Becoming Acquainted with Millicent Vander

Becomin Acquainted with Millicent Vander (2)

“My parents would be angry they saw you here,” the girl continues, still in a whisper. “They don’t like it when I have visitors.”  

          Once I finally found the strength to open my mouth, I let out a shrill scream and stumbled backwards to collapse into the merry-go-round, sucking in huge, shaky breaths. Chris was shouting questions at me from the parking lot, demanding to know what was happening, but I was too consumed with what I was seeing to really hear him.

          “You . . . You’re dead,” I choked out, staring wide-eyed at her. My heart felt like it was being squeezed, and I wondered briefly if I was going to have a heart attack.

          She giggled. “Only a little bit. Maybe halfway.”

          “Wh—What are you . . .” I stammered, sliding a few more inches away from her on the metal merry-go-round. “Why aren’t you . . . how . . .”

          “I’m not sure what I’m still doing here, either,” she said with a sigh. Suddenly she looked up at me, soft, green eyes stark and vivid in the night as her hair fell away from her face. “I wonder why you can see me, though. Not many can.”

          I gulped in a few more huge breaths in attempt to gain my composure. “I . . . I guess not many bother to look,” I managed to say.

          Her plump lips curled up in a hint of a smile. “What’s your name?”

          I hesitated, chewing on my answer before it reluctantly fell off my tongue. “Skylar Gray.”

           “Well, nice to meet you, Skylar Gray.”  Rising from her swing, she held out her hand. “I’m Millicent Vander.”

          I swallowed hard before scrambling to my feet and grasping Millie’s hand. Surprisingly, her fingers were solid (I had my worries that I might have reached right through them) albeit cold.  After shaking her hand I let go instantly to rid myself of the icy feeling, rubbing my palms against my thighs to warm them.

          “Sorry,” Millie said. “I suppose I’m not quite the normal temperature, am I?”

          I nodded dumbly, still trying to process the sight before me. Millie wasn’t alive—at least, she wasn’t supposed to be. I was talking to a dead person. I had shaken a dead person’s hand. Either I was crazy, or I was becoming acquainted with the ghost of Millicent Vander.

          “Well, I’m glad you came,” Millie said. “It’s lonely here. Boring, too.”

          I leaned casually against the pole of the swing-set, wrapping my arms around its chilling metal.  “That’s true. Playgrounds are never any fun alone. But why don’t you leave the park, then?” I asked, my fear melted by the flame of burning curiosity. “There are plenty of things to do in Brisbane Heights.”

          “I can’t. Mother says I would frighten people,” she said, somewhat forlornly. “But you’re not frightened, are you?”  

          “Not anymore,” I said honestly. Somewhere along the way, my feelings had made an abrupt and unexplainable turn. After all, this girl didn’t seem to want to do me any harm. What would be the point in fearing her?

          She let out a sigh of relief. “Good. You know, you may be the nicest person I’ve ever met, Skylar Gray.”

          I smiled back. “And you’re the nicest ghost I’ve ever met, Millicent Vander.”