A Ghost's Love

I felt the winter sun’s bright embrace on my face, I wriggled around to cover my toes and snuggled my face into my pillow, unwilling to open my eyes. I heard the door creak open and a loud ‘MEOW!’. There was a thump as a rather plump cat jumped onto my bed. I felt a whiskered face tickle my cheeks and a scratchy tongue lick my ears. I pulled my covers a little higher, I didn’t want to wake up, yet. ‘MEOOOOW!’, though I didn’t really have a choice. I got up and pulled on a robe and bade good morning to a fat, ginger cat that was rubbing against my leg, demanding for food. I gave her a scoop of food and stroked her silky coat,

“It’s going to be a long day today, Adele.” I told the cat as she carelessly munched away. I walked outside. The people of Fordwich didn’t notice me, as usual. I was invisible to them. So far, only Adele could see and hear me. Mrs. Rocco could hear me, but she couldn’t see me. yet. I bet she thinks my voice was a mirage. She was there when it happened. She was a part of the quietly chatting audience that filled my ears as I looked at the coarse, steely rope in front of me. Though, then, it looked like embroidery floss. The hundred foot drop below me looked like a hundred thousand instead. I had taken a long, deep breath, ‘I’ve trained for this,’ I had told myself. I picked up a foot and set it on the rope. It made a mighty swerve. The audience then fell into the silence of the night. Everyone seemed to hold their breath. I whispered my first and last silent prayer and set my other foot on the rope; another swerve. Then, the end began. I felt my feet leave the rope, my hand hopelessly brush against the platform and the wind along my sides. Then everything went blank and dark and cold. I shuddered at the memory of my death. Sometimes, it felt like an improvement, being a ghost. My favourite was flying. I flew almost every night. All over Fordwich, sometimes all the way to Herne Bay. Although nothing was perfect. Along with the rest of the human population of Earth, Amelia Harriot could not see me. I felt Adele against my leg, I looked down and she rolled off to Mrs. Rocco’s house. I went back inside the house and changed. If everything worked right today, Amelia would see me. And I didn’t want her to see me in a bathrobe. I put on something that was casual but not too casual, me being me, I didn’t know what it was called. I slipped a piece of paper into a pocket and carefully avoided people on my way to Amelia’s house, the living did not like ghosts. I remember reading ghost stories when I was alive and thinking they were horrid, nasty creatures. Though, now, as a ghost, I’ve realised how very wrong I was. I saw Amelia’s house loom into view. My legs melted and my frozen heart seemed to beat. She was tending her garden, planting a rose. I flew over and picked up the watering can and watered it for her. She turned around with wide eyes, she would be seeing a floating watering can. She scrambled backwards and ran into her house. I heard two locks click. I smiled, step one completed. I flew through her door and saw her bundled in a blanket shivering and her face almost as white as me. I turned on her television and put in a tape of a circus performance. And skipped to the tightrope dancer’s time. My performance.

When it was over, I turned the television off. I looked at Amelia, there was a tear in her eye. She wiped it away and looked around. I pulled the paper out of my pocket, it was a note that read ‘Stay calm, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s me, C.J. I wanted to see you one last time.’. I dropped it in Amelia’s lap. She read it and her fingers clenched around the note and her eyes teared up. Then she looked around again. I felt her looking at me straight into my eyes. She got up and paced towards me. She stretched out her hand. I took a step back, I smiled and shook my head. Then I disappeared in a puff of smoke. Everything went blank once more, but now, everything was bright and warm.