The next morning, Xian made a special point to watch the broadcast. She knew that the last question hadn’t gone well and she dreaded seeing it on TV. Well, there was nothing to it but to watch. Maybe it wasn’t that bad.

The first questions had gone quite well. The imagery that they used was perfect. They had chosen good music to go with it. The last question came…and she looked terrible. Everyone would have the impression that Xian hated her mother. This was the worst thing that could happen! She was trying to craft an image that would go along with the garden.

But wait, they were still showing her segment. They had rewound to show the last question again. Were they trying to make her look bad? And why were they zooming in past her to the background. Who was that…? Did one of the attendants wander in behind them? And where…where did they go? What were they saying?

Xian rewound so she could watch it again. There was the person again. They walked and then just disappeared. And the news people were saying…what? That it was a ghost! Not only that, but the ghost of her mother?

Her phone rang and she picked it up without thinking? It was someone-someone from some news something wanting to talk to her. She hung up and threw the phone down. This was a nightmare! What was she going to do? The phone rang again. She couldn’t answer it. What if it was more of them? She turned the thing off. Xian ran down to her car and sped off to the open road.

This was the best therapy possible for her. Every curve made her feel more in control. Each hill felt like something she had conquered and put behind her. Even the cars that she passed seemed like opponents she had overcome.

Several hours later she stopped to put gas in her car. While there she decided that she really should call the garden and make certain everything was fine. The phone was busy and she had to call back a few times to get a real live operator. She ran into something she never would have expected. The young lady on the other end didn’t believe it was her!

Xian insisted on talking to the manager on duty. He thought he recognized her but had to confirm by asking her a detailed question about the construction schedule. She was stunned. Why were they treating her with so much distrust? There weren’t many options for her, though. The manager was as high up as she could really go. Xian calmed herself and answered his questions.

He apologized and told her that they had already talked to three reporters who had pretended to be her. The phone lines were jammed with media people and others who wanted to know more about the ghost. The situation had only gotten worse when they couldn’t contact Xian or find her car. There were rumors of suicide.

This was horrible! She had wanted a nice dignified opening to her garden and it had somehow turned into a circus. What could she do about it?

Xian took a deep breath and tried to get everything under control. How had the actual opening gone? Well? Good. Were there any problems at the garden itself? Apparently a news crew had wanted to come in and film but they were kept out. Yesterday had been their day. Today was for peace-seekers.

What could she do to stop the wild speculation? This was outside of her otherwise capable manager’s circle. For this she would have to call someone with better experience at managing public opinion. That sounded like a job for her attorney.

She called his office and was routed to him immediately. He was pleased to see her and wanted to know where she was. She told him she was fine and had just gone for a drive. They both agreed that they needed a way to defuse the situation quickly. Xian would release a statement assuring everyone that she was fine. The ‘ghost’ would need to be addressed but they weren’t quite sure how. After several attempts they went with this:

“I appreciate the concern over my well-being but can assure everyone that I’m just fine. Unexpected business kept me away from the Wind Chime Garden and out of contact by phone. I have seen the video that was taken, with the so-called ghost and don’t know what to think of it. I have never seen a ghost and don’t believe that they exist. As is well known, my family suffered a tragic loss and we would prefer to handle it privately. We would appreciate it if the media and others would respect that wish.”

The statement went out and was covered as breaking news by several all news cable stations. It was relief for some but others had hoped that it was a much bigger story and were almost sad to hear that she was fine. Xian was getting a crash course into media relations and she wasn’t enjoying it one bit.

They had even sought interviews with her family. One reporter went out and found her poor father. The poor man had seen the video and didn’t know what to think. He was off balance and taken advantage of. It was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with Xian and that there was unhappiness over how things were being handled. The reporter asked if she could have faked her mother’s ghost as a publicity stunt. Her father had to think about it before answering that he doubted she would do any such thing.

Xian was humiliated.