"Are you okay?"

Slowly Sara pulled her self from the crouched position. Her dirty face stained with tears.

"Sorry my Uncles tried to scare you" said Casper. "They're really not all bad. Just annoying."

With great caution, Bedford approached the little ghost. Her shivering hand probing his ectoplasmic face.
Suddenly a smile bloomed on her cheek.

"I can feel you" she whispered. "You must be real!"

"Well of course I'm real" Casper chortled. "What did you think?"

Sara lowered her eyes, revealing girlish lashes.

"My eyes lie to me. They show me things that aren't real."

Morning in Friendship Maine.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Kat joined her father and the young ghost at the kitchen table. The aroma of breakfast was heavy in the air.

"G'morning, Pumpkin" mumbled Harvey.

"Hey Dad."

Eagerly the girl helped herself to some scrambled eggs.

"Did you wake Sara up?"

Kat nodded.

The Harvey's savored the peaceful breakfast moments. It was only a matter of time before Fatso, Stretch and Stinky awoke. As always, harmony would go right out the window.

"I'm up..."

Standing in the doorway, a disheveled Sara watched the family from afar. Her clothes wrinkled from sleeping in them.

"Good" said Harvey. "Have something to eat."

Flying over her plate, Casper heaped the dish with eggs, pancakes and toast. But Sara only stared at her food with a wrinkled nose.

"Something wrong?" asked the ghost.

Wordlessly Sara prodded the food with greasy fingers. Bringing small pieces to her nose, she absorbed the smell.

"What is it?" Kat spoke up.

"Good" Sara murmured. "It's just eggs."

"Beg your pardon?" James said.

"My eyes were lying again" said the girl "They told me I was about to eat live chicken embryos."

Now it was Kat's turn to wrinkle her nose.

CAS-PER!

Like angry wasps, the ghostly trio swooped into the kitchen.
The Harvey's could only roll their eyes.

"Make with the breakfast already!" Fatso barked.

"Yeah" sneered Stinky. "Move your tail!"

But before the ghosts could banter any further, Sara was at her feet. Through vine-like bangs she stared daggers at the trio.

"What!" taunted Stretch. "You gonna go mental on me?"

The girl remained unfazed. With a strange calm, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen-sized aerosol can.

"Lets see how real you are!"

The can spewed forth a cloud of stinging mist. In an instant the ghostly trio lapsed into a coughing fit. Even Casper couldn't help but snicker at his uncle's agony.

"My eyes!" wailed Stretch

"Shut up! Shut up!" growled Stinky. "My nose is on fire!"

Clutching their faces, the three ghosts darted out of the kitchen. The burning mist followed them out.

"How on earth did you get pepper spray?" James finally spoke up.

"Swiped it from Nurse Harper."

After the conflict at the breakfast table, Dr. Harvey decided to leave Sara to her own doings.

"Casper" he called. "How about later on, you show Sara your toy room. I think she'd like that."

"No problem."

Going back to his office, James tucked his patient's file into his satchel. After only two days, it was already growing thick.

"Hey Dad" Kat chimed in. "Where you going?"

"Got an appointment with Sara's parents. I'll be back soon."

The girl flashed her father an all-knowing smile.

"Okay...Just don't tell her where you went."

The Bedford Estate was the pinnacle of decadent yuppie indulgence. A towering aluminum siding palace that would've made every soccer mom in the world jealous.

Ding dong Bing Bong.

"Dr. Harvey. Good afternoon" purred a voice. "Please come in."

Taking a seat on the Corinthian leather sofa, James couldn't help but gape at his surroundings. The house was just as richly furnished as Whipstaff. But with the extravagence, it lacked the intrigue of the old manor.

"Thankyou for having me over" said Harvey. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about Sara."

"Ofcourse."

"Were there any complications in the birth?"

Mrs. Bedford took a long drag on her cigarette.

"She was born three weeks premature. Doctors didn't know why. Guess she just decided to come early."

Discreetly Harvey jotted the woman's words in his notebook.

"What was her childhood like?" he continued

"She was a normal girl. Didn't really get along with Kirsten, but other than that everything was fine."

Slowly Dr. Harvey found himself drawn into Sara's world. As with most children, a new sibling brought on feelings of being replaced. But through Sara's struggling mind, emotions were amplified. Day by day, year by year the girl withdrew into her sullen state. Falling farther into the abyss until fission was finally reached.

After an explosive argument, Vincent Jameson left his family never to return. In a matter of weeks, a new father was in the house.

Arthur Bedford immediately took to his new daughters. But the elder sister was already far gone. She resisted Bedford's advances as hallucinations took over her reality. It wasn't until Sara stopped bathing did the family make the sad decision to hospitalize her.

"I want to see my Sara."

James coughed.

"I miss her so much" beseeched Mrs. Bedford. "Just one visit."

"Alright. Stop by this Saturday. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."