The Ghost of Her

Lily was her name. She was named after her mother’s passing, but she was just a baby to remember her. And eight years later the young Lily died as well, as if the name carried a curse within the family.

Lily was the younger of four children and they all lived with their father, a man who stand up after his wife’s passing only to take care of his children, but he could not handle the grief after his daughter’s dead.

The other kids of the family were the twins, Thomas and John, they were only nine years old when their little sister died. Alice was the older sister; she was eleven and two years after Lily’s dead she seemed to be the only one able to accept it. The twins barely knew the meaning of death while their father, he seemed to be a lost cause.

The father of the children struggled after his wife died, but when he lost his child, the pain was unbearable. His grieving after two years caused him nightmares, the feeling haunted him even in his dreams and, sometimes, he would not spot the difference between a dream and reality, he would alternate both worlds, so he started to see a doctor who kept him medicated and made the dreams disappear. But ever since summer began, the nightmare he thought he was trapped in suddenly turned into a dream, a dream where he could see a girl sitting next to him on his bed, this girl had brunette hair, but barely remembered her face, yet he thought the girl was the age of Alice and the first days he dreamt of her he thought it was his older daughter, but Alice had blonde hair as her mother.

One morning in the second summer without his younger daughter he woke up and the first thing he did was look outside the window of his room. The window had the view of the backyard of the house, he could see the swings from the window so he could keep and eye when his kids played there, but the summer lately seemed lonely. However, that morning he woke up he saw a girl sitting in the swings, but she was not swinging herself and he could not see her face, only her long brunette hair that seemed messy from his point of view. For a moment he thought she was the one he just dreamt about.

Without changing his clothes, he only grabbed his coat, put it on and left to the backyard where the girl was. The girl never seemed to notice him until he called her. “Excuse me, who are you?”

It was like waking up again when he saw her face. She had green eyes that seemed angelical under the sunlight and her little face only was a proof of her innocence. The girl stared at the man and said. “I am here to see Alice, she and I were supposed to meet here half an hour ago, but I guess she forgot it.”

The father assumed the girl was Alice’s friend, but the man could not remember a girl with her face among his daughter's friends, maybe his mind was playing him a trick, so he asked her. “Are you friend of Alice?”

“She is expecting me, sir,” said the girl, “but she’s probably still sleeping, I do not mind if she forgot it, but may I come in just to leave her a note?”

The man wavered, he did not know at all the girl in the swings, but what harm could she do?

Only the make sure the girl was someone to rely on, the man walked into the house and guide her to Alice’s room, his daughter was still sleeping which was unusual because she would always wake up early only to make sure she would be awake before the twins. The father could not understand why she was not awake yet, but he let the girl walk in her room and go next to Alice’s bed. He looked at her and waited for the girl to leave the note, but she did not. Instead, the stranger girl looked at Alice and then looked for her hand, what was she really trying to do?

“She will not wake up,” suddenly said and the man looked at her waiting for an explanation, “she is trapped in a dream and so are the twins. None will wake up if you don’t help them.”

The father looked at the girl without understanding the words she just stated, even though her voice was soft and had no intention to threaten the father, he feared for what he just heard.

“What did you say?” he asked a little bit concerned, “What are you talking about?”

“Try to wake her up and see it yourself, sir.” Said the girl stepping back from Alice’s bed only to let the father walk in and try to wake her up.

He thought the girl was someone’s daughter form the neighborhood and that she was only there to play him a bad joke, but before the father asked her to leave, he walked to his daughter’s bed and tried to wake her up, but she did not answer, her eyes remained closed, at least she was still breathing. Yet he got desperate, what was happening to his daughter? And how did the girl next to the bed knew it? Was she responsible? Did she do something to his daughter?

No, the father had to think straight, there was no way the girl could have done any harm, he walked her in the room and looked at her all the time, then what was happening?

In his desperation, he just looked again at the angelical eyes of the girl as if she were the answer and asked, “What do I do now? How do I wake her up?

“You must find them,” answered the girl, “but to do it you must fall asleep and get in the dream your children are trapped in, I can help you, if you allow me.”

The man looked at the girl, debating inside if the girl could actually help him, but he seemed to have no one else around. Before he allowed the girl to help him, he walked out of Alice’s room and checked the twins only to see if he could not either wake them up. Once he confirmed it, with desperation and his hands shaking he went after the phone to call a doctor or the police, but the phone seemed to be dead. Was someone responsible? Who would want to make any harm to his children?

He went back to Alice’s room where the other girl remained in silence. Even when the girl seemed to be the only one suspicious for what was happening to his kids, the man kneeled in front of her as if she were the only one capable to safe him and his children, maybe he trusted the girl because he thought she was the same one from his dream and in his dream the girl meant no harm, she would just sit next to him and wait for the dream to end.

“What do I do?” he asked trying to control his fear, but she even saw his grieving through the man’s eyes.

“You have to sleep and then you will find yourself in the same dream your kids are trapped in,” said the girl, “once you are in the dream, find your children, find all of them and only then you all will be able to wake up.”

It sounded simple, but how would the father fall asleep? He immediately thought about the pills he used take to sleep at night, he knew the right dose, but he did not take it right away.

“Are you sure this is the only way?” he said realizing that he was trusting a little girl he just found on his backyard. For a strange reason he simply believed in her, as if she were sent to that place to help him find and save his children.

“I am, sir. Do not worry, I will not leave your side, I will be with you to until the dream is over.” She softly said and smiled kindly to the man, there was something familiar about her smile, but he did not focus too much in that moment.

The father sat down on a chair next to his daughter’s bed, took the pills and swallow them, then he waited for the pills to affect him. He fell asleep with the girl’s face being the last thing he saw; her presence was like a lullaby that sang to him until he found himself in a dream.

