Little Ghosts of Newark

Bounce

This little ghost has discovered something new. She wasn't happy when the men came with chainsaws and diggers to clear the trees. She wasn't happy when the lorries full of concrete and bricks arrived to build the houses. She wasn't happy when they resurfaced the road with stinking black tarmac. She wasn't happy when a row of towering street lights were installed, chasing away the darkness with their stark yellow glow. She wasn't happy when the families with shouting children and yapping dogs moved into the new estate.
But one summer evening she heard such happy shouts and giggles that she couldn't help peeping over a garden fence to see what was going on. Two small girls were jumping on a trampoline. The ghost didn't know the word for it, they hadn't existed when she was a child, but it looked like so much fun. When the garden grew darker and the girls were called inside for bedtime the ghost slipped over the fence, climbed up onto the rubber platform and tried a tentative bounce. It was great! She jumped higher, feeling like she was flying, she loved it!