Stories of Halloween

The Most Perfect Girl in the World: The Perfect Apple Cider

For all the times he had peeped through the windows, he had never actually stepped foot inside her house. He swiveled his head from side to side taking in all the sights. It smelled very pleasant in there. Like apple cider brewing. Of course it did. She was perfect.

"Okay, Mr. Ghost," she said, "The closet is over here."

Even though he knew exactly where it was he followed her as if he didn't. She opened the closet door and pointed to a large brown box on the top shelf. She pointed at it. "That's the one," she said in her heavenly voice.

He started to reach up and grab it, but his ghostly sheet kept sliding and blocking his vision. "Here, let me get that for you," she said as she slid the sheet off of him.

When the sheet was completely off she looked him over. "Well who would know that there was such a handsome man underneath that spooky old sheet," she said.

He blushed a deep red and grabbed the box off the top of the shelf. She was right to have him grab it. It was very heavy. "If you would just plop it down on my kitchen table that would be fantastic," she said.

He followed her into the kitchen and gently lowered it onto her table. "Thank you so much," she said. "Since you were kind enough to help a girl out," she continued, "could I offer you a cup of warm apple cider?"

He looked at her stove. A pan full of apple cider was brewing and steaming. The smell was intoxicating. He nodded. "Y.. yuh... yes," he replied. "That would be delightful."

"Great," she said through a beaming smile. She opened up a cabinet and pulled out two mugs. She walked over to the steaming cider and used a ladle to fill them both up. Then she opened up a small ceramic canister that was sitting next to it. "My grandmother," she said merrily, "always told me that the secret to any good cider is a pinch of brown sugar."

She took a tiny pinch of the brown sugar that was in the ceramic container and put one in each of the ciders. Then she opened a glass jar and put a cinnamon stick in both mugs and gave them a small stir. She handed him the mug and smiled her infectious smile at him. He had no choice but to return the grin. It was too wonderful of a smile to not return.

The mug was brown with a tan stripe at the top and the bottom. "I... I have this exact same cup," he told her with a smile. It was another sign that they were meant to be together.

"Are you a Bed, Bath & Beyonder as well?" she asked in a playful voice.

He nodded and took a drink of his hot cider. It was as delicious as he imagined it would be. "This is wonderful," he said. "Thank you so much for it."

"No," she replied, "thank you for being kind enough to help a girl out. Not many people would go out of their way to come into a stranger 's home just to help them pull down a box that was too heavy for them."

"We have to do what we can," he said. As the warmth of the cider spread through his body he was becoming more relaxed around her. He wasn't even afraid to speak to her that time.

That was a huge step for him. Since he was a small child he hadn't been able to speak to girls without fumbling for words. It was embarrassing and it was a big part of why he had been alone for so long. But she was perfect and maybe some of her perfection was spreading onto him. That would be miraculous and wonderful.

After taking another sip of his cider, he noticed that the mug he was holding had a small chip at the bottom just like the one he had at home. He has set it down on his counter too hard and it had chipped a small speck off of it. It must be a flaw in the design he thought to himself. This was yet another sign that the universe was throwing at them telling them that it was their fate to be together.