The summer of 1959 started out like any other. School ended, and we had three months of freedom in front of us. No teachers, no parents, no bullies, no homework. Just me and my boys.

--

"Come on, Mary! Don't be scared!" my brother Gordie shouted.

"I can't do it!" I yelled back, looking down at them in the water. At the time, it felt like I was 50 feet in the air, although in reality it must have only been about 15 feet.

"If you don't jump I'm gonna come up there and push you!" Teddy warned.

"No guys – I can't!" I yelled again. I was up on Dead Man's Rock, which overlooked the only lake in town for miles. It was a major hot-spot for kids in the summer.

"Come on, Mary. We'll make sure nothing happens!" Chris yelled. I let out a small whimper, closed my eyes, held my breath, plugged my nose, and jumped in.

I landed in the water with a splash and quickly made my way back to the surface. All the boys swam up to me and circled around.

"So...?" Vern asked. I grinned at them.

"That was fun!"

--

My brother Gordie was born 3 minutes before me. We were twins, but looked and acted nothing alike. Complete opposites. If I liked Elvis Presley, he liked Buddy Holly. If I wanted to watch King Creole, he wanted to watch Wizard of Oz. He liked to write, I liked to go outside and explore. Our brother Denny used to joke that I was the brother and Gordie was the sister. Of course, Gordie didn't like that joke.

Just a month ago, our older brother Dennis died in a Jeep accident. Gordie and I sprung back quickly, mostly just becoming numb to the whole thing, but our parents hardly talked, and sometimes Mom wouldn't even get out of bed for days.

--

We walked back to mine and Gordie's house just before it got dark.

"Are your parents home?" Teddy asked. Gordie shook his head.

"Mom's at Grandma's house, and Dad's at work," I answered.

"Good," Teddy said. "That means I can cuss. BITCH FU-" Teddy started, yelling the last part as loud as he could.

"TEDDY, grow up," Chris said, not amused.

"Teddy, grow up.." he mimicked in a high pitched voice. We all sat at the table, thinking of something to do.

"Hey..hey you guys," I said. We all leaned in as far as we could. "I know what we can do. You guys remember that old house on Vicksburg? The one that that old lady got killed in?"

"Yeah...yeah...Jimmy Powers went in there last summer. He said he saw 5 ghosts in one spot," Teddy said, getting excited. Everyone leaned in closer.

"Yeah. I say we go in there," I said, raising my eyebrows a little. Vern leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know...What if I die of fright or something?" he whined. We all looked at him.

"Vern, that's stupid. You can't die of fright," Teddy argued.

"Come on, Vern-O. Scared of a little ghost? What's it gonna do?" Chris asked.

"I don't know..it might...scream, or something. Billy told me he saw a ghost once, and it haunted him in his dreams for 3 years!"

"Do you really believe him?" I asked, laughing a little. Vern was too gullible.

"Yeah, come on Vern. Nothing will happen!" Chris said, patting Vern's shoulder.

"Well, who's in?" I asked.

"I am," Chris said.

"Shit yeah!" Teddy answered, then got up to look in the fridge.

"I guess.." Gordie said with a shrug.

"I don't wanna go...but I guess I'm in," Vern said with a pout. We heard my dad pull up in the driveway, home now.

"Okay you guys, we'll meet in front of the house at midnight. Don't let anyone know where you're going," Chris ordered.

A/N: Sorry it's really short. The next will be longer. Don't forget to review!!