Getting Ghosted by a Ghost
It was Ghost Month in Taiwan and I was wondering enjoying Taipei. I got ahead of myself let me start over. I have been unsure of myself for months. Most guys know about a thing in the mid-twenties where they have a big breakup that shakes up their life. We guys don’t talk about it. Some musicians night write songs about it. I got up and left. I emptied out my dorm and went to the first place I could book online. Taipei, Taiwan.
I didn’t know anything about Taiwan. I tried learning Taiwanese until I found out Mandarin Chinese was the main language. I read there are no red-light districts but girls sell bethel nuts in bikinis. Taiwan has an army and a president but is generally not recognized as a country. As a foreigner I stuck out but I was able to get a job as an English teacher. Here I didn’t need a degree, just my American accent.
So back to ghost month. It all began with the whispers of my friends, cautioning me that Ghost Month wasn’t a time for exploration. Ghost month was a tine to avoid the attractions of ghosts, especially hungry ghosts. This is a concept where a soul died in a stay of an extreme emotional energy it would seek out revenge upon the living. The Chinese would not understand American Halloween. So I’m out by myself living up the exoticness of what the city has to offer. I buy some street food and pick up some ghost money. The merchant makes me explain what it is before I buy it; I think it was to make sure I’m not disrespectful. But I see fake money with a demon on it saying, “One Hell note”, I have to buy it.
Then I bumped in to her. In Taiwan they have McDonald Goddesses. Let me explain again. Many girls will wake up at 4 AM to put on make and work fast food places. Men would come from all around to glance at the beauty. So I asked her, “I didn’t know people cosplay as McDonald’s girls.”
She said back playfully, “Did you want a shake with that?”
I responded back “Don’t worry I won’t eat your Tofu.”
She laughed and said, “Tell me about yourself, besides the fact that you are definitely was a not a vegetarian.”
I found my self in the smoggy air walking back in a foreign street with a beautiful girl. I decided to let someone know about me. I told her I didn’t why I ended up here in Taiwan. I didn’t expect a technological country to have so much litter. I wasn’t expecting the tropical weather, but I really needed to escape from a bad break up. I’m glad I did. As I walked her back home looked an a tea house. I gave her the ghost money I had and said, “now you’re rich.”
“I’ll treasure it always. I’ll always remember you.”
She said that but I never saw her again. But I got her number just before she left. I told my friends in Taipei. “No way, you had a McDonalds Goddess and you let her get away.” I realize at that moment that what I was looking for in Taiwan was not there anymore. I learned the language and culture and I got burned out by loud kids who just didn’t care about learning English. I called the Goddess’ number a few times but never got a response.
I decided to go back to the house for one last try. I thought I followed the familiar path. Besides I was just a friend, she wouldn’t care if I came unannounced. But I couldn’t find it. It was unique in that it looked like the older tea houses, probably introduced during Japanese colonization. I see the large field but I can’t find the house.
I asked a neighbor and he said, “How long have you been in Taiwan? That old tea house burned down a ten years ago.”
I was just here the other day don’t you know the McDonald Goddess, maybe I have the wrong neighborhood.”
He looked directly in my eye and said, “How are you still alive?”
“What are you talking about?”
“There was a pregnant woman who was abandoned by her boyfriend. He fled to American to avoid marriage and responsibility for the her and her kid. She worked at McDonalds but was fired. They didn’t want the notoriety of an unmarried pregnant woman working there. She died in a fire and no one had ever rebuilt the old house.”
“She’s a hungry Ghost?”
He said,” Yes,” with fear resonating in his answer. “She tries to find men especially ones who pick up on women to punish them.”
I told him what had a happened and he said, “You don’t know how lucky you are. When you gave her the money, it appeased her. She gave you a chance.”
I think of the time in Taiwan a lot. I moved on and finished school. I got a good job and have and a fiancé. But sometimes I get a call from her number. It always hangs up before I can answer. I wonder what happens when she returns my visit.