𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 ── CASPER McFADDEN

𝐈𝐕. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇

"never forget who was there for you when no one else was," — unknown

⋆°✶⋆°⋆✶°⋆°✶⋆°⋆✶°⋆

HIS SMILE WAS KIND and gentle, rather deep in the memories. Days rather unexpectedly beginning to fly by and I spent as much as I could with Casper. It had been a little over a week and a half since we've moved here and my mum was handling it well so that was a good sign. Casper brought me to his old playroom for the very first time and I tried not to gasp in awe at the sight. Casper's playroom from when he was alive was full of beautiful toys, the oldfashioned hand-painted one and not the crappy plastic ones you buy today. I wanted to stay here. "Here, I think you'd like these." He says handing me about four books. "You're a lot like my mother her head in books."

I smile boldly, a little sad too. "She seemed lovely," I say walking over to the window seat. "She really was," Casper says admiringly proud but there was a longing deeper in his ocean eyes that I only saw for a brief moment. "So was your father he was ahead of his time, he was very very intelligent," I say my eyes twinkling. "I know." He whispers, sort of sad. Something catches my eye a hand print mounted on the wall. The words slip out of my mouth. "Your hand was massive Casper." I pounce off the window seat and race across towards Casper's hand imprint mounted on the wall. "Yeah, I suppose." He says, looking down at his four ghostly fingers in a deeply sad way that I wished I could fix.

Seconds later Casper floats over to me his white see-through hands behind his back, examining his handprint, "Do you know what you look like?" I ask curiously, it was rather odd because I couldn't picture what Casper would look like. "Yeah, of course, I do! I had golden blond hair and ocean blue eyes. My eyes are the only apart about of myself that hasn't changed.." Suddenly Casper frowns his eyes in a faraway place. "I had freckles. I was taller than I am now and I was twelve years old when I died." He says, his voice, rather soft, almost proud. I try to imagine him alive, smiling across at me from where we were sitting at the window seat, with a beating heart. I slowly walk over to the window seat and curl up. My knees tucked into my chest along with the books beside me. Casper floats over to the other side and sits across from me again.

Casper's gaze was gentle, his eyes were such a deep blue I could get lost them for years. His eyes suddenly look down in a way that would show embarrassment, I blush deeply. "Sorry, I like your eyes there really pretty—," then I realise what I had just said. I clasp my hand over my mouth, trying to blink away the sudden embarrassment. "I mean there cool." What a way to blow it May, just like with every other boy (in this case ghost-boy) you've ever known.

"I like your eyes too, their pretty cool too. A vibrant and beautiful green..." I tried my best not to blush and failed helplessly again. "Yeah, my dad always told me that I had his eyes and my mum says that I remind me of him a lot of the time." I look down, my green eyes brimming with tears. I close my eyes and let the tears fall softly. I don't open them until I feel something cold, over my hands and another hand wiping my tears away. My eyes lock with Casper's, "I would hug you right now just I can't. I'm a ghost."

"Casper, You don't need to be alive to be in my heart, friendship lasts forever," I say slyly and boy did it sound a lot better in my head, saying it out loud sounded cheesy. "You're the only person in the whole world who has ever made me feel alive or that alive." He whispers, suddenly his voice grows softer. "Not even Kat.." I notice that Casper tries not to flinch when he said her name. Why would someone in their right mind ever do that to Casper?

"Well, you're the only person who actually is my friend." I whisper, "When my dad passed away I shut myself from the rest of the world. I lost who I was and all my friends. I was quite popular back then, it never mattered to me though, and it doesn't matter now."