The Lonely Ghost

The Lonely Ghost

“I want to do a story-telling contest!”

Lulu, the White Sheet ghost, was excited. She just finished reading parts of the Canterbury Tales, and was heavily influenced by the stories told. She had already gathered her friends and exclaimed this point to them.

“If you want to tell stories, then go tell them to some of your other friends. I’m not in the mood.”

“Eh… but I’m already in your house, we might as well go along with it!”

Ryan was furious for whatever reason, and had no desire to fool around. The fact that Lulu barged into his house while dragging two other familiar companions did not make his attitude any better.

Ryan was a normal 14 year old boy with short brown hair, and an average height for his age. He wasn’t the most well built, but not skinny either. The best way to describe him is that he’s average. Like any person, he likes to go out with friends and hang out, but on this day, he just doesn’t seem to be the most happy. Lulu, one of Ryan’s friends, was a girl who wore a large white sheet over her head. She reasons that she’s incredibly embarrassed if people saw her real appearance. Though people can mistake her for a normal person wearing tablecloth, the reality is that she has some very ghost-like qualities. She doesn’t need to eat to survive, can turn invisible, and pass through walls as well.

Right now, she was holding two other not-so-normal people by their collars, One is a girl named Roselle who appears to have a very calm and composed aura. The truth is that she is a real witch with a large-pointy hat, and a gothic-lolita style outfit. She is much crueler, and more foul mouthed than what her beautiful appearance shows. Her emotions rarely come up on her face, but just from the pure bloodlust she gave off, it was easy to tell that she was very irritated. The one panicking next to her was a kid with a fluffy tail, and animal ears on his head. His name was Kevin, a Werewolf. Though he is supposed to be a beast and a monster, he is easy to scare and is overall a nervous wreck. He wore oversized pants and shirt, which made him look really goofy, and more childlike than he already is. Despite his appearance, he is actually the same age as Ryan.

“D-d-do you mind t-telling me why I must take part in this contest.?”

“I was in the middle of placing a curse on someone, until you so rudely interrupted me and brought me to this human’s house. Now you expect me to join in your little ‘game’?” Both were also in a mood worse than their usual, and didn’t like the actions Lulu had taken.

“Aw… Come on! It’ll be fun! I’ve got a great story that’ll make you all turn your frowns, upside down!”

Ryan recalled how stubborn Lulu could be. He decided that it would be easier to give in now, than to fight against her persistent personality.

“Let’s just go along with her. It’s not like it’ll kill us if we listen to her speak. Let’s finish this sooner than later.”

It’s better to go with the flow than against it is what Ryan was trying to tell the others. Kevin and Roselle seemed to have gotten the point behind his words, and hesitantly agreed to let the ghost tell her tale.

“You’ll definitely enjoy this story!”

Like this, the cloth covered girl began her narration.

---

Once there was a village which resided in the middle of a large forest. This little village had not only humans, but monsters as well. From cyclops to Lamias, even Vampires and Werewolves, they all lived happily with the humans, or at least, most of them did. There was one being that did not live a happy life; a young and beautiful ghost. This ghost had lived in the small town for many years, but not once had she been approached, mentioned, or noticed. She lived a very lonely life as a being who could not be seen. Suffering from sadness, the ghost decided to cause mischief in the village. She had done all sorts of things with her ghostly powers, such as breaking tableware, ruining farmer crops, and even starting large fires. She felt relieved with every bad deed, but the lonesome feeling still existed somewhere within her.

One day, while casually floating through the village, she overhears a crowd talking about a small sculpture that a young exorcist made.

“What a beautiful sculpture! The boy who made this must be a genius!”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he got his own castle if he ever sold this thing.”

Everyone had made a fuss over such a little object. This hurt the ghost, as she thought that something as small and insignificant as a statue was able to win more attention than her very existence.

“Why does it have to be like this? To think that a piece of rock would overshadow my own presence, my own life!”

She lamented as she is reminded of her position in the village. She cried, but was unable to shed tears because she was a ghost. By the time the crowd dispersed, her despair turned into fury. She wanted to do something, anything, to get revenge against the people who completely ignored her.

“I’ll destroy this statue! If everyone is dazzled by it now, I’m sure they’ll be incredibly hurt if they found their ‘Oh so beloved’ statue ruined!”

And that’s what she did. She used her supernatural strength to make the sculpture crumble, and turn to dust. Unfortunately, she still felt incredibly unsatisfied and wanted to cause more chaos. Blinded by her rage, she went off to find more souls to potentially harm, physically, or emotionally.

