Emily's Ghost

by Topher

  Chapter Eleven

  Emily stretched, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and stepped out into the bright morning sun. Many of the villagers were already up and moving about. An old woman smiled as she passed. Emily headed for the center of the village where she found Shayna, Sydni, and Chief Floating Cloud. The Chief was telling a hunting story, but he stopped as Emily neared and smiled to her.

  “Good morning, Apawiwicicala,” the Chief said. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Yes I did,” Emily said. “What did you call me?”

  "Apawiwicicala,” Sydni said. “It’s your Indian name. It means 'Sun Girl'.”

  “Your hair is as bright as the sun,” Chief Floating Cloud said.

  “I’m Mioiya, which means 'Seeing Rocks',” Sydni said. “It’s because of my glasses.”

  “I’m Sicahowayaceta,” Shayna said. “It has something to do loud talking.”

  Sydni giggled. “It means 'Screaming Hawk'.”

  Shayna rolled her eyes. “Well, it is longer than both your names, and much harder to say.”

  “Your names carry great honor here,” the Chief said. "You are part of our tribe and are welcome in our village.”

  “Thank you, Chief,” Emily said. “But we should be heading home now.”

  They circled through the village and said goodbye to each of the people. It was an honor to be considered a member of Chief Floating Cloud’s tribe. Once they said their goodbyes, the Chief walked with them back to the dreaming place. The girls stood together on the land that would one day be covered by the garage in Emily’s backyard. The Chief smiled at them and raised his hand in farewell.

  “I hope to see you again soon,” he said.

  A bright light seemed to burst from the Chief's chest. It was so bright, the girls had to cover their eyes. When they lowered their hands, they were standing in the garage. The door to the garage was opened and bright sunlight was streaming through from outside. A figure stepped from the light and into the garage.

  “What are you girls doing?” Emily’s mom asked.

  The girls rubbed their eyes sheepishly.

  “We were just playing house,” Sydni said.

  Emily and Shayna nodded in agreement. Mom looked around the dark, dusty garage.

  “This place is so dusty,” she said. “You girls should play outside.” She waved them out the door. “It’s such a beautiful day.”

  The girls ran out of the garage and headed for the swings.

  “That was so awesome,” Sydni said.

  “No kidding,” Shayna said. “We need to go back there again especially since no one here will even know we left.”

  “Yep,” Emily said. “We will go back again soon.”

  However, all three girls got very busy with school and their friends, and it was a few weeks before Emily went back to the garage. On the way home from school, she was thinking about Chief Floating Cloud and his people. Sydni and Shayna had to go home, but she decided she would visit the tribe and maybe spend the night. As she reached the house, she saw the garage door was open, and the bicycle and a few boxes were sitting on the lawn outside. Emily remembered how her mom said the garage was dirty. She dropped her backpack and ran.

  When she reached the open door, she peeked inside the garage. The light was on, and the floor was clean. There was not a single bit of dust visible. Even the old couch was dusted. Emily’s heart sank as her eyes scanned the spotless interior of the garage. Her mom appeared carrying a large sack of garbage.

  “Oh hi, Emily,” she said. “I finally decided this garage needed a thorough cleaning.”

  Emily eyed the garbage bag in her mom’s hands as she walked past on her way out of the garage.

  “Where are you going with that, Mom?” Emily asked.

  “To throw it away,” Mom said.

  “I can get that for you,” Emily said. She ran to catch up with her mother and reached for the sack. Mom held the sack up out of Emily’s reach.

  “It has a hole in it,” she said. “Thank you for offering, but I have it.” Mom headed for the big garbage can sitting at the end of the driveway. Dust was leaking from the hole in the bag and leaving a trail on the ground behind her. Emily gasped and ran after her mother.

  “The bag is leaking all over, mom. Let me help you with it,” Emily said. She jumped and grabbed the bottom of the garbage sack. Her fingers sunk into the soft plastic of the bag, and opened another hole in the bottom. Dust and dirt fell all over Emily’s head.

