The Key To Ghost World Page 5

  “Hey Jaedon!” Sam yelled. “Look what we got you!”

  He tossed a new deck of cards at Jaedon. “You got cards and I got some Hot Wheels. I picked out the cards for you. Aren’t they cool? Want to play tonight?”

  “Maybe before we go to bed.” Jaedon liked the new Sam. Sam had never picked anything out for Jaedon before. Sam usually cried if Jaedon got something new. This was a nice change.

  Jaedon turned to mom. “Hannah’s mom asked if I could come for supper tonight. I’m supposed to call her back. They eat at 5:30 and her mom would come get me and bring me home later. Can I go?”

  “Sure. If you have her phone number, I will call her for you. You should go get cleaned up.”

  Jaedon gave her Hannah’s phone number and went to wash his hands and face and put on a clean shirt. Randy was sitting on the side of his bed, his feet tapping a rhythm on the floor. He held Jaedon’s PSP in his hands rubbing the game system with his thumbs.

  Jaedon pulled a clean shirt out of the dresser. “What’s wrong?”

  Randy rubbed the back of his neck. ”What if they don’t like me?”

  “They’ll like you. Just don’t make a pig of yourself at the table.”

  Randy looked up. “I don’t think ghosts eat.” he said finally.

  “What do you mean ‘you don’t think’? Don’t you KNOW?”

  “I’ve never gotten hungry. I never thought about it. Nobody has invited me to dinner since I died. I don’t know if I’m supposed to eat or not. I don’t know how I’m supposed to act. I’m not sure that I should go with you. Nope. I think I’ll just stay here.”

  “Hannah’s great grandma will be there. She’s a ghost too. You can talk to her and find out.”

  Randy finally smiled. “Cool! I wish there were a school for ghosts. I feel stupid not knowing how to act.”

  “You’ll learn. Hannah’s family will help. Let’s go. I see their car coming down the street.”

  Hannah’s mom was at the front door chatting with Samantha when Jaedon bounded down the stairs. A slim woman in a red sleeveless blouse and white shorts, she looked like she was ready to go play tennis. She had a wide smile that stretched across her face.

  “Hi, Jaedon. Hannah is waiting in the car.” Turning to Samantha, she promised Jaedon’s mom that she would have him home in a few hours.

  Jaedon climbed in the back seat beside Hannah. Randy appeared between them.

  “Hi, Randy. It’s good to see you again.”

  Randy’s smile filled his face. Jaedon realized that it had probably been lonely to be invisible to everyone except him.

  Hannah and Randy started talking about things that happened before Jaedon moved to the neighborhood. Jaedon thought they had probably been pretty good friends. He wondered why Randy hadn’t gone to Hannah’s and haunted her.

  He wished they would include him in their conversation, but Randy had been alone for so long that Jaedon didn’t want to interrupt. He would have plenty of time to talk after they had caught up.

  The Newton house smelled like lasagna and lemon furniture polish. Leather furniture filled the living room surrounded by portraits, some recent and some very old.

  Hannah’s dad, Mark Newton, was setting the table. He was tall and thin, and his whiskered face reminded Jaedon of Abraham Lincoln. He wore a Cancun t-shirt and cut off jeans.

  Jaedon looked around for Hannah’s grandmother. He didn’t see her. The table was set for four so Jaedon assumed ghosts didn’t eat.

  Hannah was showing Randy some school pictures from last year when Jaedon noticed a shimmering light next to Hannah’s shoulder. As he stared at it, it became brighter. Slowly it formed into a person. Transparent at first and then more solid, until standing next to Randy and Hannah was a handsome woman in a long blue dress.

  She turned to Jaedon and smiled. “You must be Jaedon. I’m Hannah’s great grandmother. My name is Carolyn and that’s what I’d like you to call me. Please come into the living room and sit with me.”

  Jaedon followed her into the cheery room. He wasn’t quite sure how you were supposed to act around ghosts. He wanted to say that he was sorry she was dead, but didn’t think that would be polite so he didn’t say anything.

  “Jaedon, Hannah tells me that you’ve never seen ghosts before and that you are confused about Randy. Is that right?”

  “Uhm, I don’t know. I’m not sure why I can see him. He keeps getting me in trouble. But I like him. I wish he were real. Then he could be my friend.”

  “He can still be your friend, Jaedon. He just isn’t the sort of friend that you are used to. He’s a special kind of friend. You just need to learn about ghosts. Who they are; what they do. Once you understand, you will love having ghost friends, I promise. Now, we have a couple minutes before you eat, do you have any questions?”

