Danny And The Ghost

Danny couldn't sleep. He supposed it must always be like this on the first night in a new house. He'd been lying awake for hours, listening to all the unfamiliar sounds: floorboards creaking, as they cooled down, air banging in the water pipes, the sound of the wind whistling over the rooftop. A new house, he told himself, certainly takes some getting used to.

Across the landing his father started snoring. It sounded very loud. Danny was surprised the noise didn't wake up his mother. Rolling over onto his back, he closed his eyes and started counting sheep; small, woolly sheep with black legs jumping over little green hedges:

One… two… three… four…five…

His mother had started snoring now. Making short grunting noises, which mingled in with the deeper rasping sound made by his father.

Danny rolled over onto his side and sandwiched his head between his pillows.

Six…seven… eight… nine…

He counted to three hundred and then gave up. Fluffing up his pillows, he turned over and lay on his back again. This time he counted fire engines and by the time he'd counted twenty his parents had stopped snoring.

Danny started to drift off to sleep.

He had just started a particularly good dream, about Pirates, when something woke him up. He sat up in bed, listening. He could hear sobbing. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere in the house. Danny wondered if it had woken up his parents too.

Across the landing, his father began snoring again. Danny heard him turn over in his sleep. It made the bedsprings creak.

Swinging his legs out of bed, Danny stretched his feet down onto the floor. The rug beside his bed tickled his toes. He could still hear the sobbing, but wasn't sure where it was coming from. Tiptoeing across his bedroom, he made his way out onto the landing. He could hear more clearly now. The sobbing sounded to be coming from above him.

Danny realized that the sobbing must be coming from the attic. He'd not had time to explore the attic yet. For most of the day he'd been busy unpacking, but listening to the sobbing he knew he must investigate further. Still up on his toes, he walked along the landing. He didn't want to wake up his parents, so sneaked past their room as quietly as he could. Just past his parents room was the bathroom. He could hear a tap dripping.

Drip… drip… drip…

The sound made him need to pee. But what if he made a noise? The bathroom had a big, old-fashioned toilet. The kind with a chain up above it, instead of a handle. It would make a lot of noise when he flushed it and Danny didn't want to chance waking up his parents.

Drip… drip… drip…

Danny hurried past the Bathroom, still on tiptoe, and headed towards the attic door, at the far end of the landing.

Although he opened it as carefully as he could, the hinges of the door creaked noisily. They sounded like Danny's father snoring. Once he'd opened it wide enough Danny squeezed through the gap. The sobbing sounded even louder now. Just ahead of him a set of stairs led upwards, and just to his left there was a light switch on the wall, it was completely covered by a dusty old spider’s web. Danny wondered if there might be a dusty old spider hiding somewhere near the web. He didn't like spiders so decided against touching the switch.

At the top of the attic stairs Danny could see a window in the roof. Through the window, the moon shone in. He could see fine. He didn't need to use the light.

Danny started up the stairs. They were old and creaky. Above him he could still hear the sobbing. Once he'd got to the top though, the sobbing stopped. Danny looked all around, twisting his neck first to the right, then to the left. The floorboards of the attic were bare and dusty, and in the far comer, ahead of him, there was a pile of boxes and black bags.

“Hello,” Danny said. “Hello. Who's crying please?” He looked all around again, but couldn't see anyone. “Hello. Who's crying please?” He repeated.

“Hello,” someone said. “What's your name?”

Danny looked towards the sound of the voice. Near the pile of bags and boxes, he saw someone moving. The voice had sounded so sad that he didn't feel frightened.

“My names Danny,” he answered and took a few steps closer. “Who are you?”

A little girl walked out of the shadows to meet him. She only looked to be about five or six. Danny was eight. She had long blond hair that disappeared behind her shoulders and she wore a white nightgown that reached down to her feet.

“Hello Danny,” she said. “My name’s Margaret.” She took a few more steps towards him, and smiled.

Danny smiled back at her. Then he realized he could see right through her.

“You’re a… ghost,” Danny said and his mouth dropped open.

