The Girl Who Was Buried in Her Ball Gown

I needed to mind-meld again, to prepare Sophia for what I had in mind. So, I waited.

I hoped she was strong enough to carry this out, she seemed so emotionally delicate already, from coping with some serious hammering from, within and without.

I spoke into her mind and she soon awoke to meet me in the, ahh, flesh. Her beautiful blue eyes looked so young and innocent. But the burden she carried, would have been enough to age even the strongest of us.

I knew, from Dad’s imprisonment how much he had to deal with during the court proceedings, and here I was, with a wild-brained idea, concocted by none other than myself, a dead girl, trying to revive the memories of another dead girl through the mind of a gorgeous little girl, who was just trying to deal with her own life. Oh, the complications, the variables! I really hoped this would work, for Sophia’s sake and for my sanity.

“Hello, who are you?” She saw me, as I smoked myself into visibility.

“Hi, just a friend.” I didn’t know what to say, or how to say it. Perhaps this was a dumb, hair–brained scheme. “I’m Emma and you must be Sophia.” Awkward!

“Yes, what are you doing here?”

“Umm, well… I want to help you Sophia. I want to…” geez, this was difficult.

“Where are you going? You’re disappearing. Are you a ghost? Emma, was it? Where are you?” Oh man, this was proving to be harder than I thought. “Oh, there you are. How do you do that?”

“Never mind about that now. Look, this is really hard for me and potentially even harder for you, but you know those dreams you’ve been having?”

“What dreams? How do you know?” She was suddenly up-tight and began wringing her hands together, as if she had been caught with a terrible secret. I don’t blame her; it was a terrible secret.

“I’m sorry Sophia, I looked into your mind and saw them. Horrible! I want to help you. I want to tell you a bit about them, why you’re having them.” I couldn’t hold my visibility much longer, “Sophia, this might sound weird, but can I press my head against yours? You’ll know what I mean if you let me.”

“What will you do? Why?” Too late, I’d disappeared. “Where are you? I’ll call Mummy. Mummy!” she screamed. Darn! I heard the footsteps coming through the house and her mother came in.

“What’s wrong now, honey?”

Sophia looked around anxiously, “I saw a… nothing Mummy, sorry. Can I have a drink please?”

“Alright love, I’ll be back soon.” She left again and Sophia sat there looking around for me, not saying anything; her eyes were glistening. Her mother came back with her drink.

“Here you are Sophia. Now you really must get some sleep okay. It’s very late.”

“Yes Mum. Good night.” Just as her mother was leaving I noticed an odd look on her face and it looked like she was scanning the room, for something. After a couple of seconds, she left and turned out the light. “Are you still there… ah, Emma?”

I appeared again, “Yes, here I am. Sorry about that. Look, I can’t stay visible for very long so… is it okay to do what I said before? Don’t panic, it won’t hurt you.”

“Okay, you promise you won’t hurt me?”

“I promise, I would never hurt you Sophia.” Great! A small victory and another step closer to the plan. Sophia was pretty easy to mind–meld with, we could talk to each other almost immediately. I was surprised. We communicated effortlessly, even through the roughest parts. Her face lit up and then she scowled, the poor thing.

We spoke at length about all these crazy things she’d been through and I was surprised just how much of a tough nut she truly was.

I told her about Toni and what had happened to her. I told her about the Pink–Panthers and why she suddenly loved cheerleading. She had taken on some of Toni’s personality and some of her experiences and memories. In fact, she even had flashes of what Toni’s parents looked like and things they had said and done. Holidays they had taken, I was amazed!

At times, Sophia was very upset, but she was amazingly accepting of the things I told her. I think because of our sharing she became stronger, more in control of herself. It was fascinating to see this unfold, the beautiful flower blooming.

She fell asleep sooner than I had hoped and I didn’t get to tell her everything and what we, as a team could organize, against the forces that were tormenting her; namely Pohane and her cohorts. However, I was relieved that we had connected and I was more confident that this just might work.

