The Ghost of the Rising Sun

by Gillian M.
(South Carolina)

Tempus fugit

There once was a little girl with big brown eyes and a freckled face that was covered by long, curly, and somewhat messy hair. She wore glasses and didn’t have many friends. Actually, she never really had a friend her whole life.

It was the beginning of August, when school was starting, and she was her usual, shy self. She didn’t intend to make any friends because she never had one before so why start now? But that morning a new friendship was born.

The brown-eyed girl was reading a book when a girl with red cheeks and long, blond hair came in. These two were total opposites, one sat in the corner reading, the other was a glamorous superstar that everyone adored even though she was new. Normal things were going to change, that morning fate took a new twist.

As time ticked slowly by on the clock, the new girl realized that this freckle-faced girl with glasses didn’t treat her the same way that the other kids did, she wasn’t crawling all over her trying to convince her that being friends was the best possible choice, and she kind of liked it.

Quickly, but cautiously, she walked to the freckle-faced girl. “What is your name?” she asked. “Carmen,” she replied. “I was wondering if you wanted to sleep over at my house tonight but if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.” “I would like that. What time should I come over?” “How about four?” “Alright,” replied Carmen. “Okay, see you then,” said Allinah.

At four Carmen arrived at Allinah’s house. It was huge. They did tons of fun things and then decided to go to sleep. When Carmen woke the next morning, Allinah was already up. She was writing in her journal at her desk. When two o'clock came, it was time to go. She said “thank you” and left.

The next day at school Carmen asked Allinah if she wanted to come over to her house. She said it sounded fun. So when Carmen got home she told her mother that Allinah wanted to come over. “Listen,” she said with a soft voice. “ Allinah is dead. She died yesterday.” “But that’s not possible - I saw her today.” “I’m sorry,” said Carmen’s mom. “I’m going to call her now. I’ll show you.” Carmen called and Allinah’s mom said that it was true, Allinah was dead.

That evening at six o clock, the doorbell rang. It was Allinah. Carmen took her upstairs to her room. “What the…how did you…uh, er, um. Look, you’re supposed to be dead aren’t you?” “I am dead and I need your help.” “My help?! What can I do?’ “After you left that afternoon, a robber came and tried to take everything he could. I confronted him and tried to stop him so he shot me.” “Then how are you here?” “I can only come out at night. If the sun is out, I become an invisible ghost. When it is dark, only you can see me, no one else can.” “Why me?” “The ghost can choose one person to talk to and get help from. I need you to help me do something. Need you to help me find a spell.” “A spell?! What do you mean?” “I’m a witch and I know that there is a spell that can rewind time but I need your help to find it. If we can turn back time to yesterday, then I can stop the robber from killing me. Can you help?” “I don’t know about this.” “Please. I really need your help.” “Okay, I’ll do it.” “Meet me at 2:00 a.m. when it is still dark and we can look for the spell.” “Okay, it doesn’t sound too hard,” said Carmen. ”Well, um,” said Allinah. “There IS more. You see, we have to find it before a certain time or else….” “Or else what?” “If we don’t find it, then I’m gonna disappear forever.” “How much time do we have?” “Until my parents have my funeral and bury me.” “When is your funeral?” “I was watching them and it’s, um, well, it’s the, um, okay – it’s the day after tomorrow!” She blurted out. “We should start right now.”

“Okay, let’s go downstairs where the books are; we have lots!!!” Alright, we should…Wow,” she said as they walked into the room that had books stacked as high as the ceiling everywhere. “HURRY,” they said to each other. They read for hours and hours until they thought their eyes were going to bleed. Then all of a sudden Allinah vanished. “Uh oh, it’s 10:00, the sun is out, and I’M LATE FOR SCHOOL!!! I’ll be back at eight when it’s dark,” she said to the air a little confused.

At school she couldn’t focus as she was worried that they wouldn’t find the spell and that Allinah would disappear…forever. When the bell rang, she ran for Allinah’s house as fast as she could. She was halfway there when she remembered that it wasn’t dark yet. When it was dark, she went to Allinah’s basement and found Allinah reading a spell book. “We only have tonight,” she said. “Tomorrow is my funeral!” “We should start now.”

They read all night until four in the morning. The sun was rising in one hour and they still hadn’t found the spell. They looked and looked. No luck. It was 4:57 a.m. They only had three minutes until the tip of the sun would show over the mountain tops and Allinah would disappear forever. It was 4:58. “We have to hurry,” screamed Carmen. “I know!!!” replied Allinah, filled with worry. “4:59 – “Here it is!!” cried Carmen, “take my hand.” “Why?” “Because it says so, HURRY. I don’t want to loose you.” Ten seconds till 5:00. Carmen read with Allinah, “With the help of a person, you have found a way to save a special friend and bring them back to human form before their life would fully end.”

Once they finished the spell, they held each other close as a cloud of fog and dust rose through the air and spun around them. Then they heard a sound, a beep. They turned around. The clock said 5:00 a.m. “It worked!!” Allinah cried. “Thank you, Thank you!” Allinah said with tears running down her cheeks. They walked upstairs and they saw Allinah’s mom. “How did you do it?” she asked Allinah. Allinah stepped aside and Allinah’s mom broke down in tears and hugged Carmen. “I don’t know how you managed to find the spell but thank you so much!!” “No problem, I just wanted to help the only friend I have.”

Then Carmen remembered some thing.”What day is it?” “Uh oh, it’s the day of the robbery. She looked at the clock which said 4:00 p.m. “That was when I left.” “Hurry, we have to hide before…tap, tap, and tap.” They heard foot steps coming closer to the house. They ran as fast as they could. Allinah's mom followed them up the stairs. Carmen and Allinah’s mom ran down the hall but Allinah grabbed a broom and backed into the room at the top of the stairs. They heard the robber run up the stairs and when he got to the top... BAM!

Allinah hit him with the broom and he fell down the stairs. Allinah’s mom heard the crash and ran down the hall, followed by Carmen. They hugged each other and then…there was a knock at the door. They all ran to get it. Allinah got there first and opened the door. It was her father. She hugged him and then Allinah and Carmen walked to Carmen’s house where they had some hot chocolate and went to bed.