  “Don’t ghosts eat?

  “No, we don’t have physical bodies so we don’t need to eat. The reason that you can see Randy and me is because you have a special sense. Most people have five senses. Did you study that in school?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t do very well in that subject.” Jaedon looked down at his feet.

  “We won’t worry about that. Just know that you see and feel more than most people. You can see ghosts. You are special. Very special.”

  “Are there scary ghosts? I don’t want to see scary ghosts.”

  “I’ve been around a long, long time and I’ve never seen a scary ghost. I really don’t think they exist.”

  “Will I see ghosts in the store or at the playground? How will I know if I am seeing a ghost or a real person?”

  “Can you tell by looking at Randy that he is a ghost?”

  “No, he looks just like a normal kid. The first time I saw him, I thought he was a real kid.”

  “Have you ever noticed a glow above his head?”

  “Like an angel’s halo?”

  “Well, not exactly like an angel’s halo, but a glow?”

  Jaedon thought for a moment. “No.”

  “Can you see a glow over my head?”

  “Well, it’s awfully bright in here. I don’t see a glow.”

  “Look very hard.”

  “I still don’t see it.”

  “Let me ask you something else. When you first saw me, how did I look?”

  “I saw a little light. It got bigger. And then I could see you, but I could see right through you. I stared at you and then you weren’t see-through anymore.”

  “OK. I want you to stare above my head the same way you were staring at me when I was see-through in the dining room.”

  Jaedon stared above her head. Nothing.

  “Concentrate, Jaedon.”

  He stared harder. Suddenly he saw it. A blue glow around her head. He smiled.

  “Very good, Jaedon. You are seeing my aura. Most auras are blue. If you ever see a person that you think might be a ghost, look for the blue aura. Now, unhappy ghosts have red auras. I doubt that you will ever see a red aura.”

  “Cool!”

  “Anymore questions?”

  “Why aren’t you in heaven?”

  “I chose to stay with my family. I have plenty of time to go to heaven.”

  “Why did Randy stay?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask him while you are eating. I think they are putting dinner on the table now. Would you like to go wash up before sitting down?” Standing up, she took Jaedon’s hand in hers. It was cool and marshmellowy soft.

  She walked Jaedon down the wide hallway and pointed to the bathroom.

  When he returned to the dining room, Randy and Carolyn were in the living room on the couch. Randy was laughing at something that Carolyn was telling him. Hannah and her parents were sitting at the table. Smiling shyly, Jaedon took the empty seat.

  Chapter 12 - Jaedon gets help learning about ghosts

  The lasagna was the best that Jaedon had ever eaten. Cheese oozed out and begged to be scooped up and tasted.

  Jaedon self consciously used his fork
to cut a bite sized piece of lasagna. He wasn’t used to eating with other people and hoped he didn’t look like a dork. But, the Newton family was too busy having fun to worry about whether Jaedon ate lasagna like the rest of the world.

  Mark Newton shared stories of his day at work, telling them of a squirrel he watched at lunch time in the park. The squirrel was wily. It hid behind a tree and kept sneaking out to steal food from a couple picnicking nearby.

  Mark was chuckling as he told his rapt audience how the woman had accused the man of stealing her fruit. When he denied it, she got angry. Meanwhile, the squirrel was huddled behind the tree enjoying every bite.

  “Who wants Moose Tracks?” asked Hannah’s mom, standing up and gathering the empty plates.

  “Goody!” yelled Hannah. “I’ll help you dish them up!” They disappeared into the kitchen leaving Jaedon and Mark at the table.

  “Are you OK, Jaedon?” Hannah’s dad leaned across the table.

  “I’m fine.”

  “It’s all pretty new, isn’t it? I remember my first ghost.” His kind eyes twinkled. “No one I knew had ever seen a ghost. My parents didn’t believe in them. It was pretty confusing to me. Actually, I was lucky to meet Hannah’s mom. She helped me understand that some people see ghosts. She made it easy for me. If it hadn’t been for her help, I never would have learned how to deal with ghosts. We want to help you. That is, if you want our help.”

  “I’d like that very much, sir. I’m not sure what to do with Randy around. He keeps getting me in trouble. I like him but he does things and people think that I’m doing things and I get in trouble for it. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Sometimes I wish he were gone, but I’d miss him. And I don’t know why he chose me.”

