(A ghost story for my daughter)
Holidays! Without any school to complain about or make the afternoon feel more exciting, Nancy was so bored she could scream. Her insides itched with frustration. What could she do? All her DVDs were the same DVDs she watched yesterday and the day before, and the day before that. Her books? Well, she had read most of them, and the ones she hadn't yet read were the books she would read later. She thought for a moment about writing a book report or updating her blog.
“No,” she told herself. “Those are another day things, not today things.”
Daddy wasn't any help. He was behind the computer, working, grumbling to himself and the screen. Mummy lay on the sofa, deep in sleep. The video series they started to watch together sent Mummy straight off to dreamland. Nancy wasn't the only one bored with movies. Why couldn't the Joker chase Batman for once?
She wandered out into the garden. It was hot. Her dog, Buggy, was asleep. Only his ears were awake. They flicked away the flies, then flicked away more flies.
Nancy wondered if she could make her ears chase flies away as well, tried for a moment and gave up. Mummy and Daddy might be impressed if she could, and so might her friends, but it seemed like an awful lot of work. Besides, her ears were too short so the flies would use them as a playground ride. Nancy brushed both her ears to make sure that the flies didn't get any funny ideas.
She ran inside.
“Daddy, I'm going to see if Roger will play with me.”
“OK, but don't go further than the playground. And make sure you stay near the road where adults can see you.”
Nancy sighed. It was the same thing Daddy told her every time she went out. Couldn't he say something different for once? Like don't hide the magic locket where the evil witch will find it. Or only fight pirates who are wicked.
“And stay away from strangers,” Daddy called after her.
The road was hot and shiny. She skipped around patches of weeds, climbed a mini mountain of building sand, then wished she hadn't. At Roger's gate, she stopped, pulled off her shoes and shook out the part of the mountain that came along with her.
Roger's mum didn't wait for her to ask.
“He's not here, Sweety. He's gone to his Granny for the day.”
“Thank you, Mrs Jones. Will he be here tomorrow?”
“Come after lunch. If he has finished cleaning his room, you can play.”
Nancy ran on towards the playground, feeling a bit miserable. Roger was good at playing pirates, even if he wasn't very good at playing Prince and Princess.
The playground was empty as well. Just Nancy's luck! She sat on the swings wondering what to do? Should she go home and write a poem? A story? Or pretend to be a princess on her own?
Nancy felt a prickling on her skin and looked up. Blue skies and sunny. Sunburn could be bad, even in the afternoon. She wished she had put sunscreen on before she left. She remembered how dizzy and sick she felt the last time, and moved into the shade of the big tree.
“Hello,” a voice said to her.
Nancy jumped into the air and out of her skin.
“Who are you? Where are you?”
A thin girl stepped out from behind the trunk of the tree.
“Sorry to scare you. People often get a shock when they see me. My name is Lily.”
“Hello, Lily.” Nancy smiled from ear to ear. Perhaps this afternoon would not be boring after all. “My name is Nancy. Do you want to play?”
Lily smiled back and brushed a strand of black hair behind her ear. ““The sun is still burny hot. Can we stay here in the shade?”
Nancy sat down on the ground. She was secretly glad that Lily wanted to stay under the tree. By now Roger would have been pretend killing pretend aliens or running so fast even Sonic would have trouble catching up.
“That's fine with me? Do you like movies?”
Lily frowned.
“I don't watch movies. Not where I come from. But I've heard about them.”
“Where do you live?”
“At the old church.”
Nancy was a bit surprised. She and her mum passed the old church every day, but she never thought anyone lived there.
“Do you want me to tell you about the movies I've seen?” she asked Lily.
“That would be nice,” said Lily, and sat down as well.
Nancy felt a wave of cool air pass over her.
“Did you feel that?” she asked.
“It's just me,” said Lily. “I'm very cool.”
Nancy giggled. Lily giggled as well.
They talked and talked and talked. After Nancy finished telling Lily about the movies she had seen and the ones she could hardly wait to see, Lily told her about how she used to ride horses, and how she used to go to school in a cart. Nancy was a bit surprised by that.
“When was that?” she asked.
“Oh, a long time ago,” Lily told her, “But it's all different now. ”
As the sun began to sink and shadows spread over the ground, Nancy realised that her Mum and Dad would start worrying about her soon.
“I have to go just now. Can I walk you back to the church?”
“That would be nice, but only part of the way.” Lily paused and a frown crossed her brow. Then she smiled again. “Half way. Because you don't want to get home too late.”
As they walked, Nancy looked at her new friend and noticed something strange.
She doesn't walk like me, Nancy thought. Her feet don't seem to reach the ground and her knees don't move.
Then she noticed that Lily didn't cast a shadow either.
“How long have you lived at the church, Lily?”
“Longer than I can remember.”
Nancy could tell by the look on Lily's face that it was the wrong question to ask.
“I have to go now, Nancy, and so must you.”
Nancy looked at Lily.
“Go on Nancy,” Lily told her gently but firmly.
Nancy didn't argue but as she walked away she looked back over her shoulder. Lily was nowhere to be seen.
She was glad to get home, to be back with Mummy, Daddy and Buggy.
“Daddy, who lives at the old church?” she asked.
“Nobody, as far as I know.” He thought for a bit, scratched his head. “I think there is a man who goes to look after it. And the graveyard. But nobody lives there.”
Nancy shivered.
“Daddy, can I ask you something else? When did people go to school in carts.”
“What a funny question. A long, long time ago. Even your Grandad went to school in a car.”
“Daddy, do you believe in ghosts?”
“I've heard about them, but I have never seen one.”
“If there were ghosts, do you think they could be friends with us?”
“I suppose so,” her father said. “I've heard lots about scary ghosts, but I think that even ghosts would be happy to have friends. Maybe they get lonely.”
That night, Nancy lay awake, smiled to herself and came up with a scheme.
The next afternoon she didn't stop at Roger's house, but ran straight to the playground and sat under the tree.
“Lily? Lily? Are you there?”
The only answer she got was the wind rattling the branches. After a while she got up and walked to the old church. It wasn't hard to get in.
It was dusty inside, and warm,
“Lily,” she called. “Lily, are you there?”
A couple of pigeons, startled by the noise, flapped around and flew out through the top of the bell tower.
Nancy dusted off one of the old benches with her hand, pulled out her mobile and sat down.
“Lily, I have something to show you.”
As she looked down to find the movies that her father had copied from her DVDs to her phone, she felt a wave of coolness next to her.
“I'm glad you came, Lily,” she said, looking up at the pale girl with the long black hair who suddenly sat and smiled beside her.
“I've got something I think you will enjoy. Let's watch a movie. What would you prefer? Princesses, pirates or dragons?”
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