“Hi, Jessica. Do you want to play with our dolls?” Grace asked.

Jessica shook her head. “Kaya is playing with my doll right now. I might play later.”

“Mom has an extra doll! Please? Pretty please with a french macaron?” Grace pleaded. Jessica smiled, knowing that Grace wouldn’t give up.

“Well………” Jessica paused for effect. “Sure. Where is the doll?”

Grace cheered. “It’s in the attic.”

“Um, OK.” Jessica ran back to her room to get a flashlight. The attic didn’t have any windows or lights, and it was always dusty. She walked up the steps to the attic and blew out some breath.

She didn’t really want to admit it, but she was a little afraid. “I’ll just find the doll, and get this over with.” Jessica whispered to herself. She looked around the dusty attic and sneezed.

The flashlight shot beams of light around the dark room.

A cat…

A ghost…

Ah, the doll.

‘Wait a second!’ Jessica thought. “GHOST!!” She shrieked, her screams echoing off the walls, adding to the creepiness.

Grace heard Jessica and immediately ran up to see what was going on. She huffed up the stairs and into the attic. Breathing hard, she picked up Jessica’s flashlight, which had fallen on the floor and moved it around, surveying the room. She swung the flashlight upward and saw Jessica. She had fainted and was now leaning against and old mattress.

“I wonder what set her off like that.” Grace thought aloud. She looked around the room. It looked like a normal attic. Oh, and there was a ghost standing off to one corner.

Grace almost jumped out of her skin and quickly tried to calm herself down.

The ghost didn’t move. ‘That’s odd.’ Grace thought. She wandered over to the ghost. Up close, the figure didn’t look as frightening, but it still had an eerie look to it. Without thinking, she took hold of part of the ghost’s ‘gown’ and pulled.

The gown was actually and old sheet, and when Grace took it off, it revealed…

“Bethany! What in the world are you doing?” She asked, super surprised.

Bethany had a mischievous grin on her face, but didn’t say anything. Then she burst into laughter. Grace tried to frown, but she couldn’t resist laughing.

She took a few deep breaths. “What are you doing up here? You scared Jessica half to death in that ghost costume!”

“It’s just an old sheet with some holes cut into it. I was just looking through some costumes I found up here and decided to try them on.” Bethany tried to keep a straight face while she explained, “I didn’t realize that Jessica was coming up here.” With a thump, Jessica fell to the floor. Grace and Bethany both turned to look at her.

Jessica sat up slowly. “Where did the ghost go?” Then she saw Bethany. “What are you doing up here?”

“Well, I – he,he.” Bethany looked at Grace, hoping she would tell the story, but Grace pretended to zip up her lips. Bethany sighed. “I was playing up her in some of those costumes and, well, you came up here while I was playing.”

“So… You were the ghost?” Jessica asked, relieved. “You know, up until today, I’d never believed in ghosts, but you looked so real…” Jessica gazed at the sheet Bethany was holding.

“We all know there are no such things as ghosts.” Grace confirmed, shaking her head. “Are you still going to play with me, Jessica?”

Jessica smiled. “Yup, since I found the doll, I guess I can play now!” She picked up the doll and followed Grace out of the attic.

-Catlover02