All these years,  Christmas has been something like a routine for me. However, this year was different…  On Christmas day, the house was empty for the first time in all those years I existed.

 

My name is Eliza and I am a ghost. It all started when my family and I moved in to this quiet neighbourhood. It was all great and at that point, our lives were taking a good turn. However, one day, when I was returning back home after work, I  had a serious car accident and  wasn’t able to survive. My husband couldn't handle my loss and soon after, committed suicide. Our children knew they had to get through life so as to not let us down. And that's exactly what they did. 23 years after our deaths, them being 37 and 32 years old, they both had job and were starting a family. My husband and I were able to keep an eye on them and protected them at all costs, as we were ghosts. We were so proud of what they had achieved in life. 

 

Christmas was a tradition for the whole family and we had always celebrated it all together. However, when my husband and I passed, our children couldn't find the motivation to celebrate Christmas without us. Many Christmasses after, they thought of organizing a Christmas party and inviting all the neighbours. So they did. They made the invitations and handed them around the neighbourhood.

 

When the day finally came, the day before Christmas, both of our children were really excited and relieved that would finally celebrate after so many years. Time passed and no one had shown up. They were so disappointed and decided to go out for a drink. It wasn't until midnight that they returned, drunk. They thought it would be relaxing for them to light  some candles in the living room and eat pizza. However, both of them passed out after a  while, as a result of drinking so much. That meant that they were not able to  blow out the candles. Soon after, the house caught fire. Fortunately,  they were both able to come to, and escape the house. 

 

The next day, the fire appeared to have been extinguished, despite our children being nowhere to be found. As we could only exist within the walls of our house, meant we were unable to search for them outside. That means that, the day before Christmas day was the day we saw our children for the last time.