  “Emily!” Mom said. She pulled the garbage bag away from Emily, and it ripped open. Dust and dirt fell out onto the drive way. Emily fell to her knees and started pushing the dust into a pile while her mother looked on in confusion. Just then, s gust of wind came up and blew the pile away scattering the dust over the front yard.

  “Mom!” Emily cried. “Look what you did!” She tried to shield the pile of dust from the wind, but it curled around her body and blew until there was nothing left of it. Mom gazed down at the empty, torn bag in her hand.

  “Óh well, at least the wind is taking care of the mess.”

  Emily gazed up at her mother with tears in her eyes. “I’ll never see them again.” She turned and ran into the house.

  Mom sighed. “Goodness! All that fuss over a little dirt?”

  The next day was Saturday, and Sydni, and Shayna came over. They stood in the darkened garage for hours calling for Chief Floating Cloud, but he didn't show. They even grabbed some dirt from the garden outside and spread it over the floor, but no matter what, they could not get the Chief to reappear. Finally, they gave up and Sydni and Shayna went home. Emily tried several more times over the next few weeks to see if she could get the Chief to reappear, but she never saw him again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Emily was 19, and she had been in college for a year already. Now, in her second year, she and her best friends, Sydni and Shayna, found an apartment where they could live together while attending school. They were riding in Emily’s pickup truck and went to her mom’s house to get a few things for the new apartment.

  The girls were laughing and talking about everything they would do in their second year of school as Emily steered the truck into the driveway. She parked it and hopped out. Her mom emerged from the house and gave Emily a hug.

  “I have some things for your new apartment, ladies,” Mom said. “You can have some of my old dishes and pots and pans. Come on into the kitchen and I’ll get them for you.”

  While they wrapped up the dishes and put them in boxes, the girls talked about all the stuff they did when they were young and all the fun they had. Once they had the dishes packed up, they took the boxes out to the truck and loaded them in the back.

  “What we really need is some furniture,” Sydni said. “Especially a couch.”

  “Yeah, we'll have to go to a used furniture store,” Shayna said.

  “How much money do we have?” Emily asked. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some bills. “I have $15.”

  “I have $20,” Sydni said.

  “I have $3,” Shayna said.

  “Well, that’s not going to buy much of a couch,” Emily said. “We might get a chair for that.”

  “Well, you can get a couch for free,” Mom said. “There’s that old couch in the garage.”

  Emily glanced at the garage in the back yard. It looked the same as the day she first saw Chief Floating Cloud. She had almost forgotten about the Indian Chief. Most of the time, she wondered if it really happened. She looked at Sydni and Shayna. They were both looking at the garage, and Emily could tell they were thinking the same thing. They rarely talked about it, but they all missed the Chief.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Emily said. “It’s really old and probably worn out.”

  “Nonsense,” Mom said. “It’s been covered up the whole time and hardly used. It would be perfect."

  Emily looked at Sydni and Shayna. They both nodded.

  “OK,” Emily said. “We’ll take the c
ouch.”

  The girls entered the dark garage, and Emily tried the light switch. The light didn’t work, so she left the door open to allow some outside light in. The only window in the garage was still painted black except for the hole in the center where the sunlight streamed through. The beam of light struck the floor of the garage and illuminated a thick layer of dust. The couch sat against the back wall and was covered by a dusty old sheet. The girls walked to the back of the garage, and Emily grabbed the sheet and pulled it from the couch. The dust from the sheet flew into the air, and got into Emily’s eyes and nose. She sneezed, and the sound echoed in the garage.

  “Bless you,” a deep voice said.

  “Thank you. It’s so dusty in here. Just like when we were…,” Emily said, her voice trailing off.

  Sydni gasped and tugged on Emily’s shirt. Shayna backed up against the wall of the garage and pointed her finger.

  Emily turned and saw it. In the center of the room, where the beam of sunlight struck the floor, the dust was swirling around in a tiny whirlwind. As they watched, the whirlwind grew larger and larger…

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