3 December 2008, 5:31 pm
I walked slowly down the sidewalk on the hot but cool summer day. There was nothing to do, nothing at all for me,an average twelve year old who lives in Crystal Falls--Mish Karson. Ah, I thought to myself, Crystal Falls. That was the problem with me having nothing to do. All because we had to move from famous Los Angeles---Hollywood, might I add---to boring old Crystal Falls here in the middle of nowhere. Okay, maybe not nowhere--Michigan isn't exactly nowhere. There just isn't anything to do here. I liked being back in Los Angeles. Once or twice I would spot a famous star walking down the street and ask for their autograph. But I doubted that would happen in Crystal Falls. I decided to turn around and get my bike. Maybe i could get a free cone from Mr. Soski, the ice cream shop owner. After all, in a town this small, he was sure to know me enough to figure out my father was an attorney. "Ah, you're Mr. Carson's daughter, Michelle!" he would probably say. I would say back, "No, I'm Mish," annoyed, because that had never happened in Los Angeles. My dad wasn't AS well known in LA as here. I mean, when I introduced myself to someone, I would say "Mish. Call me Mish," and they would never have to know I was Michelle. Ugh. I had reached my house by now. For a small town in the middle of Michigan, it was pretty classy. Tall, three storied, pink with white shutters and white poles coming down from the roof that sticked off the edge--not dangerously, just very pretty and magical looking, almost like a palace, but smaller. I had been looking forward to moving. My friends back in LA had been really comforting, convincing me that moving would be great. They still e-mailed me a lot, and they were just like their plain old selves. I stepped into the shed, which was beige and had a tan roof. It was pretty plain compared to my "magical" home. I pulled my bike out from under Justin and Jordan's bikes. Justin was my fourteen year old brother, and Jordan was seventeen. She usually spent her time locked up in her room, calling her friends and chattering away about boys and things only a seventeen year old would know. Justin pretty much kept to himself and didn't talk much, but stayed out of the house a lot. I pedalled out of my backyard and into the sidewalk. It was a bit tough riding on the grass, but I managed just fine. Then it happened. All of a sudden. Out of the blue. I crashed down onto the grassy patch--thank goodness there are so many patches of grass here and there--and off of the sidewalk. I could have been mistaken, but I was sure that I had seen a glitter here and there before I crashed. I got distracted by the pretty sparkle from the sun's bright rays and looked behind me as I rode by, but didn't see the rock in the middle of the sidewalk. Then I crashed. "Ow..." I said, rubbing my bruise. I hurt my elbow, which is my weak spot to get hurt. I got distracted from the glitter I had seen and was started to get up to climb my bike and go home when I remembered. I turned around and stopped at the spot where I saw the glitter. The air felt heavy and humid, not to mention the slight breeze that drafted now and then. "Hey, sorry, that was mine!" yelled a voice behind me. I turned around and saw a boy about my age standing near my bike. He was as tall as me, and had dark brown hair like mine and pale skin. He smiled apologetically at me. "Sorry. I threw my dime over there and saw you fall. Did you get hurt?" he said. He looked friendly. Maybe boys in Crystal Falls were nicer. "No, I'm fine. Uh..why'd you thorw your dime?" I asked. He shrugged. "Felt like it. I'm Jason. You're Michelle, Mr. Carson's daughter, right?" I nodded. He was looking at me like I was super-cool or something. He caught himself before I could say something, and looked around at the trees and sky and...the things, I guess. I mean, what is there to look around at here? "Um...so, do you live here?" I asked. I felt dumb, but he didn't consider it. Maybe lots of kids moved her and he got asked the same question. "Yeah, down there." He pointed his finger in the direction of my house. "I'm two houses down from you," he added. I nodded. "Are there a lot of kids who live here? In Crystal Falls?" I asked him warily. I don't like complete isolation, seeing as I lived in LA. He shook his head. "Not a lot. I live there, and a few kids live down there," he pointed to a street with trees at opposite side of houses, "but only a couple live here, like Josh Rankus and Lisa Hill, but some live there but they're home schooled,so they play in the nearby forest and their backyards." Wow. Home schooled. No one was home schooled back in LA. My surprise was shown clearly on my face, because then he said, "Where'd you live? Obviously home schooling is new to you." I tried to act smug. "Hollywood." Well, I did. He was taken aback. "Hollywood! No way!" I nodded, grinning wide. "Well, were you best friends with any actresses?" he said, obviou obviously impressed. "No, but I occassionally met someone and got an autograph." I said. "Cool.." he said. Maybe he'd stop acting all mean. "Wanna ride down Parker Lane?" he said, and for some reason, he seemed mysterious and challenging. "Sure," I said, turning to get my bike. I hopped on, and I noticed he was already on his bike. "I didn't see your bike," I said. "That's 'cause I brought it by magic." he said seriously. Did he think I was two? But I ignored him and rode over to this Parker Lane. We stopped in front of this big white house with blue shutters and window panes that were black. "Why'd we stop here?" I asked. "'Cause this is my house," he said. "You live two houses away from me," I told him. "This is my home. Everyone knows," he said quietly. "Knows what?" I whispered. "That I'm a ghost," he said. "And my ghost family lives here," I paused, not knowing what to do. "Yeah RIGHT!" I burst out, unexpectantly. He burst into laughter. I felt a new friendship co coming on as I joined into his laughter.... Read More »
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