Lonely Child

They say he was a lonely sort of child, never willingly speaking to anyone. He constantly kept to himself, and even when others spoke to him, he answered in the most blunt ways possible. Conversation, therefore, was impossible. Though many figured it was because he was narcissistic and cocky, as he came from a rich and well known family. Everyone he met or was introduced to, described him as cold, distant, and uncaring. It could have easily been a result of his parents, who never paid him much attention. None of the servants were very fond of him because of his persona either. A few servants who looked after the young master directly claimed that he did have a friend though.

When he'd go into his private area of the backyard, which he allowed no one else to enter. When they would go to call the young master inside, they'd claim to hear another, unfamiliar, girl's voice. Once, a servant even dared to enter the 'private area' and caught a glimpse of a young girl as she disappeared through a thicket, and met the gaze of a very angry boy. It was said that the very next day, the servant was fired and banned from entering the household ever again. By then, the rumour of the young master's "ghost" playmate had spread among the servants, and it became a popular topic. The servants liked to discuss the possibilities. Perhaps she was a demon, tempting the young master into evil, or she was the ghost of a girl whom had lived on the premises a long time ago. Or that she was the child of a sneaky, conniving parent that planned on using the girl to eventually get rich.

Of course, when the young master entered, they all hushed up or immediately changed the subject. He would look at them suspiciously, and some suspected he knew, but it was never admitted aloud. Another day, as a maid was cleaning the young master's playroom, she found a journal hidden in a pile of blankets. It was clearly his handwriting, and being as nosy as she was, she read the passages. They were all about his meetings with the mysterious girl that had been just a rumor until now. She thought this was juicy and couldn't wait to tell the others. The first entry, when the two had first met, went like this:

"July 17 19xx

This summer has been so boring. There's nothing to do, and all the kids are stupid. I know they just want my money. Stupid. Today when I went into my secret spot under the red oak tree, a girl came out from behind the bushes. I was really mad, and I threw a stick at her. I said "What are you doing?! Stupid, this is MY special place. No one is allowed in here!" She had looked a little surprised, but she answered "I wanted to see what this place looked like." So annoying, I wanted her gone.

"I bet you came to be my friend so you can get expensive stuff. Idiot. Thats all anyone wants, go away!!!" But the stupid girl doesn't seem to understand. Her eyes got big like an idiot's. "You're rich?" Then she laughed, it made me madder. "I don't care. I'm perfectly happy with my mommy. I got all the stuff I want y'know?" I threw my book at her next.

"LIAR!!! Just get out of here before I call my servants!!!" She picked up my book, looked at it and probably read the title. "This is big...." Then she put the book down, and left. I hope she doesn't come back, she's so annoying. Probably wasn't even listening to a word I say."

The entry ended there.

The next few entries were pretty similar, but each entry slowly but surely showed signs of the young master warming up to her. He didn't seem to mind her random visits as much, by now he let her come and go as she pleased. Yet he hardly acknowledged her presence. Though it was surprising, the young master had been cruel and bratty at first, and now just didn't acknowledge her presence much. Yet it seemed every other day, she always came back. Never minding how he treated her, and treating him more or less the same as she had since day one. The next entry read:

"August 25 19xx

She talks a lot, dumb chatterbox. I hardly ever say anything, but she talks on and on anyway. Said her name was Vanessa. But she also said her name was Sherry, Violet and then Amber. Today her name is Lily. Probably the daughter of a thief or something. She and I both know she's lying, but I don't care anymore. Lily doesn't do much. She'll tell me stuff, even if I tell her I don't care.

I'll be mean sometimes too. I'll tell her what she tells me is dumb, or that it's pathetic or weird. But I don't think she cares what I think. Sometimes she'll pause and seem to think about it before saying, "I guess." So annoying. Lily never says anything mean back, she doesn't even try to defend herself. Once it made me so mad, I yelled at her. I hadn't done that in awhile. "Dummy!!! Why don't you ever tell me I'm wrong?! Or tell me, 'It's true!' Or something!!!"

But why, why won't she get mad at me? I've been so mean and I've thrown things at her, intending to hurt her. She just looked kinda blankly at me and shrugged, telling me "Why? Even if I told you that you were wrong, you wouldn't believe that. Would you? So there's no point in arguing that I'm right and you're wrong." Something about her isn't right. There's something wrong, she doesn't act like any girl I know at school. It started to scare me, and when I didn't say anything, she went back to playing with the ball I'd brought for her today."

The next few days were torn out, that much was obvious. It had been messily torn out, so you could see where it had been ripped from the binding. She felt a cold shiver run down her back, and she felt a sort of dread fill her. Of course she was probably just being paranoid, there was nothing weird happening between her young master or this strange girl. Letting out a small, silent, sigh, she read the next entry.