She decided to approach a witch hut located at the edge of the village. When the spirit took a peek inside, she spotted an old-looking witch stirring a ladle in a large pot. On observing the entire room, she concluded that the witches hut was a large kitchen, as she spotted raw ingredients along with cooking utensils on the tables. The witch then begins to audibly review her task.

“I need to quickly complete this soup, for my granddaughter is sick! Every second I waste, is a second of pain for my beloved grandchild.”

The merciless and cruel spirit decided that this witch would be the next target to suffer. From the outside, the ghost begins to chant an incantation. Everything inside the hut starts to shake. The hag, confused, stopped cooking to take a look at the equipment. Right when she was about to inspect a frying pan, everything within the hut started flying, and attacked the witch! Howls of pain could be heard as the helpless witch is mercilessly beaten down. These sounds pleased the ghost, but she was still left unhappy with the results, and she didn’t know why. As such, she decided to leave, hoping to find more people to terrorize.

The next thing she spotted was a party for a very young werewolf. It appeared that the wolf was celebrating his birthday with fellow humans and monsters. What better way is there to cause misery and agony than to completely ruin this special occasion for the young beast, is what the phantom thought. So she waited for the right time to commit the terrible deed.

As she waited, the party progressed. They sang songs, happily chatted with each other, and played many different games. Finally, they pulled out the main dessert, a large cake. The werewolf was excited to see such a large and delicious-looking cake. Sadly, he would not get to taste the sweet goodness that was right before his eyes. The evil spirit, once again, used her powers for evil, and turned the cake into a pile of dust. There was a long moment of silence. No one could believe that where once stood pastry, now lied soot. The children began wailing, while the adults began cursing to some unknown, or unrecognized, existence.

The ghost, finally free from rage, decided that she had done enough for the day. Although she did everything she wanted to do, she still had a feeling of emptiness. Despite the amount of disorder she caused, she was still an unrecognized being. Emotions of loneliness and depression swelled.

“Why am I sad? I did everything that I wanted to do, and yet I still feel gloomy. Is it because there is nothing that will satisfy me?”

The phantom was distressed. Though she did feel moments of pleasure, not once did she feel a lasting happiness. Anxiety starts to build as she wonders if she will ever find true joy. Under her emotional stress, she chose to run off into the forest.

The ghost, under all sorts of mental pressure, had no way of noticing that she was seen by someone, the young werewolf. Since the cake had been disintegrated, the young beast had been staring at the specter. Why did you do this to me? This was the only question that he wanted to ask, but before he could, the ghost left. As saddened as he was for his special day to be ruined, the wolf concluded that he should find out the reason why she was causing all sorts of trouble.

As he ran in the direction the ghost left towards, he happened to pass by a young exorcist.

“How is my sculpture a pile of dust? Why… why did this have to happen to me?”

The man was dejected. He just woke up from his afternoon sleep, only to find that the effort he put into shaping the rock had been reduced to ashes.

The Werewolf assumed that the ghost was responsible for this turn of events.

“Hey, I know who broke your statue.” said the beast. “She went in that direction, over there.”

The exorcist looked in the direction he pointed in, and saw the faint figure of a ghost much farther ahead. The desire for revenge grew within him. Without another moment of hesitation, he ran towards the fading figure, roaring in anger. The Werewolf followed closely behind.

The exorcist and werewolf stopped running somewhere in the woods. They had lost sight of the figure, and didn’t know where to go from there. The wolf, still being very young, was incredibly frightened, while the exorcist attempted to comfort him. Right before the child was about to start balling, the old witch appeared from behind, calling out to them.

“I saw a girl moving to the left from here. Are you two, perhaps, looking for this girl too?”

The old woman was also following the mischievous being, and happened to find the two lost in the woods.

“Yes we are. I assume that she’s done something to you as well?” The exorcist answered nonchalantly, but it was clear that he was still very angry from the tone of his voice.

The witch nods as she walks ahead of the two, leading the way to the ghost girl. While walking, the three share their experiences with the being.

“What’s wrong with this girl? First my statue, then the Witch’s beating, and finally, the boy’s cake crumbling. We don’t even know her, and she seems to have a grudge on us.”

The exorcist was trying to come up with some sort of conclusion for the girl’s actions, but failed to do so. Whatever the reason is, I’ll still give her a beating, he concluded.

As the three continued walking, they approached a small clearing. In the center, there was a girl hugging her knees, and a soft sobbing could be heard. The three were stunned, as they didn’t expect to see the prankster so grim. The exorcist, still somewhat angry at the girl, was the only one to approach her.

“Hey girl! I’ve got a few words for you!”

He began to complain, and criticize the ghostly figure. He accused her of the strange incidents that occurred in the past, as well as protest against the personality he assumed she had. The ghost only sat there, and listened to every word. Finally, when the man was finished ranting, the girl got up and spoke.

