Yet another one-shot based off of a one word prompt. Wow. I'm so creative. *cough* Help me. *cough* Enjoy!
Ghost Town
Amelia smiled sadly as she walked through the old town of Weston. It had once been a mining town, but when the sources of coal, gold, and silver had all but disappeared, the people had migrated to other towns where they could still make a living for themselves. Amelia was the only person who still came here, heck, she probably was the only person who even remembered that it was still here, but she couldn't forget this place. She'd never forget it, the hustle and bustle of the people as they navigated the sidewalks with purpose, the yell of the paperboy, the friendly yelp of a dog greeting it's master, the happy chatter of the voices in the town center.
She smiled up at the gigantic statue in the center of the deserted town. It was gigantic, and had once been coated in bronze the color of a shiny new penny and painted in bright colors, but now the colors and the shine of the statue had long since dulled. But Amelia remembered; she remembered staring up at this statue in wonder as a child, in wonder of how they could make a statue so big. No one was really sure what it was meant to be of; some said it was supposed to be a statue of the town's mayor, others said it was supposed to be a statue of Alfred Jones, a famous inventor originating from this town, but they all laughed over it nonetheless. The man's face was so happy and his grin was so silly, it made you wonder what he was laughing about.
Shadows now cast over the statue, and the wind stirred, picking up pieces of dirt and blowing it in Amelia's face. She continued walking, basking in her memories. As she walked into what remained of the grocery store, the shelves were empty, but she could imagine the food filling them. Vegetables in bright cans, peas, carrots, and broccoli, and canned fruit all in their respective isles, food used to adorn every inch of the shelves. Now all that reminded was thick layers of dust coating everything, and a few stray cans of beans long forgotten. Amelia stepped forward and picked one up and chuckled. This can in particular expired decades ago. Setting the can back down, she strode out of the grocery store, and walked over to the pub.
She could remember the voices that echoed from this place. It was a pub in name, but by definition, it was more of a community restaurant than a pub. Families from all over the town would dine here, it was the only restaurant in this quiet area. You could always hear happy voices of friends, family, and acquaintances from all over echoing from this place, and to see it so dusty, abandoned, silent, and lonely hurt Amelia. She turned away from it and stared up at the sky. Clouds had milled over by now, and it looked like it would rain, like the way it did on the day they had abandoned this place.
Amelia could remember it like she could remember the back of her hand; families had split to go to different towns, friends had wept, but they had all agreed it was for the best, so they could all have a better life. Amelia was little at the time, barely ten, and by then she had been an orphan, a bit like the pet project of the town, wandering the streets, free, happy, and talkative, and she had been so confused by what was going on. She didn't understand, why was everyone leaving their homes? They had always remembered Amelia before, but in their hurry to leave, they had left her here alone to decide wether or not to follow them. She decided otherwise; she had built a little cabin in the center of the distance between her old home and the townspeople's new home. She had lived here for decades now, and she hadn't aged one bit after she had turned eighteen, and she made use of that time by keeping an eye on her old home.
She glanced up at the clouds again, using her hand to mask her eyes. They glared down at her from their place in the sky, angry, gray, and threatening to storm.
"W-w-what?!" She glanced behind her, startled from the exclamatory outburst. She was alone, right?
Nope. A girl looking her age was standing in the clearing, clutching a polar bear to her chest, with striking violet eyes and blonde hair that resembled Amelia's, staring at her in shock. "I thought I was the only one who came here anymore?" Amelia murmured, questioning herself. "Were you a resident of this town?"
The girl slowly shook her head. "No." Her voice was soft from shock. "I mean yes. Well... I lived on the streets here." Her voice was quiet and her eyes were sad. "They left me to choose whether to stay or to come with them. I chose to stay."
"I chose to stay in the middle. I live in-between the distance between this town and their new one." The girl looked at her questioningly. "Were you an orphan?"
Amelia nodded as her response. "Me too," the girl murmured. She glanced at Amelia, scanning her appearance. "This might seem weird but- have you aged at all since you hit eighteen?" Her voice sounded hopeful.
"No, I haven't. You?"
The girl shook her head no in response, her eyes now looking hopeful. "Are- are you like me?"
Amelia chucked weakly. "I think I am."
They were silent for a minute, reveling in this fact, before Amelia broke the silence by stepping forward and offering a hand to the girl. "My name's Amelia. What's yours?"
A/N: I want to be clear here, this is an AU. You could probably tell, but you never know what people will PM you or leave a review saying, "Oh, this isn't canon." Yes, I am aware that this is not canon. This is an AU. An alternate universe. I feel the need to be specific here. *Sighs* Thanks for reading this, and I hope you liked it! Ciao!