Nightfall ✓

Chapter 8

There was a little healthy ten year old boy named Timmy who lived at Waverly Hills. Like so many other children who resided there he was not sick, but both of his parents were admitted with Stage Three Tuberculosis. Timmy had no other family and no place else to live. The unaffected children all lived together away from the other patients. They had a playground built on the roof of the hospital with a space to run and play ball.
Timmy was outgoing and quickly captured the heart of a young nurse named Susan Hilguart. Every day at 2pm she would play ball and talk to him on the roof for hours.
Timmy's favorite possessions included a ball and a music box shaped like a treasure chest that his parents had given him. Once, he wound it up until the spring broke and it stopped playing music. Timmy still carried it in his pocket everyday anyway.
One summer day while Susan was busy with the other children, Timmy was chasing his ball and tragedy struck. Timmy had fallen or was pushed off the roof and fell five stories to his death.
Susan was heartbroken and asked Timmy's parents if she could keep the broken music box to remember him by. She was granted her wish. She displayed the broken music box on a shelf in her living room so that every time she would pass it, she could think about him.
Many years passed. One day while cleaning her room at 2pm the music box started to play. She ran over and opened the box to make it louder. The music filled her ears as tears filled her eyes. The music from that little treasure chest unlocked the forgotten memories of Timmy, as if no time had ever passed. She remembered all the pranks, conversations and laughs that they shared.
As quickly as the music started, the little music box suddenly stopped playing. Her room was once again silent. She grabbed the little music box off the shelf to wind it, but when she looked inside, the box was empty.
Timmy appears as a 6-7 year old boy on the upper floors of the hospital. He runs from room to room. Roll a wobbly Kmart rubber ball down the hall, and Timmy willroll it back to you.

Ash snapped the lid of the laptop shut. "Holy shit." A cold wave of horror washed over me. "Hazel...that ball I saw."

I nodded. I knew what she was thinking: we had been mere footsteps away from a ghost.

∞

I turned the lock and put my headphones on, and started jogging down my usual path. It was a pleasant morning; cold wind ruffled my ponytailed hair, birds chirped, and the sun was just the right amount of hot.

I breathed in huge gulps of the fresh air. I routinely ran along the perimeter of the park behind my house, and then sat and rested on the bench for a few minutes before going back home.

It had only been a minute since I'd sat after finishing my five rounds when I felt someone push my headphones down, so that they hung around my neck. I stiffened, then turned around to glare at the person, and Liam stood there, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey. Scared you?"

"A little," I admitted. "But mostly you annoyed me."

He dropped into the bench next to me. He wore a sleeveless jersey with shorts, and his head and neck were wet with sweat. I had no idea how he could wear those clothes and sweat so much in November, even though November had just begun. I myself was wearing full track pants with a t-shirt and a light sweater. "What are you doing here at six in the morning?" he inquired.

I shrugged. "Just jogging."

"Why? You're already fit!" He poked my waist.

"I'm thin because I jog, idiot, and I jog because I was on the basketball team. It's become a habit."

Because of his sleeveless t-shirt, I could see the line from where his tan began. His dragon tattoo was just below that line. I touched it with my forefinger, expecting it to be rough, but it was just as smooth and soft as his skin, like a birthmark. Liam was watching me curiously. I blushed. "Why did you get this tattoo?" I asked quickly, hoping to divert his attention.