Define

Define: Run Away

12-16-11

Dear Journal,

Run Away- as in to leave or escape from a place, person, or situation of danger

It's been 4 or 5 days since I ran away from my house back in Knox County. The first night I left, I just kept running in a random direction. Emmy and Laura tried to chase after me but... since Laura's pretty pregnant she didn't make it very far- more like she gave up as soon as I made it down the driveway. Emmy was really hard to shake off because she's really persistent and won't give up on a task until it's complete. The funny part about that is that Emmy, though she's pretty lean, has the worst case of asthma I have ever seen. Her lungs seem to shut off after maybe a few minutes of intense action-pretty much anything could trigger it, too. So, when I heard Emmy hacking and wheezing behind me, I knew she wouldn't last much longer.

Baby Jesus must not be happy with me because running away from your problems is a sin. Pastor Ryle used to tell me to "Pray before you sin, so that the punishment for your sin isn't as severe." I'm actually really sure, now, that that's not true. But then again...

I'm not sure what the truth to anything is anymore.

Anyways, like I said before, I just kept randomly running in a random direction. While my brain was still fogged from the shock of the argument, my legs seemed to wander in their own path. I didn't even look at the scenery of Knox County as it passed by me. I didn't see anything except the fogged up road trail barely in front of me because of my tears.

So, that's kinda why when I stopped running for a supposedly 2 minute break, I didn't realize I had actually ran to the Old Lighthouse by the Penoscot Bay. There are 2 lighthouses near the Bay but one had to be closed down due to bad funding... so there's only officially one. I just so happened to run to the old, dusted and scary looking one. Some Mainers and fishermen that passed by the lighthouse call it haunted. They say that the real reason the lighthouse shut down was because a poor old man and his little grandson were killed there. The police didn't want to cause an uproar and freak out the Mainers so... they shut it down and said it was because of the lack of funding. They even named the tale, "The Great Light" and sell merchandise about the tale at Ms. Murrey's Diner and Gift Shop. There are movies, play productions and even T-Shirts about the Old gramps, Atticus Lytel, and the grandson, Turner, and their murder in the now abandoned Lighthouse.

Everyone in Knox County knows that the tale is complete crap and Momma once told me that Central Maine only uses the story for publicity ... but when I was standing in front of the Giant Lighthouse- looking at the scrappy paint job and scary vibe coming from the tower... I couldn't help but think that the tale may have been a little true.

That's why I decided to live in here.

I know it may sound cliché- a 12 year old girl living in an abandoned Lighthouse that may be haunted but... I don't have anywhere else to go and so far ... it's actually been pretty fun. When I actually walked inside the lighthouse, it actually wasn't that bad. It was beautifully furnished, painted and heavily dusted down. It was as if someone already lived there.

I've been living in the Lighthouse for 4 days now and at first it was kinda boring. During my first 3 days, I couldn't stop worrying about Momma and the rest of my family. I wondered if they were missing me, or if they were completely fine without me. I remembered Momma was supposed to come back home 2 days ago... Did she realize I was gone? Had they told her about the fight? Did they all try to look for me?

Probably not.. after all, they did want me dead. But even though they don't care about me anymore, I still love them and wish them happiness. I pray for them every night before I go to bed that they stay healthy. I guess because of my humbleness, Baby Jesus blessed me with some company...

Though it's not the type of company most would expect.

I think Baby Jesus sent me a ghost to play with.

It actually happened this morning. I was walking along the Bay tuna find some water for me to drink. Momma always told me not to drink water from the ocean cause it's dirty and filled with bad stuff- that's why I purify it with some rocks and paper towels I found in the Lighthouse. Anyways, I was walking back to the house but something shiny caught my eye. I turned my head and saw an wrecked boat near the west side of the Lighthouse. The boat, or actually it was a dinghy, had a giant hole near the bottom and it looked pretty cool so I went over to inspect it.

When I looked inside, I saw a bunch of fishing equipment; hooks and fish bate that were knocked over. I was about to leave if there (cause you're not supposed to touch anything that isn't yours) but then a noise caught my eye. It sounded like a small gasp coming from behind me. I turned my head and that's when I saw...

A ghost? Either that or a really pale kid.

The definition of a ghost is an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living typically as a nebulous image... He didn't actually look like any of the ghost from those Ghost-Hunting shows or anything... Nope, he looked like a regular boy- redheaded and freckled like me... the only reason I said he looked like a ghost was because he looked exactly like Turner, from the Lighthouse tale, did...

80 years ago when he died.

Yep, I met the ghost of Turner Lytel today. He's actually really shy for a ghost and the cool thing about it is that I can touch him and he can feel pain- believe me, I was beating him just to test it out. The only part that's weird about him is that he can't talk... I think it's kinda like "The Little Mermaid" when Ariel wanted to become human so she sold her voice to the villain. Maybe, Turner wanted to come down and play with me so he let God take his voice so he can come down and play with me. He's really weird, though.

Like every time I call him "Turner" he makes a noise with his mouth- a farting noise. He only wants to play tag or any game with running. Plus, he keeps looking over his shoulders when he thinks I don't see him. He looks like he's my age but he doesn't act like it. It's weird but he's God's gift to me and I can't judge him because that's a sin.

Also, there's another weird thing about Turner. I think he talks to shadows.

An hour after we started playing, I heard a faint noise calling him. He didn't hear it the first time but the second time it called, he turned to the direction it came from and began clapping really fast. I saw a man's shadow coming towards us. I thought it was God trying to take him away from me, so I grabbed him and ran away in another direction. That's when he started looking over his shoulder a lot and kept making us play running games.

I'm glad I ran away. If I hadn't I would have never met Turner... but I still want to know a lot more.

How did Turner really die? Who was that black shadowy guy? Was that Atticus? Is he here to take Turner back to God?

Does my family miss me at all?

Bye Bye, I gotta go make dinner for me and Turner. In the Lighthouse kitchen, the fridge is stuffed with food so we may have a celebratory feast tonight in honor of me and Turner's new friendship.