The Little Graveyard Girl

Looking up at the bright blue, sun-filled sky should have made Emily feel better, but it didn’t. If the atmosphere could have reflected her mood, it would have been painted in an abysmal gray and filled with black storm clouds that threatened to let loose a barrage of fat raindrops. Perhaps it was only natural that a ghost would feel that way after being stuck in a graveyard for so long, but none of the other spirits that haunted the place seemed to be in such a state.

In an effort to cheer herself up, Emily had gone to her favorite spot in all of Goldenvale Cemetery. Sitting upon a carved granite bench beneath the shade of an ancient oak tree, she lazily swung her incorporeal legs back and forth through overgrown grasses and wildflowers while mindlessly twirling her invisible fingers through her wavy, non-existent hair. The quiet retreat had always been a peaceful place where she could go to gather her thoughts and happily daydream. Instead, however, her mind was blank and her heart was empty.

As she sat there in a fog of depression, a movement in the distance caught her attention. A hazy apparition steadily drew nearer, making a straight path towards her position. When the plump little figure finally got close enough, she could see the colorless pattern of gaudy, oversized flowers on the woman’s ankle-length skirt. That’s when she knew for certain that the elderly ghost approaching her was dear, sweet Bertha. Waiting patiently for her arrival, Emily watched the translucent lady adjust her buttoned cardigan over her silk blouse before gracefully tidying up her short, curled, gray hair. It was an endearing habit that was completely unnecessary, but Bertha liked to look perfectly primped at all times.

Though it was always a pleasure to get a visit from everyone’s favorite graveyard granny, Emily’s mood only soured further at the sight of her. Bertha’s ghostly form was fading more and more each and every day. It wouldn’t be long now before she’d be gone for good, leaving nothing but her headstone as a reminder of her existence. The old woman was soon to be just one more person, in an endless parade of friends and acquaintances, to leave Emily yet again. Unbeknownst to the rest of the cemetery patrons, however, that was something that Emily was secretly hoping to rectify.

“There you are, Child,” Bertha spoke with a smile on her pleasantly wrinkled face. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Hello, Bertha.” Emily quickly wiped away her dismal expression and donned a mask of contented delight. “You’re looking rather radiant today. Has something put you in a good mood?”

Bertha laughed. “You know perfectly well that flattery will get you nowhere, but now that you mention it, I am in a very good mood today.” The little old lady looked around before sitting down beside Emily and conspiratorially whispering into her ear, “I’m leaving tonight, you know. The time for me to move on has finally come.” Her eyes twinkled with anticipation.

“How do you know? I mean, you can’t be certain that today’s the day, can you?”

“I can feel it with every ounce of my being. Trust me, when the time comes for you, you’ll feel it too.”

Emily frowned as she looked down at her lap and fidgeted with the ribbon on her dress. Bertha pushed the long, wild hair out of the girl’s pixie-like face. “Come now, Child, I’ll have none of that. There will be no sad faces for me. This is happy news.”

“I know, and I am happy for you. It’s just that it won’t be the same around here without you.”

“Don’t worry, there will be new spirits to come and take my place in due time. Then, you’ll forget all about me. That is just the way of things.”

“I could never forget you, Bertha.”

“That’s very sweet of you, Dear.” The frail-looking apparition wrapped her arm around Emily’s shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that you have helped to make my time here a wondrous chapter in my life’s journey. I’m truly grateful for every moment of it.”

“But now it’s time for a new adventure?”

“Exactly. Now you be a good girl and remember to always follow the rules.”

“I know, I know,” Emily sighed as she rolled her eyes.

The two gave each other one last embrace before Bertha left to say her goodbyes to the others. Her pale, bluish-gray figure wavered in the sunlight before she vanished from view. Emily stayed behind, remaining in her spot until she suddenly realized what time it was. A genuine spark of excitement lit up her eyes and made her melancholy immediately disappear.

From the front of the cemetery, she could hear the sound of the rusty, old entrance gate swinging open. With great enthusiasm, she floated up off the bench and hastily took off in the direction of the noise. Making sure to keep at a safe distance, she watched a twelve year old girl, named Bella, taking her daily shortcut through the quaint graveyard.

Like always, Bella bobbed her head along to the beat of the music that blared through her headphones, making her chocolate brown ponytail sway with every step she took. She had a backpack slung over her shoulders and wore a white button-down shirt, a navy blue skirt, and white knee-high socks with a pair of matching navy blue dress shoes. Emily didn’t know anything about the girl, but her kind smile, gentle hazel eyes and carefree disposition made the young ghost desperate to be her friend.

Weaving her way through the maze of headstones, Bella walked past several mausoleums and headed toward the back of the cemetery. As she did so, Emily carefully followed along behind her, making sure to not be seen by the other denizens of the dead. When they finally reached the rear boundary, Bella squeezed through a broken part of the fence that surrounded Goldenvale and continued on her merry way. Unable to go beyond the perimeter of the graveyard, Emily could only stare at the back of the girl as she gradually vanished through the tall grass and made her way toward a grand house in the distance.

