Young Writers Society

This story is the rambling of a confused mind and the product of a sleepless night, in preparation for a writing contest that has long since passed. Please help me make it better.

Ferris looked over the sliver of a house. In his eyes, it was anything but. He saw a creature trying to cling to the sturdy walls of the buildings beside it. It was a cobble of brick, wood, tin, and concrete, and looked as if a child's vague scribble of a house had come to life.

The moving van had come and gone, leaving hardly a trace, except for the two boxes sitting on the front stoop. Ferris’ mother was still on the phone, just like she had been when they had left their old home, nearly two hours ago. His father was already relieving the poor trunk of its cargo. It had been stuffed so tightly the windows were threatening to crack. Ferris only had a small suit case and a small Swiss army bag now hanging at his side. It was stuffed with coloured pencils that ranged the whole colour spectrum. He clung to his notebook where lay a half-finished drawing of a human eye, and he stared at the jagged creature that was now his new home.“Go on, Ferry,” his mother, ending her call and clicked her phone shut, seeing his look of disbelief. “Once you see the inside, you’ll be in love.”

“I'm sure I will,” he retorted snappily, hoisting his bag farther up his shoulder before skulking inside.

If it was possible, he hated the interior more than the exterior. It smelled like fish that had been left out in the open- something rotting, anyway. The walls were painted dark red and brown. The wood floor was at an angle and splintered from thousands of footsteps. He climbed a set of steep stairs to the very top floor, where it was comfortably warm. He could see the dark, clouded sky from a small hole in the ceiling. Here, there was a light green carpet covering the wooden floor.

“Do you like it?” asked the voice behind him. He whirled around to see his mother. “This can be your room if you like.”

He shrugged. “I guess it'll work. But I’ll need to fix that hole in the ceiling.”

His mother smiled sadly. “I'm sorry, dear."

"For what?"

"Sorry about this move. I know you liked the old house.”

“It’s good for your job, Mom,” he replied curtly. “I’m just a little angry. It will probably pass.”

She sighed softly and ruffled her hair on her way out.

But it wasn’t true. Any of it. He was silent on the inside. Why did it have to be him? All of his friends were back there, in the cosy little school with every grade but kindergarten, laughing and having a good time without him. He sat down on the green rug and smushed his face into his hands. A little angry wasn’t a good way to describe it. He wasn’t angry. Just glum, and frustrated.

Are you all right?

He jerked his head up to the sound. It was like the dry wind scuttling through thousands of cobwebs. His head whipped from side to side and he looked at every nook and cranny in the small attic before going back to pitying his life.

Well, he tried to, anyway, because the second he lowered his head it came again.

Are you okay?

Cautiously, he looked around. Still no one. But he was sure he had heard a girl speak.

It’s rude not to answer.

“Sorry!” he blurted, startled. Ferris jumped up. The whisper had been right in his ear.

There was a giggle, like the faint echo of tiny bells and then a laughter-stained reply.

That’s all right. But truly, are you well?

He nodded slowly. “I suppose so. Who are you? Are you a ghost?"

I'm not quite a ghost, more what you would consider a spirit. And my name is Aelita. Her voice held a smile to it. What's your name?

Ferris was just a bit shocked. He had met a spirit! He sat slowly back down on the floor.

"So... how did you become a spirit?"

It's a long story.

"How did you die?" He asked, before realising his mistake. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be personal!"

I would answer your question, if I knew the answer.

"You forgot?"

I'm not dead.

Ferris blinked. Since when could a spirit not be dead? It boggled his mind, and instantly he wanted thousands more answers.

"How does that work? What do you mean by not dead?"

It's... a long story, and I'm not sure I have a lot of time to explain. But, I must ask again. Are you all right?

"...Yes. I'm just a bit depressed, is all."

Ah. I see. So what is your name? I heard your Mother calling you Ferry, but I suppose that is not it.

“I don't think I should be telling you that.”

I suppose I'll just call you Ferry, then, if that's all right.

"I... suppose?" Ferris shrugged. In all honesty, this was not how he expected his day to go, and it was frankly quite surreal.

So. Ferry. What's gotten you so depressed?

“We just moved,” he confessed, settling back down onto the green carpet. “and this is our new home. To be honest, it’s not what I expected. And I miss my friends more than anything.”

There came an echoing sigh. It is the same with me. I must reside here until it is my time to go, and then I will go, regardless if I feel I should or not.

He wanted to ask more, but it was then that he heard the faint call from down the stairs, the call of his father, and turned back to his room.

“I have to go, Aelita. Will you still be here when I get back?”

Yes, She replied. I'm almost always here.

He gave one last glance into the empty room, and dashed downstairs.

