I'm still looking for some sort of banner. I hope to find one soon. I'm posting another chapter because I like to when I begin a new story. It gives readers a little more to go on. :)
Lizzy's POV
Being a ghost isn't as bad as one would think.
Sure, I can't touch people and I can't feel someone's warmth as they brush against me. But when I died, a whole world opened up to me. It's like Earth turned into some alien land and my eyes opened up to everything around me.
Little red creatures, about three inches tall with scrawny arms are abundant. They like to cause all sorts of mischief on humans. They do things like slightly moving a mug, turning it to face the opposite direction the handle was facing before. It causes people confusion, but no real harm. There are pink wing-like animals that float through the wind, hairless and smooth to the touch. It seems like all they ever do is float. I've never seen them do anything else. There are even tiny little brown creatures, something I've grown to call goblins. They dig in gardens and like to mess with the animals. Animals seem to have no problem seeing the goblins, but humans do not seem to see them at all. They can't see any of us.
Sometimes children can see us, and they like to giggle at the vivid colors and stark contrast we make from the rest of the world. I know sometimes they don't see us the way we truly are. Once I asked a child what I look like to her, and she told me I look like her grandmother that had recently passed away. Another said I look like a bulbous creature, and emphasized the way I jiggled as I walked. I didn't like that very much.
I died in a relatively normal way, a car accident. My older sister was driving and didn't make it either. But unlike when I died, she didn't stick around. What I did see was her dead in the driver's seat, her neck snapped on impact. My body had flown through the front windshield and slammed into a tree, my back jutting out at odd angles showing me that it had been broken at more than one spot. It's disturbing to see that happen to your body, and even more when you no longer seem to be inside of it.
We were pronounced dead at the scene, much to my parent's and younger brother's horror. I sat in the funeral and watched as my family mourned over our bodies. No matter what I did or how loud I screamed and kicked, they couldn't see me.
Slowly they moved on, my brother graduated from high school and then college. Now he has a family of his own. Three of his four children are adults, and my mother and father have already passed away from old age. I keep tabs on my living family, watching as they grow and face life decisions. It's hard sometimes, because I can't help them. But after thirty-seven years of this I've gotten used to it.
After those first few months of mourning the fact that I cannot truly be with my family, I searched for my sister. After all, we died about the same time; and why wouldn't she be here with me? I never found her, and when my mother and father died of old age they never appeared either.
I decided then that there had to be a reason why I was stuck here and my family not. I must be meant for something. My last day alive, before the car crash, my sister and I were having a girl's day out. We had gotten our nails done, makeup and hair dolled up to perfection. We giggled over my sister's boyfriend, especially since she said she had an inkling that he was thinking of proposing. I gossiped about Davie McConnor, who everyone said was planning on asking me out the next day of school. Just before we got into the car to head home, I stopped in front of an odd looking store. I had never seen it before, and when checking with my sister she claimed she didn't remember it either. There were dark red drapes across the window, and what looked to be a hand carved sign proclaiming them to be open.
"Let's go inside," I beg her, tugging at her shirt sleeve.
"Lizzy, that place looks creepy. I'm not going in there," she proclaims backing up.
"Fine, I'll go without you." And with the tip of my nose in the air, I walked into the wispy store. Inside didn't look any better than the outside. A thin layer of dust covered everything, and a circular wooden table sat exactly in the center of the room.
"Elizabeth, what are you doing?" my sister hisses from the doorway, peaking inside. After glancing at all the crevices of the room, she deems it safe enough to walk in and rushes to grab my arm and attempt to drag me out of the store. But we're the same height, and she has even less muscles than I do.
"Look, the bracelets are so pretty." I shoved her off without a second thought and walk towards the only display. Charm bracelets lay across it. They shine in the dimly lit room like far away stars.
"Lizzy, come on! Don't touch anything! This place doesn't feel right." I ignore her, turning around to run my hands over some of the charms.
"Hello dearies."
The voice freezes both of us, the sound old and mangled. My fist tightens before I take a deep breath and turn around. The woman before us is wrapped in the same red that decorates everything in this store. To my surprise she is young, looking no older than thirty. Both me and my sister whisper our greetings back, my sister refusing to look at her. Instead, she seems to find the floor much more interesting.
"I see you like my charm bracelet display. You may take three free of charge." Despite the warning bells going off in my head, I can't help the excitement coursing through me.
"No thank you," my sister interrupts nervously. "We'll just be going now."
"For real?" I ignore my sister, practically vibrating with giddiness.
"Of course." She gestures to the display with an elegant hand. "Any three that you want." My eyes first drift to a wooden carving of some flower, colored blood-red with beautiful detail. "Ah, that is a red poppy my child," she informs me, closer this time.
"I can have this?" I peer behind me when I ask.
"Any three," she reminds with a benevolent smile. I grin, turning back to the display. I grab one of the silver chains and click the red flower in place before searching for the next link.
"I don't think this is such a good idea," my sister whispers into my ear.
"Oh hush, you're afraid of everything," I grumble. She sighs, but allows me to riffle through the charms.
The next charm that catches my eyes is a silver wolf, the deep grooves that represent the eyes peer into my soul as if begging to be chosen. Impulsively, I grab it and quickly link it next to the flower one before searching for the last. It takes a while, but finally a simple design catches my eye. It's silver, with a diamond shape that has two ovals in the center. One oval is sitting inside the other and a thin piece of metal holds them delicately together.