“Please don't be scared,” Margaret said.

“I’ve never met a real, live ghost before.” Danny didn't feel scared. Not at all. Meeting a ghost was even better than meeting a Pirate. “So, was that you, crying before?”

“Aaaah-haa,” Margaret said and nodded her head a couple of times.

“Well, what's the matter? I wouldn't cry if I was a ghost. Bet you can do loads of really great stuff when you’re a ghost… Man! Can you walk through walls and doors and stuff?”

“Aaaah-haa,” Margaret said, looking down at the floor and shuffling her feet.

“Oh man! That must be great… I wish I was a ghost.”

Margaret started sobbing again.

“What? What's the matter Margaret?” Danny said. She looked so sad he felt like giving her a hug, but he didn't think it was possible to hug a ghost.

“It used to be fun at first,” Margaret sniffed. “Walking through walls, floating around and making spooky noises.”
“Yeah, I bet it was… Man!”

“But it gets boring after a while and I'm tired of it now. I just want to go to sleep.”

“Well why don't you then?” Danny said.

“Because I've lost my Teddy and I can't sleep without him,” Margaret said, bursting into tears again, the whole of her little body shaking. Danny felt like crying too.

“I could help you look for him,” he said.

“It's no use. I've looked all over for him and he isn't anywhere.”
“Well, when was the last time you saw him?”

“Ooh, not for ages and ages. Not since before I was a ghost, and that was a very long time ago.”

“Oh … Right,” Danny said.

Still sobbing, Margaret wiped her eyes on one of her sleeves.

“Well, I suppose you could always have mine,” Danny said. “I hardly ever bother with him now and he's really cuddly and soft. I 'm sure you'd like him. "

“Really?” Margaret said, looking up at Danny and wiping her eyes on her other sleeve.

“Yeah. He’d probably be happier with you anyway.”
“Does he have a name?”

“No. Just Ted. You can have him if you want to. Would you like him?”
“Ooh, yes please,” Margaret said, nodding her head up and down vigorously. It made Danny feel happy inside to see her smiling.

Danny sneaked back down to his room and picked up Ted off the bed, squeezing the bear’s body with his fingers, and stroking its ears. He would miss Ted, but Danny knew that Margaret needed him more. He took one last look at him, then putting him under his arm, “Come on Ted,” he sneaked back onto the landing.

Danny sneaked past his parent’s room again. Then back past the Bathroom.

Drip… drip… drip…

And pulling a funny face he rushed back to the attic.

Margaret's eyes lit up when she saw Danny bringing Ted for her.

“Here you are,” he said, holding the bear out, at arms length, and dangling it by its ears.

Beaming all over her face, Margaret ran toward Danny. Then ducking down, underneath Ted, she gave him a big, tight hug. Danny had never been hugged by a ghost before, but he liked it, even if his face did go red.

“Thank you Danny,” Margaret said. Then taking hold of Ted and hugging him close to her chest with both arms, she skipped off towards the far end of the attic.

“Bye Danny,” she said. “Thanks again.” Then, still skipping, she vanished.

“Oh Man!” Danny still thought it must be pretty great to be a ghost.

As he started back down the attic stairs he wondered if he would ever see Margaret or Ted again, and felt a little sad. He would miss them.

Back on the landing, he reached the Bathroom.

Drip… drip… drip…

Danny could put it off no longer and rushed inside.

He had been right. The toilet did make a lot of noise when he flushed it. First a loud clunk, when he pulled on the chain. Then a loud, rumbling swoosh, as the water flushed and gurgled into the pan. After that there was the hissing, squirting noise, as the cistern filled back up again. Even washing his hands made a noise, as the water rattled its way through the pipes.

After all that noise Danny felt sure that his parents must be awake, but when he listened at their door all he could hear was breathing. They were still asleep.

Back in his room, Danny jumped into bed and pulled the covers up over himself. He knew he would sleep okay now.

Across the landing, his father began snoring again.

“Oh Man!” Danny said and sandwiched his head between his pillows.