The Ghost of Sander Jones

Chapter 19: Not so Sweet Sixteenth

The next few days passed by quickly, so quick it felt like I barely had time to breathe. I met up with Mark again, he came over, and he told me I really had nothing else to learn from him though he was still open to help me practice my fighting skills. I had nodded and then watched the rest of the days fly by. Then the day I had dreaded the most had came. My sixteenth birthday. I sighed feeling defeated. "Good morning, Elizabeth." Sander said trying to sound cheery although I knew he was also worried too. I waved to him and then shut the closet door behind me. I sifted through my clothes picking a dark blue dress that had a little flair at the waist on down. The dress was floor length and it always reminded me of the clothing that girls wore in the eighteen hundreds. I had picked the dress months ago for this occasion.

I slipped the dress on and then found the shoes I had bought to go with it. When I was finished I stepped out the closet feeling momentarily self-cautious. I felt Sander's gaze on me as he appraise what I was wearing. Finally I heard him say, "Wow. You look lovely." I half smiled "Thank you." I blushed then turned toward the bathroom so I could brush my teeth. When I had finished with that I decided to curl my hair and then tied it into a blue ribbon that matched the dress's color and then I assessed myself in the mirror. I did look nice, the dress looked better on me than I would have even guessed possible. Curling my hair was a plus; the curl complemented the whole outfit.

I sighed contently and then twirled out the bathroom. "I like your curls." Sander said when he saw me. He took a curl and twisted it around his finger. I smiled again. "Thank you. I thought they might help with my whole attire." He smiled and then his eyes lit up. "I got you something." My thoughts flashed back to the item Sander was holding yesterday. "Really?" I asked. He nodded and then told me to close my eyes. I did and then after a few minutes I felt his icy touch on my hand.

"Open your eyes." He said. I nodded once and did as he said. Sander held a small box wrapped with decorative paper and a red ribbon tied in a bow in the middle, in his hand. He placed it in my hands and I pulled the ribbon in the center taking off the bow. The paper cascaded around the box when the ribbon was off. What was behind the paper was a small wooden box that had a small metal clasp in on it. On the side it had a little windup handle.

"Oh, Sander it's beautiful!" I said. I opened the lid and twisted the handle. Music began to play from it. Sander smiled and then asked, "A dance for the birthday girl?" I giggled. "Sure, why not." I set the box down and turned the knob again until it got to the end of the coil then I turned back to Sander. He took my hands and placed them. "Which dance today?" I asked him. He grinned. "It's a surprise." He said. "Nice." I said then Sander led my through the steps of this new dance until the music had stopped.

"Well that was nice." I said breathlessly. Sander nodded. "I've been working on that one for a while." I blinked in disbelief. "Really?" I asked. "Yes, I knew you liked to dance so I decided to make one up of today." He shrugged and I smiled feeling gratified. "Thank you. It was really nice. I think this was the best one yet." Sander's eyes twinkled.

"Thank you. I'm glad you like it." I nodded showing my appreciation then I sighed leaning my head against Sander's chest. He wrapped his arms around me. I don't know how long we stood like this but pretty soon I began to get restless. I had a feeling that at any moment one of my parents, or maybe even one of the assistances, would come up here to wake me up.

"I guess is should go down stairs and get this over with." I exhaled sharply. "Right. Everyone is probably waiting for you now." Sander sighed and I started to pull away. "I'm surprised no one has come up here to check on me yet."He made a sound of agreement. "Well I guess I'll see you later on today then." I said. He leaned his head down and kissed me quickly. "Okay see you then." I sighed contently and then walked toward the door closing it back behind me.