Two children were running around a yard in Adamsville, Wisconsin. It was a bright, sunny day and the birds were chirping.

They were playing tag, sprinting between garden pots and statues. During a turn, the boys foot caught on a happy, guitar playing frog, sending him to the ground.

He sprawled face first into the dirt, getting a mouthful of mud and grass. Tears sprang into his eyes and he sat up, wincing. There was a scrape the size of Texas on his knee.

A sob tore its way out of his throat, echoing around the garden. The girl, upon hearing the sound, slowed and turned around to face her brother.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed, running over and bending down to examine his knee.

Soon she jumped up and ran inside the house.

The boy looked at where she had disappeared. What was he going to do now? His sister had abandoned him.

As he was trying to stand, the screen door banged shut. Looking up, his sister was running back towards him with the biggest band aid he had ever seen.

Unpeeling the bandage, she carefully applied it to his knee, and then kissed it. Patting it, she looked at him and smiled.

"What's that thing mom always says?" She asked, scrunching her nose up in concentration.

"Time mends all things…

"Time wounds all men…

"Heal wounds time…"

Her eyes lit up victoriously as she snapped her fingers.

"Time heals all wounds! See Vlad! Your knee will feel better in a jiffy!"
Vlad sniffed, rubbing his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. He smiled.

"Thanks, Anastasia."

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Anastasia was sitting at her desk working on homework when the front door slammed open, knocking something on the floor. She looked around the corner to see Vlad huffing his way upstairs, stomping heavily on each step.

After his bedroom door slammed shut, she stood up and walked up the stairs. She knocked on his door only to hear a muffled grunt.

"I'm coming in, Vlad." She said.

She turned the knob and pushed open the door and was met with a Vlad buried in his pillow and blanket.

She closed the door softly and sat down on his bed, sitting cross legged, chin in her hands.

"I'm guessing the date didn't go well?"

Vlad scoffed from underneath his pillow.

"I told you she was creepy. Always hanging out at that abandoned house. Why-"

"That's not why it went bad." Vlad mumbled.

Anastasia paused, waiting for him to elaborate. Rolling her eyes when he didn't, she pulled the blanket off of him.

"Why'd it go bad then?"

"I told her that I don't think a ghost can be good."

Silence. The paranormal, particularly ghosts, was a pretty prevalent subject in their town. People were always spotting spirits in the woods and walking down Main St..

"Why can't ghosts be good?"

"Why would they be here if they weren't?" Vlad said, removing the pillow from his face. "They have unfinished business, they're always making everyone uncomfortable. Why would a being do that if they were good?"

Anastasia shrugged her shoulders.

"You know what I do know though?"

Vlad sent a scowl her way.

"Time heals all wounds. You'll bounce back in no time. Plus, if she can't handle you having a differing opinion, it probably wouldn't be the best relationship to be in anyways."

Vlad huffed. "I guess you're right."

Anastasia smiled and bopped him on the nose.

"I'm always right."

QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

They were in college now.

At least Anastasia was.

Vlad had been in a terrible lab accident the year before, and he's been home for two months now. He'd finally made some genuine friends but then this happened.

He still hasn't answered any of their calls.

Vlad hardly ever left his room. Every once in a while he could be seen dragging himself to the bathroom and back. He never went into the kitchen. They ended up bringing plates up for him.

Sometimes he ended up in the living without the stairs creaking at all, scaring anyone who was on the first floor at the time.

He even looked scared himself. As if he didn't know how he got there.

Sometimes she'd hear him listening to old voicemails from his friends, trying to conceal his sobs, only for him to throw the phone at the wall.

Today he was quiet. He hasn't left his room, and he never opened his door to the plate outside it.

Anastasia took a deep breath, and cracked open Vlad's door.

"Vlad?"

No reply.

She walked towards where he was on the bed, and pulled the blanket off of his head.

Except Vlad wasn't there. It was a pile of carefully placed pillows.

She sucked in a harsh breath, turning around, nearly running into Vlad.

Vlad?

"How did you-?" She asked, pointing from him to the bed.

Ignoring her, he skulked to the bed and flopped down on it.

"What do you want, Anastasia?"

She shuffled her feet, still thoroughly confused. "I came to see how you were doing."

He looked at her with scorn, as if she should know the answer already. "What makes you think I'm doing any better than yesterday?"

Anastasia threw her arm towards the door. "Well clearly you're well enough to be sneaking around on us."

He rolled away from her, facing the wall.

She sighed. "Vlad, I know this is hard but you gotta start doing something other than sitting in your room all day. Read a book, go for a walk. Or at least sit outside in the yard."

Nothing.

"Mom says 'time heals all'-"

Suddenly, faster than she can blink, Vlad was up in front of her face shouting.

"No! Time can't heal all wounds! It can't!"

He hit his lamp, sending it crashing to the floor, startling Anastasia. He squeezed his eyes shut at the action.

"Time can't fix this."

Vlad laid back in his bed, and after a few moments Anastasia left the room quietly.

The next morning Vlad was gone.

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

Vlad hasn't seen his family in 20 years. Not after he nearly lost control in front of Anastasia. They never knew where to look for him.

It was kind of hard to track a ghost anyways.

He'd always kept tabs on them though. Making sure that they were okay and well.

After they'd reconciled, Jack convinced him to go see her. To get coffee.

Or something.

So now, Vlad was standing in front of his old childhood home, rickety and worn after all these years. The garden was overgrown and some of the windows were cracked, but there was still evidence of life.

There were new toys littering the yard. And their old swing set was replaced with a newer one.

Walking down the path to the front door, he saw a little frog, happily playing his guitar. It was cracked and chipped. Now gray after a lifetime in the elements.

Now in front of the same, rickety screen door, Vlad paused, his chest tightening.

What if she didn't want to see him? What if she pushed him away?

Taking a deep breath, Vlad knocked on the door, jiggling it in the frame.

After a minute, the door was opened by a woman. She looked at him for a few seconds, before her eyes widened in realization.

"Vlad?"

He nodded, and that was all the prompting she needed. She flung herself at his chest, tears falling from her eyes. Her grip was tight and she was squeezing his bones together.

"Vlad! Oh my god! It's been so long!" She said through her tears.

"We thought you were dead."

The weight in her voice choked Vlad up. He finally wrapped his arms around her just as tightly, head tucked into her neck.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Anastasia."

She shook her head, wiping her nose on his suit jacket.

She sniffled before pulling away and looking at him.

"What are you doing here?"

Vlad smiled at her, pulling out a recent picture of Maddie, Jack, and himself.

"Time finally healed my wound."