun to form, so that darkness started to fall prematurely over the street. Samy didn't know if she could shiver, but she crossed her arms over her chest anyway. 

She sighed and her mind wandered to school.

Millie and Raya had been fighting. Something stupid, it was fuzzy now, but she remembered it was funny. Funny for her. Not funny for them.

"I know she went to that party," Maya would mutter to her. "My mom told me her mom told her she got grounded over it."

"Probably kissed Jona too," Samy had snickered. "Bet her mom doesn't know about that."

Maya had swatted her arm. "This isn't funny. She knows I have a crush on him."

Samy smiled now. How long ago had that been? Did they miss her? Were they still alive?

She'd gotten used to the wandering now, but the questions still bothered her sometimes. And the loneliness. She didn't think kids were supposed to be left completely alone at age twelve.

"Samy?" a voice piped up quietly. 

She spun around, heart pounding, to see the small five-year-old. "Luca? Oh my god, you scared me."

"Can I come with you?" he asked, fidgeting with his hands. He looked down at the sidewalk. "My parents weren't home. It was dark."

Samy blinked at him for a second. Come with her? She was still processing the idea of other ghosts. Somehow, she hadn't run into any so far. Then, she grinned. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be awesome."

Luca beamed. 

Then he ran up to her and gave her the biggest hug he possibly could. After a moment, she squeezed him back. "Thank you," he said. "It was so dark."

Samy squeezed harder. "Of course." 

He let go. "Where are we going?"

Samy shrugged. "I don't know. It's an adventure."

"I love adventures!" Luca skipped on down the sidewalk, Samy walking faster to catch up with him. 

Rain started to fall, dampening the leaves. The pitter-patter of the droplets coming down was soothing when they couldn't really get wet.

When she caught up to him, he held his hand up. She took it.

The rain continued to pour, and if anyone had been able to see them, they would've noticed the pair fade, washed out by the rain, until eventually, they just weren't there anymore.

Most people think ghosts only come out at night. But if they watched these two, they'd know they were wrong.