Always a pleasure to write!

Katie couldn't believe how bad her luck was.

It started with her washing machine breaking down in the morning, then she found out that her cat tore all the curtains, then she found her favorite cafe closed for renovations. And now she is stuck in nowhere.

She was on her way home from her job at the 'Moon' Hotel at 'Bone 206' Street when her car began to sputter. At first she thought she was just imagining it, but when smoke started coming out of her engine, she felt pulling over would be a smart decision.

She was stuck in the middle of an empty road, next to a tall, dark forest. She wanted to order a tow truck, but her bad luck only continued when she had no phone reception.

"This is the last time I skimp on the internet." She kicked a rock in frustration and pulled out a map of the area. "Who would have thought I would use it." she said and blew on the dust that covered the map. "Let's see." She ran a finger along and after a minute of searching she found herself. And not far from there is a gas station.

The gas station was a ten minute walk away. The only problem is that the walk will be through the forest. She cast a strained look into the interior of the dark forest. She thought of walking along the road to the gas station, but the walk was immediately long and it would take her an hour to get there. Katie is lucky that her laziness is stronger than her fear.

She walked with trembling legs and a phone flashlight in the darkness of the forest. "I should have brought a coat." she grumbled to herself. An owl's voice replied in agreement. After a few minutes she reached a clearing.

The soil of the clearing was plowed and rotten and smelled sickeningly of sulphur. The land was surrounded by a simple and slightly ruined stone fence and statues of old men and women were placed almost randomly. But the thing that bothered Katie the most were the tombstones that were there.

"graveyard." Katie said quietly. She could see a faint light just past the cemetery and knew she was close to the gas station. She also thought of turning back, but then her phone went off. The battery is dead. "come on."

So Katie went into the graveyard. She walked slowly along the graveyard, using the moonlight to guide her and jumping at every little noise. "To hell with my bad luck." Katie grumbled. "I'm never lucky. Something screwed up always has to ruin my day. I should have stayed in Scotland. It feels like my life is a book with a sadistic writer who just wants me to suffer."

"You need to be more positive." A voice said below her.

Katie froze in place and slowly looked down at the source of the voice. And there, a meter below her in an open grave in the ground, a skeleton waved at her with cards in his hands.

Katie screamed in fear. The skeleton dropped the cards and covered his ears in misery. After two minutes of Katie screaming, she finally stopped.

The skeleton glanced at her. "Now that you're done..." Katie screamed once more. After several times of the skeleton trying to speak and Katie screaming each time, she clutched her throat uncomfortably.

"How can a human being scream so much?" The skeleton said in confusion.

But Katie just looked at him with a tense look. "What... what are you?"

The skeleton gave himself a quick glance. "I'm a living skeleton, as you see."

"how?!"

"I'm originally from Ohio."

Katie wasn't sure why, but somehow that answer made sense to her. "But how is that possible?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself." The skeleton shrugged. "One moment I was playing Pac-Man in the arcade machine, the next I found myself here. Do you have a name my dear?"

Katie looked at him for a few seconds. "Katie Fraser."

"Leonardo Evelyn Fabrizio Evans. You can call me Kobe."

Katie frowned in confusion. "But... how does this have anything to do with Kobe?"

"I really like Kobe Bryant. By the way is he still playing?"

"Kobe Bryant died two years ago."

"Kobe Bryant is dead?!" Kobe held her shoulders. "No!" He screamed into the sky for the next two minutes.

And so Katie found herself sitting next to a statue of an old man with a walking stick, comforting an undead skeleton who happened to be a devout Lakers fan.

​

Part 2 is coming soon.