A Collection of Short Stories

Reality

Mrs. Smith pushed her reading glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "Today we will be talking about Ghosts. In a few days we will be starting your last book for the year, In the Shadow of Blackbird." She held up the book, for all of us to see. A pale lady with dark brown hair sat in a chair in front of a curtain. She wore a white dress that stopped halfway down her calf and black shoes. If you looked close enough you could see the white ghost standing next to her.

I particularly don't believe in ghosts but from the way Mrs. Smith talks about them you'd surely think she was a believer. She talked like ghosts were a religion. My name is Shea Goldenberg. Here in Pateo I was a part of the Perfect Generation. The Perfect Generation was full of people with blonde hair and blue eyes. If you were born any different you'd be kicked out, exiled forever by time you were ten. If you ever return you'll be killed.
"Shea!" my best friend Anna whisper yelled over to me, "Are you day dreaming again in class?"

I looked over to her and for the first time was shocked by how blue her eyes were. They shone like stars. She has freckles on her cheeks, complimenting her naturally tanned skin. "What? No I'm not daydreaming!"
"Obviously you aren't. The teacher just asked us to get computers" She kind of laughed.

"Umm...yeah. I heard that." I went to get a computer and then sat back down at my desk. Logging in I opened up Internet Explore and typed in ghosts into the Google search box. Clicking on the first link that popped up, Wikipedia, I read the following paragraph:

"In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre (British English) or specter (American English), phantom, apparition or spook) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.

The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices-funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic-are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

Somebody passed through the classroom door out of the corner of my eye and I looked up to see who it was. Nobody else seemed to notice him standing at the front of the room. He glanced from one kids face to the next until he landed on mine. My heart jumped in my chest. Why is he looking at me? I glanced at Anna but she didn't seem to notice anything. He started my way, slowly weaving through the desks. Stirring the hair on one girls head. Making the papers on another kids desk fall off, floating to the ground like a feather.

"Shea? Are you alright?" Anna sounded worried, "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I- I think I might be looking at one." I stuttered, looking at her.

"You must be Shea." The man suddenly spoke, making me jump. "I have been looking all over for you. You are an extremely hard lady to find."

"Why- why do you need me?" I whispered.

"If you want more information you must leave class where we can talk. Where nobody will find it suspicious that you are talking to what looks like your computer screen." Then he left.

"Shea, who the hell are you talking to? Who needs you and what for?" Anna grabbed my arm when I didn't respond.

"I don't know! This is creepy weird! You didn't like see him just standing in front of my desk." I motioned with my hands to my computer.