  “Well, son, I can tell you that ghosts choose you for a reason. Carolyn chose to stay with us after she died. She protects us and helps us when we need help. She is a great help in the kitchen. She stopped me from putting salt in a cake once. I thought it was sugar.” He paused, and then continued. “That would have been a terrible cake. Yes, she is very welcome here.”

  Taking a drink from his glass, he said, “Hannah’s mother had a ghost help her through college. The ghost stayed long enough to help Hannah’s mother understand physics. Once her work was complete, the ghost was gone.”

  “But why is Randy with me? I didn’t ask for any help. I don’t know why he came to me.”

  “Has he helped you with anything since he showed up? Has your life gotten any better?”

  “Well, yeah. My step dad was always mean to me. He moved out.”

  “Did Randy have anything to do with that?”

  “Well, he kept giving John wedgies every time he got mean.”

  “Wedgies, huh?” Mark Newton’s eyes twinkled.

  “Who’s talking about wedgies?” Hannah’s mom asked as she carried two bowls of Moose Tracks into the dining room. Hannah followed with two more bowls filled with the ice cream treat.

  “Randy gave Jaedon’s step dad wedgies whenever he would get mean. He moved out.”

  “See!” said Hannah, “I told you that Randy was here to help.”

  Randy and Carolyn joined them in the dining room. Jaedon concentrated on their heads and soon saw the blue aura. It shimmered just above their heads. He wondered why he hadn’t been able to see it until tonight.

  “Carolyn, what did you learn from Randy?” Hannah’s dad asked.

  “Randy wanted to help Jaedon. He’s a little new at this. He didn’t know how he could help, but he wanted Jaedon to have a better life than he was having. He settled on wedgies as a form of punishing the bad guys.”

  The family around the table broke into laughter.

  “Well", said Randy, “I didn’t want to scare anybody too bad and it did make John stop picking on Jaedon. And Sam doesn’t pick on him anymore either.”

  “Does that mean that you’ll be going away?” asked Jaedon afraid of hearing the answer.

  “Nope. I’m not going anywhere. Well, actually, I am going to spend some time here learning how to do this ghost thing better. Carolyn is going to teach me. There are all sorts of tricks that I didn’t know I could do. But, I will be your ghost as long as you want me.”

  Jaedon grinned with relief.

  “And we will help you learn to live with a ghost,” said Hannah. “Lesson one. Never, ever tell anyone that you can see ghosts unless you know that they can see them too. People just don’t understand.”

  “What about my brother and my mother? Sam knows. He can’t see Randy, but he has seen Randy do things and has gotten a couple of wedgies.” This got a chuckle all around the table. “What should I tell him?”

  “Tell him the truth, but only if he asks.” Hannah’s dad suggested, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “I think he believes that Randy exists. You can’t convince him that what he has seen hasn’t happened, but you don’t have to tell him that Randy is your friend. You can just pretend that you don’t know why there is a ghost around.”

  “But, he keeps telling my mom that I have a monster. Then she gets mad at me for scaring him.”

  “That’s my fault.” offered Randy. “I’ll cool it around Sam, but I’d sure like to give him a high-five to his face sometimes.”

  “It’s getting late”, said Hannah’s mother. “We need to get Jaedon home. I do hope you’ll come to see us often, Jaedon.”

  “So do I,” said her dad. “You are a nice young man. Perhaps you would like to come fishing with us this summer. We usually go once a week. Would you like that?”

  “Sure!”

  “Can I come too?” asked Randy.

  “Of course you can. Now, let’s get Jaedon home. Are you going to come with us or are you going to pop?”

  “I think I’ll just pop. I’ll meet you at home, Jaedon.” He closed his eyes and, with a popping noise disappeared leaving an odor that soon disappeared as fast as Randy had.

  “I wish I could do that!” Jaedon said.

  “Well, you’ll just have to settle for the old fashioned way. There are some neat things that Randy can help you do, but regular people can’t pop. Are you ready to go home? I’ll drive you.”

  When Jaedon got home, his mom and Sam were playing cards at the table.

  “Did you have fun?” asked mom.

  “I had a great time. They asked if I wanted to go fishing with them sometime. Can I?”

  “Sure. Want to play some cards?”

  “No, actually, I’m really tired. I’ll just do my chores and then go to bed.”

  “I already did your chores”, said Sam. “I cleared the table, unloaded the dishwasher and loaded the dirty dishes. Then I did my own chores.”

  “Thank you,” Jaedon stammered. Sam had never helped Jaedon with his chores.

  “Well,” said Sam, “You’ve done mine for me plenty of times. I was just returning the favor. I wouldn’t want your ghost to get mad at me.” he added.