Flowers For The Ghost

• Hailey Bangan, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

BEEEEEPP!!! Both the car and bike swerved, in hope of not hitting the other…but sadly, the attempt was unsuccessful. At the schoolboy’s funeral, many came to mourn and send condolences to his family.
In the middle of a flowering field a few blocks from his school, friends and classmates created a memorial where his bike and other belongings were displayed. That was 100 years ago. Today, a path leading up to a new high school goes past his memorial.
It was a fair day and I was excited to be walking to school with my friends for the first time. As we walked through the park, something caught my eye. A bunch of pretty flowers lay in the middle of the path.
“Don’t these flowers look pretty?” I asked Rellie.
“Weird, they were just lying there…but yeah, they are!” I held the flowers, “We can show them to Riri when we pick her up!”
After picking up Riri, we were almost at the school when something on the side of the path made me stop again. A fallen wooden post with the letters ‘y...u…wil...b...mis…d.’ I couldn’t make out what it said but once I saw all of the old, dust and dirt-covered items, my overactive imagination made up a story. Little did I know how important it would become. Every morning since that day, we’ve been offering flowers to the ghost our imaginations created, hoping it will grant us a good day in return.
‘Life as a ghost has been pretty cool for the last century or so. Buildings are going up so fast nowadays. Just another morning...oh yeah, it’s my birthday today. Wait! What are they doing here? Flowers? They couldn’t possibly know I’m still bound here as a ghost… Either way, it’s nice to have visitors other than the builders who dig up all the fields around me. Although I’m technically 113 today, I don’t think I’ve aged a bit. These girls look around the same age as I was when...yeah. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if something happened to them. I think I’ll follow them around...just in case - but only for today.’
“Woah! That car was going way faster than it should’ve been.” I sighed. “Lucky it stopped just before the crossing though.”
“Yeah, I agree Rellie,” Riri replied. We’ve been really lucky since school started. Or rather since we started giving flowers to the ghost. We actually came up with a nickname for him; Kirky. Because of the ‘Kirks’ can, that lay next to the rest of the items. I plan to visit Kirky every day, just like what we’ve been doing.
‘I’m at your side, even if you don’t know. I want each of you to make the most of the life you were given, because you only get to live it once. Enjoy every second of it. Don’t worry about a thing...I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.’