One Hella Lucky Goddess

"That's definitely dumplings," I said dreamily. "And pork buns, and even shrimp wonton—-"

"Saoirse!" The eight-year-old ghost scowled up at me. "This is not the time to think about food!" She gestured to the busy scene around us. "Can't you feel how weird this place is?"

"Weird how?" I looked around and did my best to get a sense of any kind of weirdness, but the irresistible smell of shrimp wonton noodles kept getting in the way, and dear God, I was getting really, really hungry.

"People seem to be looking at me—-"

My brows shot up. "Whoa there." I wagged a lecturing finger at Mary Priscilla. "Somebody certainly needs an ego check."

"But—-"

"You're way cuter than Sofia the First, I'll grant you that—-"

"I don't even know who Sofia the First is!"

"But I think you've forgotten one thing. You're a ghost, and so no one can actually—-"

"Sssssh!"

Chapter Five

An old woman suddenly thrust her face between Mary Priscilla and me, and we stared at her in shock. She had her white hair neatly tied back, and she was dressed in a staid-looking blouse and a shapeless black skirt that fell all the way to her ankles. Just your regular grandmother walking down a street, really...as long as you discounted the fact that she was glaring at the brat and me like lecturing ghosts was part of her everyday routine.

She nodded towards the temple gates, asking reproachfully, "Have you no manners? It is disrespectful to fight before the gods." She clucked her tongue at us and shook her head admonishingly. "You shall never be reincarnated if you persist with such rudeness."

It was only when the old woman floated off with a loud harrumph that Mary Priscilla and I slowly turned to each other—-

"Did that just happen?" I asked faintly.

"I t-think so."

Both of us looked around us again, and this time it was like seeing the whole town with new eyes.

Ghosts, I thought incredulously. Everyone in this magical Chinatown was a ghost, and oh my God, wasn't that the coolest thing ever?

I turned to Mary Priscilla, and one look at my face had the girl shaking her head like a crotchety granny stuck in a young girl's body.

"Why are you looking like you think this is a good thing?" she wailed.

"Because it is?"

"Saoirse!"

"Mary Priscilla!" I couldn't help mimicking her indignant tone even though I knew it was going to make me sound childish again. But it was honestly appalling, how utterly unenthusiastic the kid was about this place. A magical Chinatown, for heaven's sake! How could she not find that exciting?

Times like this, it just made me wonder if we hadn't accidentally swapped souls, and I was meant to be the eight year old between us. "Don't you have even the tiniest sense of adventure? This is a ghost town—-"

"You're kidding me, right?" Mary Priscilla floated up to stare into my eyes as if desperately needing to gauge my level of seriousness. "A town full of ghosts is not the definition of a ghost town—-"

"Oh, pooh. Potato, po-tah-to—-"

Mary Priscilla rolled her eyes. "That's not even how British people pronounce potato—-"

"You're missing the point," I retorted, "and you know it. So won't you just lighten up a little?"

"Aren't you even the slightest bit suspicious?" Mary Priscilla asked darkly. "An entire town popping out of nowhere, and that doesn't make you think something weird could be going on?"

"I used to be a human being who could see ghosts," I reminded her tartly, "and I'm now a goddess. Is there anything about my life that's not weird?" I could see Mary Priscilla starting to waver, and I pounced on this, adding emphatically, "There's absolutely nothing to worry about, and you know it.

This is a town full of ghosts, and since I'm LOTUS, none of them can hurt me."

"I guess." Mary Priscilla's tone was grudging, and I didn't hesitate to pounce on this even more.

"Five minutes then," I bargained. "We're not doing fifteen but just five minutes. Let's just take a quick look, and then we leave. Do we have a new deal?"

Several moments passed, and then the eight-year-old ghost finally sighed like she was the mature adult between us. Quite insulting really, but since I did manage to get my way...

Mary Priscilla and I started floating down the road, and it was rather delightful to have everyone nod and smile at us like being in a Chinatown full of ghosts was completely natural.

When we turned to the next block, an even busier-looking night market greeted us, and it was then I spotted something shiny and sparkling.

A silver coin seemed to be winking at me from the edge of the road, and I had a hard time taking my gaze off it. A part of me was just waiting for some other ghost to pick it up, but all the other specters simply glided and floated past like the shiny little thing was invisible.