There had been many times that Emily had thought about approaching Bella. Afterlife in the cemetery had become incredibly boring for her over the many years that she had resided there. The other ghosts were all older than her, and though she cared very much for all of them, she had a hard time relating to the older crowd. They didn’t typically share her interests or have her adventurous spirit. A girl her own age was just what she needed. However, she had been warned that she must not ever try to interact with the living. It was the most important rule among the dead.

It could be very dangerous for a ghost to make its presence known. Most people were deeply afraid of what they didn’t understand, and showing oneself to the wrong mortal could end with the ghost being exorcised into oblivion. The dead waited many years—centuries even—to finally get the chance to either ascend to Heaven or be reborn, but exorcism was a permanent, hellish existence for a soul. Being trapped in an endless abyss and roaming aimlessly for eternity was not a fate any soul wanted and very rarely deserved.

Despite all the countless warnings she had been given over the years, Emily knew deep down that the cool, friendly girl she saw everyday would never be cruel enough to exorcise any of the spirits in Goldenvale. In fact, she was so certain of it that she had convinced herself to forego all caution. She would befriend Bella even if it was the last thing she ever did. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get her attention.

Pacing back and forth along the fence, Emily thought long and hard about what to do. Out of frustration and desperation to come up with a good plan, she kicked out her dainty, translucent foot at a rock laying in the dirt. To her utter amazement, the rock skittered across the ground and landed at the edge of the grass. For several seconds, she just stared at the hard gray lump in disbelief. As a spirit, she’d never even once managed to move an object before.

With a fresh jolt of determination, she quickly drifted over to the rock and tried to kick it again. She frowned as it sat perfectly still. Biting her lip, she swiped her foot at it again and again, but it still didn’t budge. Hmm... Maybe if she just concentrated hard enough, she’d be able to move it.

Late into the evening, Emily practiced moving pebbles along the paths in the cemetery. However, even that small task seemed monumental. She lacked the energy to move the little rocks by more than a centimeter or two. Perhaps I should find some chains to rattle, she snorted as she laughed at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” an elderly ghost asked as he popped up out of the ground from in front of his headstone.

“Oh, hello there, Ernest. I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Emily replied. “I was just trying to keep myself entertained, but there isn’t much I can do without a body.” Her face was crestfallen as she spoke.

“Don’t get yourself too worked up about it,” Ernest said as he floated over and placed a semitransparent, wrinkled hand on Emily’s cold shoulder. “Your time to be reborn will come eventually, as it does for us all.”

“I know, but until then, it would be nice to at least be able to move a few objects around. I’ve seen other ghosts do it, and they look like they get such great enjoyment out of it.”

“You know, Kiddo, I could teach you a few tricks if you like.”

“Really?” She was filled with a sense of hope at the offer.

“I sure can, but you have to promise me that you won’t do it around the living. No good ever comes from interacting with their kind.”

“I promise.” Emily smiled sweetly up at Ernest as she crossed two fingers behind her back.

“That’s a good girl.” He gently patted the top of her head. “Now then, let’s go join the others in giving Bertha her sendoff.”

“But Bertha said she didn’t want us to make a fuss over her. That’s why she said her goodbyes to everyone already,” she objected.

Ernest chuckled. “Yes, that’s true. However, we all know that she often says one thing while meaning the exact opposite.” Emily grinned and nodded in agreement, and then the two of them glided their way over to the other side of the cemetery to meet up with the small crowd gathered in a copse of trees and headstones.

Although the farewell was bittersweet, and many happy and sad tears were shed, Emily couldn’t help but look forward to her lessons with Ernest. Being good to his word—after Bertha departed and the other spirits returned to their graves for the night—he showed her how to manipulate a few small stones, leaves, sticks and the like. By the time the sun began to peek over the horizon, she had learned how to pick up the tiny pebbles that she had struggled to move earlier.

In the afternoon, Emily impatiently paced back and forth along the fence at the front of the cemetery. She couldn’t wait to finally get to make contact with the girl she was certain would soon become her best friend. After a few short minutes had passed by, Emily had to stop and force herself to calm down. It wouldn’t do her any good if she wore herself out before Bella arrived. She was going to need all the energy she could muster if she was going to be able to get her attention.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she spotted Bella down the street. She was waving goodbye to some other kids that were heading in a different direction. Emily sucked in an unnecessary breath as she tried to build up her confidence. With a look of guilt on her face, she glanced around the graveyard to make sure none of the other ghosts were around to see what she was about to do. None of them could know that she planned on breaking their number one rule.

As Bella opened the gate at the entrance of the cemetery, Emily plucked a little pebble up off the ground. She floated over to the girl’s side as she carefully concentrated on the stone. Before she could bring the pebble up into Bella’s line of sight, however, her energy wavered and it fell to the ground with a small thud. Diving down after it, she quickly tried to raise it up once more. Her efforts were of no use as her energy was nearly depleted.

