It doesn't take long for the new girl at Ebott Elementary to become a handful. Within a day she has a horde of followers, all ensnared by her winding tales, her endless enthusiasm-
All kids have their obsessions; horses and dinosaurs, trains and legos, superheroes and warrior cats- Others are a bit more obscure- and with it, the scorn.
By all rights, the new girl should have been shunned because of her stories- of ghosts and horrible horrors- sending other girls shrieking across the playground.. But she had just enough confidence and, after all, she was the new girl. She had that sort of immunity all new kids have.. even if it would never last.
But even beyond that...
After all... This was Ebott.
"The mountain?" She asked in genuine interest.
"Everyone knows about the mountain."
But she wasn't everyone-
It's haunted, they told her. Honestly really, really haunted!
You go up...
You don't come down..
It was a siren's song...
...
...
... The next school she goes to... isn't so kind...
There is no immunity for a girl who won't speak, except to herself...
Who won't look you in the eyes.
And it does not matter... how much time goes on...
It does not matter how she opens up. Talks more, engages... Lies.
A haunted look to her eyes.
...
...
And how can there not be?
There's a ghost in the back of your mind...