“Can you… see me?”

It was an odd question. She was being cursed out moments ago, and now she’s asking whether or not she can be seen. The witch and werewolf remained silent.

“Well of course I can see you! Are you retarded?”

The man casually called her an idiot, and yet the ghost girl smiled.

“Thank you… Thank you!”
She went up to the exorcist and gave him a big hug. The man in question, along with the two other figures with him, were absolutely speechless.

“I’ve been here for so long, but no one talks to me. No one sees me. I’m non-existent to everyone in the village! So I started doing terrible things… I ruined the lives of many people, and I didn’t know why I was doing it either. I didn’t know why I was being so evil until I flew out here. I was lonely. I wanted attention. I wanted to be noticed. So I did bad things so that I could be recognized, but it didn’t work. So I did more cruel things out of anger, but that only made me feel guiltier! I felt helpless. I didn’t have anyone to be with, and I could only cry alone. The more I thought how eternity would be like this, the more depressed I got… Then you came here! You were so angry at me. At me! I’m so glad to be able to be seen! Not just by you, but by the beast and witch behind you as well... More than that, I’m even able to hold you! I’m just so… so happy now!”

The ghost let out all of the emotions she had bottled up. The man who was angry at her, now only felt pity towards the girl. It was the same for the old witch and werewolf.

Eventually, the spirit calmed down and regained her composure.

“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you and the villagers.”

She was finally able to ask for forgiveness by the people who can see her. It would be normal to be infuriated by the actions she’s taken up until now, so she expected some sort of punishment.

“That’s ok lady! If you make a new cake for me, I’ll forgive you!”

“If you could watch over my granddaughter, I would be very grateful…”

“Really… I’ve only done nothing but yell at you. You’re making me look like the bad guy.”

Not only was she forgiven, the three easily accepted her.

I’m no longer alone, the ghost thought. She no longer felt empty. The void within her had been filled.

“Thank you… Thank you all!”

And the four lived happily in the village, together.

The End.

---

“So what’d you think?!”

Lulu had eyes full of expectations. It was obvious that she was proud of the story she made.

“I had a hard time making the story since writing was so hard for me. Nevertheless, I’m still confident in the plot!”

Roselle, Kevin, and Ryan were silent. They were listening to Lulu on the living room couch, and were thinking very deeply on her story. The first to break the silence was Ryan.

“You… so it was you…”

“Eh?”

Ryan was completely red in the face. He was glaring hard at Lulu, which felt really unsettling for the white sheet ghost. She thought she could avoid the gaze by looking at someone else, but Roselle’s gaze pierced her even harder. You could clearly feel the killing intent behind her eyes. As for Kevin, he was making the face of a beast out looking for prey, which was only ever seen when he was really outraged.

“Um… what’s wrong…?”

Lulu was starting to sweat from the awkward, and delicate situation she put herself in. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t do anything until Ryan finally cracked.

“SO IT WAS YOU!!!”

Lulu jumped a bit from fright. She didn’t expect to be yelled at so suddenly. She also didn’t quite understand what Ryan was saying, and daringly questioned him.

“Is… there a problem…?”

She was shaking, for fear of how the enraged boy will respond.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know anything… You were the one who broke my art project, right?!”
“AH.”

She accidently let out her voice. She just remembered, about a week ago, she found a beautifully made sculpture of an eagle in the art room, and accidently dropped it while holding it in admiration.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Like heck you don’t!”

Her answer was shot down instantly. Before she could think of a better excuse, Roselle spoke up.

“I see… so you were the one who threw that frying pan at me…”

Lulu recalled blaming the frying pan for not cooking the eggs properly in cooking class, and threw it in a tantrum.

“Um… you see… aren’t you both over exaggerating? Kevin, you agree right? They need to calm down?”

She turned to Kevin in hopes to be saved by him.

“My cake… you were the one who ate it…”

“...” “...” “...”

A deadly silence filled the room. Not only did the ghost do everything that she was accused of, but she couldn’t find a way out of it. There was only one thing she could do.

“Well! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Run.

“““DON’T THINK WE’LL LET YOU GET AWAY!!!”””

By the time the three had roared this sentence, the ghost had already fled the scene. It was just another chaotic day for the four friends.

Author's Note

This was my English Assignment. Critique it as you may, as It'll help m find just how bad my writing abilities are.

Reviews

[Selena Cane]

I only had time to read half of it, but from what I read I thought it was really well done. I like the way each character was described, it gave a clear picture in my head. You really are an excellent writer and I hope to be able to read more of your stuff in the future. :)