She slept soundly all night and I just lay down beside her, as if she were my little sister Nikki. I think I even slept a little myself, even though ghosts don’t actually sleep; maybe I was just at peace and it was nice.

“Emma, Emma! Are you still there?” Sophia was up and looking for me. “Oh, there you are, I’m so glad you stayed. Thanks. You’re like my big sister. Only I don’t have one, but I’ve always wanted one. Mum said I do have one, but she’s in heaven. Is that where you have come from Emma, from heaven?”

“No, I haven’t.” I said flatly. “I should be there, I think, but I’m still here. I don’t know why.”

“My Mum says that ghosts have unfinished business, that’s why they don’t move over to the next life. Have you got unfinished business Emma?”

“Ahh, I don’t know. I suppose so; I intended to live longer than I did but… well, I didn’t. I was killed.” I felt immediately saddened about that statement, like a leper or an outcast.

“Oh Emma, you poor thing, how?” Now this was a turn of events; here I was supposed to be a friend and helper for Sophia and now she was mothering me. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks as I chewed my bottom lip. I wanted to blubber like a baby. Sophia had struck a chord in me, a note I thought I’d suppressed quite efficiently, up until then.

Suddenly I found myself doing just that, howling and blubbering like a baby. My heart welled up in stark nakedness, exposed and vulnerable. I wanted to run and scream, anything but look stupid in the eyes of this sweet little girl, who was suffering herself. We had connected a whole lot more than I expected! She was trying to hug me and crying with me. What a mess we must have both looked, then suddenly her mother was in to the room. I didn’t hear her coming, I didn’t see her until she was right there, looking at me and Sophia.

“Oh, who are you? How did you get in here?” I was dumbfounded, Sophia’s mother was actually looking at me. She paused and was about to speak, but held her finger to her lips, as if hushing herself. Finally, she said, “You’re not altogether here. There’s something about you? Are you a…?” Her eyes narrowed and then after a moment they softened.

“Ah, hello. I’m Emma, a friend of Sophia’s. I came home with you – in the car – yesterday after Sophia’s cheerleading. Can you really see me?” I sounded absolutely ridiculous I’m sure. Some invisible chick, just sort of coming home with them in their car, without them knowing. And then staying the night. This just didn’t happen!

“Ah yes. I thought there was something different, on our way home yesterday. I must have picked up on your presence then.”

“What? You knew I was in the car with you? How?”

“I don’t know how, I can sometimes sense an atmosphere. Sometimes a wicked atmosphere and sometimes – another kind of atmosphere – nicer, like now. You’ve been crying. Are you okay?”

Whew! What a relief! At least I didn’t think she was going to throw me out of the house in a hurry. “A little better. So, you can actually see me? And talk to me?” I had stopped blubbering, and did feel better.

“Well, I suppose so, but this doesn’t happen very often. It depends on whether God opens up my spirit eyes, or not.” She paused for a moment and continued, “there must be something serious going on for this to happen. Do you know something about Sophia’s dreams?”

Gosh! Could she read minds too? “Yes, I do as a matter of fact.” Perhaps this was a good idea after all. I blurted it out, “I know the girl whose heart is beating inside Sophia now.” Her mother’s face was shocked at that. Now she was the one biting her quivering lip.

“Is it possible? How do you know?” She came over and sat beside us, I was still on Sophia’s bed.

“I went to school with… with Toni,” there, I said it, I spoke my friends name with uncensored vulnerability, “before she was…” I was crying again, “before she was murdered!” I was a blubbering idiot again and all three of us crumpled onto the floor, bawling like infants and comforting each other. Oh, it felt so good to cry with others. We sobbed our little hearts out for quite some time, before finally composing ourselves again. I had made some important connections, some more friends who could help me and who understood my mixed-up situation.

After what seemed to be an aeon, we broke up our hug and I was telling Sophia’s mother the gory details, of the horrible events that Toni had been through and managed to convince them of my plan. We were in agreement; we were going to give it a try. And Sophia would finally have some more answers.