The Bearded Man and The Ghost Girl

The Plan

Robert Clarke lay in bed waiting for his grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin to fall asleep. He looked out his bedroom window, watching the light that escaped through the kitchen windows below project onto the front drive. The light was bright against the surrounding darkness and flickered every so often when someone, he couldn’t tell who, crossed from one side of the room to the other.

After half an hour or so the kitchen light was turned off, made apparent as the darkness it kept at bay engulfed the house immediately. Robert waited to here the closing of each bedroom door and after a click, click, click crept downstairs, into the kitchen.

He put his raincoat over his checked pyjamas and found the key for the front door that Uncle Jeff hid in the green teapot on the kitchen dresser. He slipped on a pair of shoes and snuck out the house. He had gotten this far undetected. Now to the beach!

Robert walked down the gravel driveway and followed the grass-trodden path that led to the beach. With every step he took, the anticipation of the sea became greater. He could taste the salt on his mouth and could see the movement of the waves.

The sea called to him. It whispered his name in the night’s breeze, beckoning him closer. Robert started to run. He ran as fast as his thin legs could. His breath rasped rapidly as the sea came ever closer.

He ran to the top of the embankment and smiled at the cool glistening water before him. Moonlight danced on top of each passing wave and stars shone in the reflection of the water.

Transfixed by the eerie dance of the moon’s rays Rob jumped onto the beach and walked towards the sea. He stood on the wet sand and let the waves rush over his feet. He spread his arms wide and took in the freedom the open sea had to offer.

The cool wind that sprayed the very top of the waves suddenly picked up and blew with tremendous might, splashing water against Robert’s face.

Robert Clarke felt free. He didn’t have a care in the world and certainly did not, even for a moment, think about The Man with the Pipe.

When watching the cool glistening water in front of him, without any reasoning or much consideration, Robert Clarke suddenly decided to dive into the sea, forgetting that he was still wearing his pyjamas and all common sense and started to swim and swim and swim...

As Robert swam in the dark sea, little did he know that a man with a big bushy beard, accompanied by a small miniature dachshund, stood on the far bank of the beach quietly watching him.

‘I wonder if it will happen tonight,’ the man said to the little dog. ‘Tonight could be the night...’

Both the man and the dog continued to watch Robert swim until the early hours of the morning, when the sun started to rise and the birds started to sing.

As morning arrived Robert swam to shore and returned to the beach house. He was exhausted. He had no idea how he had managed to swim all night but didn’t have the energy to think about it. He still had yet to realise that he went swimming in his pyjamas.

Robert unlocked the front door, crept inside and quickly ascended the first flight of stairs. He tiptoed along the landing, hoping the others were fast asleep and trying not to make a sound.

As Robert Clarke crept past his grandmother’s bedroom door, a noise suddenly came from the other side. The twelve year old boy dashed to the end of landing and bolted up the staircase to his bedroom. He quietly shut his bedroom door and quickly got undressed, hanging his pyjamas on the radiator to dry and suddenly became aware that he had gone swimming in them.

Rob then climbed into bed and grinned to himself. He got away with it, no one knew he had been to the beach, well none of his family knew, there were however others who knew and had been watching with great anticipation...