*

Over the next few weeks, he found a friend in Aelita. He learned about her parents, how they had taken her to an academy when she was ten and she lived there until she was thirteen.

The academy was awful. Many of the students were very rude to me, and I felt so alone. Then, when I turned thirteen, I was taken to a separate place, more like a hospital. She revealed to him.

“Do you know why?” he asked. “Were you sick?”

But she wouldn't say to him any more than that about her past, except for the time before her tenth birthday. One event in particular she loved to bring up.

There was once a birthday of a little prince. She would sigh. My parents were invited to a cocktail party with his parents, and they took me along. His family lived in a large mansion, much like a castle, and for the little prince’s birthday party there were mountains of candy, thousands of games, activities, snacks, a famous magician, and a clown. It was glorious.We played hide and seek, laser tag, and polo, each with our own little ponies. The little prince had maybe fifteen other children at his party. But there was one thing that shall be engraved in my mind for a very long time.

“What?” asked Ferris, intrigued.

He had just blown out the candles to the cake. There was a lot of noise. Everyone was talking at once to one another. And he leaned over and whispered in my ear, very quickly, ‘I wished for my parents to spend more time with me’. And in that second it was done and he was back in his chair, speaking to one person or another on popular television shows or games.

Ferris opened his mouth to speak but Aelita hurried on.

I love my parents so much I would probably die for them. It does not matter that they left me at that school. I would take a bullet to the chest for them.

There was an empty silence before Ferris reached out into the empty air of the room and held out his hand, palm up.

What are you doing?

“Take my hand,” he said. “You’re starting to sound a little melancholy yourself.”

After a moment, he felt something on his own hand, like cobwebs or fluttering snow. Ferris held tightly to Aelita’s fingers. She sniffled.

I miss my old life, She confessed after a moment. Her voice was hollow. I miss the rotten, mean boys at school. I miss the horrid food they served in the cafeteria. I miss my dorm house and my friends. I just want to go back.

Secretly, Ferris agreed. He still missed his own friends, his old house, and his old school.

I suppose we are not too different in the way we feel about our lives, Aelita finished, as if she had read his mind. Ferris slowly shook his head, releasing her hand and then plopping down on his bed.

“Aelita,” he finally spoke after what seemed like an hour. “are you a ghost?”

But she was gone.

*

Weeks passed. Then months. September rolled by and passed into October. The leaves on the trees turned burgundy and maroon and yellow. Bushes flamed with their new-found colour. Every coffee shop had something pumpkin flavoured on their shelves. And Ferris still couldn't hear Aelita. He called her every day for four weeks before he just gave up and slowly sank back into his dismal state. Each day he snapped a little more and smiled a little less. School work consumed him. He had no friends and was getting on bad terms with many at his high school. It was with a heavy heart that he climbed the stairs to his room one morning and flopped onto his bed. The hole in his ceiling still wasn't repaired, and there was a patch of damp in the floorboards where it had rained earlier. Ferris wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. All he had left was school and this house.

And oh, did he hate this house.

He threw his backpack on the floor, opened it, and grabbed one of the textbooks that he hurled against the wall. Within a second, he grabbed a binder and started ripping out the pages. He ripped and ripped until there was no more paper to fuel his anger, and he slid to the floor, covering his face with his hands.

Ferry?

Immediately, his head picked up and he looked around the room.

Ferry! Are you all right?

“Yes,” he answered. “Yes. Yes, I'm fine. Where did you go?”

Oh Ferry, She sighed. What did you do?

“I got angry,” he confessed sheepishly.

There was the cobweb feeling on his cheek. I'm sorry, Ferry.

“What? Why?”

I have to go.

“GO?!” Ferris jumped from the floor. “Go? But you just got back! You're here now, aren't you?!”

I know. But I was called. Like I said, I must reside here until it is my time to go, and then I will go, regardless if I feel I should or not.

“And do you feel you should?”

The air seemed to shrug. I have to.

His chin fell onto his chest. “Fine then. Go.”

Suddenly, he felt something, like a sort of electricity. The hairs on his arms stood on end. He felt the cobwebs around his whole torso. She was giving him a hug. After a moment, he closed his eyes and hugged her back.

I’m so sorry, She whispered before stepping out of the hug.

He opened his eyes. But instead of seeing the plain air before him, he saw a girl. Her red hair flowed on an invisible breeze and she was dressed simply in khakis and a plain white shirt. She was flickering, as if she was a light-bulb about to burn out.

“Aelita?!” he asked.

She nodded.

“Goodbye, Ferry," she smiled. "I will, truly, miss you.”

Aelita held her hand to him.

"But I have to go now."

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Ferris stood in shocked silence.

Then he held out his hand, palm up.

He closed his eyes and thought he felt the gentlest touch of cobwebs...