It was like waking up, but instead of finding himself on his bed, he was walking on the park of the town he knew very well. Too many people were around, but none of them were the neighbors he knew. It seemed so real around him that made him wonder if he was actually dreaming.

He started walking among the people around him looking for his kids, but there were not too many kids around and he was almost hopeless until he heard some kids laughing somewhere.

He followed the noise and it led him to the fountain where he saw two boys playing with the water of the fountain. The two kids were male and they had similar clothes, he recognized them immediately even when he saw their backs first, but he could not recognize the woman who was playing with them in the same place, he only noticed she was wearing a white dress and her hair was blonde.

When he called his kids, both of them looked at their father right away, but the woman from the fountain did not looked back to find her eyes with the man’s eyes. He never got to see her face. Once the kids left, she walked on the opposite side of the fountain. Even though the father wanted to follow the woman, he stayed to receive his kids on his arms.

“Dad, do not let her go!” claimed Thomas, “Tell mom to come with us!”

Mom? The father was surprised, was the woman of the fountain Lily? She probably was, her hair was blonde, but he did not get to see her face. Maybe the kids recognized her from the pictures they had of her, but why he could not see Lily’s face one last time? Did she not wanted to see him? Was she even real?

“We will meet mom soon,” said the father remembering he was in a dream, “but first we need to find your sister, where is Alice?”

The twins could not remember seeing their sister around, then the man raised his head and stood up looking for her around, but there was no other kid in the park.

He started walking again calling for Alice, he did his best to remain calmly so the twins would not get scared. He could not really tell for how long they walked with no sign of Alice, but they seemed to walk in circles or the park was endless because after a while they could not go anywhere else and Alice was nowhere. How would he find her? He was getting desperate again.

“Dad?” he suddenly heard and looked back to the one who spoked.

There she was, Alice was walking straight to her family, but she was not alone. The girl from the swings was with her, she was the one who found Alice and guide her to her family. Alice went to her father’s arms and hugged him. She missed him so much, she was the only one who understand his grief and after two years she thought he was facing his pain, but the father did not know why they were there in first place.

He felt relief when he finally found his kids, he thought his family was whole again, but why they were still in the park? If they were in a dream, why were they still dreaming?

The father noticed that once he found his children they were not back at the house, then he looked at the girl behind Alice and asked, “I found my kids, why are we still stuck here?”

The father panicked when the girl did not answer, then he thought it was probably the girl’s plan and she wanted them all to get stuck in the dream, but why?

“Who are you?” demanded to know the father, he was mad, “why are we not back? What is happening to us? Answer me!”

“Do not speak to her like that!” claimed Alice and his father looked at her with surprise, “how dare you to speak like that to your own daughter?”

The man was confused, his daughter?

He looked at the girl and for first time since he saw her, he recognized her. The girl even had the same eyes of her mother, but unlike his other kids, she was the only one who did not have her mother’s hair color. Lily was the one who looked more like her father, but in that moment she had not the age Lily had when she died, which confused the father.

“This is me, dad, Lily.” Admitted the girl.

“But you don’t look like Lily.” Said the father.

“That’s because we are in your dream. Ever since I died you recreated me in your mind, for so long you pictured me as if I have grown up, so this is me in your mind.” Said Lily, then he recognized her voice, to kind and soft as Lily was.

Alice let her father walk to Lily and both stared into each other eyes. After so long, Lily’s father was able to hug his daughter one more time, he almost cried holding her in his arms, but he did not because he thought she was safe, he forgot he was in a dream and believed his daughter could be alive.

“Then let’s go back home,” he said hopeful of his words, “you can come back with us, you said I had to find all my children and I did, then let’s go home.”

“I cannot go home, don’t you know it?” she said with sadness in her voice, “I am not alive, dad, and that is why you are here. You all have to leave here, but you can’t because you don’t let me go. You have to let me go, dad. Let me go so you all can live.”

No, the father could not accept letting her go. He missed Lily so much to let her go again. She was the reason of his grieving and that is why she was there, because her father had to let her die.

“Do it for them,” she insisted looking at her siblings, “please, dad, let me go.”

To let her go meant that he would never think of her again, he would remember her of course because she was his daughter, but he knew what her presence meant; she wanted him to stop the grieving and to move on for his other children.

He stood up when his wife died, but he did it because it was her last will. His daughter was never meant to die, but the sickness took her away from him and he could not forgive himself for that, he refused to accept Lily’s dead and there she was asking him to break free, to let go of the ghost of her that he created so he could be the father he was meant to be. Maybe it was time to let go of her. Lily was dead and he had other beautiful children to take care of. In the end, he was ready to let go of Lily’s ghost.

One last kiss he left on her forehead and hold back the tears when it was time to say goodbye. The kids were the first ones who said goodbye to Lily, they missed their sister so much and said goodbye to her even though they did not know what it meant. It was time for Lily’s father to say goodbye to her, she just wanted one last thing from him.

“Would you brush my hair one last time?” Lily asked.

The father was never good brushing his girls’ hair, her mother was good at it, but he learned after she passed away. She got a brush from her dress that who knows for who long she had in there, she passed it to her father and waited for him to brush her messy hair.

His children stayed around her sister while he brushed her hair, it was softer than it looked like. While he was brushing her hair, he remembered what it was like when she was alive and almost cried. He closed his eyes holding back the tears and whispered. “I love you, Lily. I am so sorry.”

When he opened his eyes again, it was like waking up again, but instead of waking up next to Alice’s bed, he found himself in the softness of his sheets of his own bed. He left the bed and walked to the window to look through it because he heard noises from the backyard and there he found his children, enjoying the middle of summer. When he looked at his nightstand, he realized he forgot to take his pills the night before, but for a reason he could not explain, he felt he did not need them anymore.