Instead, she tried waving her hands frantically in front of Bella’s face, but with her headphones plugged tightly into her ears, the girl was utterly oblivious to all that went on around her. Emily quietly groaned in frustration at her shortcomings, but she wasn’t ready to give up just yet. In an act of desperation, she reached out and sunk her hands into Bella’s body. Though the girl didn’t appear to be fazed one bit by the intrusion, Emily felt a burst of energy pass through her from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her toes. The feeling shocked her at first, causing her to hastily jerk her hands away, but then she had a brilliant idea. Emily placed one of her small hands on Bella’s shoulder. Almost instantly, she could feel energy start to pour into her palm and tingle its way up her arm.

Before that energy could start to dissipate, Emily immediately bent down, picked up another stone and tossed it right at Bella. Dumbfounded, the young girl abruptly stopped and turned her head in the direction that the little rock had come from. She glanced around with a look of confusion, but after a moment, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued on her way.

The two girls had already reached the broken fence at the back of the cemetery before Emily could try anything else to draw Bella’s attention. Now all she could do was helplessly watch as her companion departed and got further and further away. Not one to easily be defeated, however, she vowed to herself that she would keep trying for as long as necessary—she didn’t care how many days, weeks or months it might take her. One way or another, she would get Bella to notice her.

Day after day, Emily tried in vain to get Bella’s attention. She tried everything she could think of—from throwing objects and making noises to tugging at Bella’s hair and jumping into her body. No matter what she tried, never once did Bella even so much as flinch. If she did notice anything at all, she merely ignored it and picked up her pace to leave the cemetery as quickly as possible.

Emily had to draw increasingly more power from Bella each time she interacted with her, but she still always failed to accomplish what she had set out to do in the first place. That didn’t deter her from siphoning off the girl’s energy, though, as she had grown quite addicted to it. Eventually, she became so attached to Bella that she even felt an overwhelming urge to follow her home. The only problem was that she needed a lot more energy to break past the barrier of the cemetery.

As weeks passed by, Emily was able to go a little further outside of the bounds of Goldenvale’s perimeter. She was so delighted with her progress that she never noticed that the happy-go-lucky Bella was slowly becoming more lethargic. Her sunny disposition had turned gray, and the light in her eyes had begun to fade.

After a few months of relentlessly pursuing Bella, Emily was able to get almost halfway across the field in front of the girl’s house before she was forced to return to the cemetery. At the rate she was going, it wouldn’t be long before she could follow Bella all the way home and stay with her forever. Emily couldn’t wait for that day to come, but she knew that she had to be patient for only a little while longer. Unfortunately, her patience was being tested. It had been almost a whole week and a half since she last saw Bella, and she couldn’t stand the separation. If she wasn’t reunited with the girl soon, she would start to grow weaker. And then what would she do?

As she sat on her favorite bench, lamenting her situation, she heard a commotion coming from the newer area of the cemetery. With her curiosity piqued, she momentarily forgot about her woes and wandered over to have a look at what was happening. The grave diggers had come with their big machinery to dig a hole in preparation for a new interment. It had been quite awhile since the last burial had occurred at Goldenvale. In a tiny town like theirs, it was actually quite a rarity. Like all the ghosts in the graveyard, Emily became excited by the prospect of meeting someone new.

The next day, a large crowd of people arrived at the cemetery. Dressed in all black, the guests tearfully trailed behind the pall-bearers as they carried a casket to its final resting place. Wailing sobs of sorrow broke out as a priest gave his eulogy and family members recounted their fond memories. Though the dead were all greatly curious about the newcomer, they respectfully kept their distance and allowed the living their time to say goodbye to their loved one. The burial service did not last long, but the grieving crowd took their time with their departure. As they eventually thinned out, those that were left could be heard talking about what had happened. Emily managed to overhear a few snippets of their conversations.

“...it’s just so sad...she was so young...”

“...doctors couldn’t explain it...”

“...so weak...her body just gave out...”

The bits that she did manage to overhear made Emily’s stomach sink. No, no, no...it can’t be. It can’t be her. As soon as the terrible thought had wormed its way into her head, she saw Bella appear beyond the few mourners that remained. Standing by a freshly engraved headstone, invisible tears made ghostly trails down the girl’s pale, translucent face as she gazed at a grief-stricken couple who could only be her parents.

As Emily stared at Bella in disbelief, the horrible truth of what she’d done became all too apparent. The others had warned her so many times about the harm that could come from trying to make contact with the living, but she had stupidly ignored them. In her selfish pursuit of Bella’s friendship, not only had she taken the poor girl’s energy, but she had inadvertently robbed her of her precious life. Bottling up her guilt, now all she could do was smile and wave back at the girl whose attention she had finally gotten.