"It has been a long time since someone has chosen that symbol," she comments. "In fact, you're the second person to have ever picked it." The words sound omniscient, and a secret smile plays across her face. Finally my sister's nerves spread to me and I realize how accurate her assessment is. Something doesn't feel right.
"Okay, well we've picked three symbols. We're going to go now." My sister all but drags me out.
"Are you not going to pick a charm?"
The old, gnarled voice freezes my sister's movements, and her hand tenses around mine making me wince. We turn back around to see her calmly standing with a brow arched in question. My sister swallows before hurrying over to the display and grabbing a random charm, all but running back to me and racing out the door.
"Thank you for gift," I call out. She raised an arm in answer and the door slams closed.
"Lizzy, why did you do that? That was the most horrible ordeal I've been through. Wasn't that creepy at all to you," she whines, hopping in the front seat.
"Yes, but free stuff." I jingle my wrist for emphasis practically beaming. "I've always wanted a charm bracelet. You know that."
"Whatever," she mumbles, clearly upset with me.
"What did you choose?" She's usually annoyed with me for some reason, but we've been fighting less since she started going to community college.
She releases her fist for the first time since grabbing the charm, taking a good look at it. She shrugs, before tossing it into the console between us. When I pick it up, I see that it is an angel wing. I put it back down and stay quiet, catching onto my sister's mood.
"Hey, the stupid charm is getting red all over me," I complain, rubbing at the red that sits on my wrist now.
"What did you expect Elizabeth? It was free."
I roll my eyes, attempting to get the red off. If anything it spreads.
"Would you quit messing with that? It's distracting me," she snarls, glaring at me. I glower back, pulling my eyes away from her to the road. My eyes widen when they do.
"Ana!" I scream in attempt to get her attention back on the road. I turn back just in time to see her turn her head to the road, her eyes growing large as the truck speeds towards us.
That's all I remember. The next thing I knew I woke up, my eyes taking in the dark sky above. I was in a complete panic. I thought I was safe, and my sister was stuck in the car. When I ran over to yank the door, my hand went straight through it.
That was the beginning of my life as a ghost. It was really lonely at first, and if I was honest I would say I'm still lonely now. I remember my grandmother once saying the spirits that die and stay on Earth have unfinished business, but what unfinished business do I have? I hardly think not turning my homework in Monday two days after I died counts. I didn't get into some huge argument with my parents before leaving and I didn't get murdered. I certainly don't have any money buried in the back yard, so what could it be? Sure, my sister was a bit annoyed with me when we died but it wasn't some type of blood feud or something unforgivable! We both knew that we loved each other at the end of the day.
"You're pretty," a little girl giggles, attempting to pull at my skirts. I duck out of the way before she can try.
"Why thank you! But I think you're prettier," I smile, watching as her brown curls bounce with every movement she makes.
"You're so shiny." She attempts to touch me again, but I back up and her hand grasps at air. She becomes distracted with something behind me and I turn to see what it is. When I do, I panic.
"Don't look at that," I demand, my playful tone gone. She blinks swiftly in surprise, turning back to me.
"Why?"
"Not everything is good. Ignore it and it will never bother you." When she goes to watch it again, I try a different tactic. "That thing can hurt you, and no one will be able to protect you." She seems to get the message this time, and steadily stares into my eyes.
"Sweetheart what are you doing? Didn't I tell you to stay away from the road?" A woman with the same eyes as the little girl rushes over, grabbing her up in her arms.
"I was talking with my new friend, she's shiny."
Confusion filters though her gaze and she carefully looks around. "What friend sweetie?"
She giggles, clearly delighted with this turn of events. "She's right in front of you silly."
Her gaze goes right though me, and comprehension fills her face. "You have an invisible friend?"
"No, a shiny friend," she corrects. Her mother sighs, walking away with her.
"Well that does not mean it's okay to go near the road. No going near the road, okay?"
The littler girl nods, watching me with bouncing curls until she disappears in the car and her mother drives away.
Not everything is safe in this new world, at least not for humans. The little girl could see the dark blackness behind me. I've come to call them Fear Mongers, as they like to trade the fear they have gathered with each other as if sharing a glass of expensive and tasteful wine. If a Fear Monger notices a human paying the slightest attention to it, they will haunt them. Fear Monger's use a humans fear against them, feeding off of the emotion. You know all those scary ghost movies that people watch? It's like Fear Monger's are the evil ghosts. They can't hurt me like they could a human, but they can still frighten me which makes me a viable source of food. I found out if I ignore them that they leave me alone, so I've been telling humans that can see them to do the same.
Besides that creature, everything is quite benign in this world. But I can't really talk to anything, except the occasional child, so it's lonely.
Okay so maybe being a ghost isn't that great, but I'm sure there are worse things.
The sun glints off my charm bracelet, and I stare down at it. When I woke up, the red poppy was gone. Now only the silver wolf and odd symbol remains on it. I'm not sure what happened to the flower, it must have come off in the accident I died in. I've tried taking the bracelet off, but no matter what it won't budge. I discovered the same thing with my clothes. I'm stuck wearing what I wore when I died. At least I don't look like I did when it happened. I remember my white dress being stained an almost black color, and my honey blonde hair taking on a reddish tint. This white dress was my favorite. I wore it to church a lot when I was alive.
Hey. At least when I died, I died in style.