Good Spirited

1. His meeting

Seven years ago, the young girl was kidnapped. Her kidnapper was never found, but her body was. The girl was brutally stabbed numerous times in her torso and her eyes were missing in the middle of the forest nobody ever dared to enter alone. She was ten at the time.

She was not like the ghosts you would have heard of in those horror stories. The ones with their hair creepily drooping over their faces, the ones who'd breath heavily as they raced towards you, or the ones who crept out of your mirror to strangle you to death. She much preferred to keep herself nice and tidy. She hated when her pure white dress got dirty. It was hard to avoid that, since she lived in a forest, which of course, had plenty of dirt. 

Not once has her spirit left the forest. Even though those brutal things have happened to the girl, she did no haunting. She was not lusting for the blood of the forests' trespassers. There was only one person she wished to kill, and that was her kidnapper. 

Basil did not bother to hide herself. She was visible to anybody who walked into the forest, and she did not mind one bit. Basil wanted to make a human friend, since her only "real" friends were the animals that she had encountered. The animals were nice, but she always imagined humans being better with friendship. Though, Basil was mute, so it was hard to talk to the animals, or any humans who entered the forest. 

All the people who went into the forest ran from her. Screamed in fear. This hurt Basil. She had no intentions to harm anybody but her killer, so whenever somebody would scream and try to throw rocks at her, her empty, raven-black eyes and mouth would drip, and her hair would flow, like an ocean's waves in a storm. This, of course, scared people further, thinking this was Basil's way of possessing, killing, cursing or haunting people. They were horribly wrong. This was her way of crying and expressing her sadness. 

One day, however, a boy, around the age of nineteen, walked into the forest, alone. Basil saw the boy wandering into the forest, which excited her. She flew over to the boy, who stared up at her in awe. 

"Woah... A lost spirit.."

He said softly, backing up. He took a deep breath and stared daggers into the two dark as night holes that were her eyes. Basil tilted her head and sat herself down on a tree stump. The boy watched, keeping his distance. The ghost watched the boy as well, the corners of her jack-o-lantern like mouth stretching upwards oh-so-slightly to give off a cute-ish smile. She then plucked up a daisy from the grass and handed it to the boy. The freckled brunette giggled softly as he slowly approached and gently took the flower from her hand. Placing the flower behind his ear, he says,

"You don't seem that bad, for a ghost... what's your name?"

He asked, sitting himself down on the grass in front of the stump where she was seated. Basil pointed to her mouth and shook her head as small frown grew on her face. The boy took a moment to read her actions and realized she indeed could not speak. 

"Oh, okay, you're a mute. You can understand me, though?"

Basil nodded her head, smiling again. The boy grinned and grabbed a small stick. 

"In that case, why don't we do... this?"

He said as he neatly wrote his name in the dirt. It read "Oliver."

"I personally prefer to be called 'Ollie.'"

Ollie spoke in his heavy New York accent. The ghost nodded again and took the stick, writing her own name in the dirt.  The boy watched as she wrote her name, quite happily and excitedly. He couldn't help it but to find the ghost quite adorable as she finished writing her name with messy handwriting in the soft soil.

"Ohh, Basil? Like the herb?"

Another nod.

"Haha, that's cute. It's nice to meet ya."

Ollie reached his hand out to her. Basil's smile widened as she took his hand in her own and shook. Ollie smiled and stood up, dusting the dirt and blades of grass off the back of his pants.

"I like you, Basil. You seem friendly... unlike most ghosts I've heard in horror stories."

He began to walk out of the forest as Basil watched. Ollie looked over his shoulder and waved.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe we can write about our pasts, or somethin.' I hope ya like bread."

He said as he walked out.

Basil stood up and waved eagerly. She floated up to a tree branch, sitting next to a sparrow. She smiled wide. The ghost had finally made a friend.

♥ . {End of Chapter One} . ♥