For as far back as I can remember the Timmidy house has been haunted. Oh no one lives there now and no one has lived there in living memory as far as I can tell. It is just an old, run down looking place at the far end of town. I guess some old guy in New York owns the thing. Family of the last people to live there. He has never come to town though. Now all this may seem odd to you as to why I am even thinking about this place. I am getting ahead of myself though. I guess otters like me do that sometimes.
It started out one Friday. Seemed normal enough as I was walking home from Morly-Redden Middle school. Terry and Ked were with me.
"Hey, Dalmo." Terry was asking me on the way home. "It's like Halloween eve and all. You want to have some fun?"
I laughed. "The day before Halloween? I thought you went out and had fun on the thirty-first?"
Both Terry and Ked snorted. Ked went on. "Look, Dalmo, we know your family is from Cally Land, we don't hold that to you as you are alright, but, you're kind of messed up on your dates. All Hallows Eve is the night of the witches. I am afraid that you guys celebrate it a day late. If you want to have any fun with real Halloween, you need to get out there on the thirtieth... today."
All I could do was snicker. They never did let me live down that I was born in California two months before mom and dad moved here. They were right though. "Ok, ok, ok. Don't rub it in too much or some of that red color on your necks will rub off. What you guys have planned?"
Terry looked at Ked. "Well 'we' were going to go over to the Timmidy house and sneak in tonight. I guess that we can let you come along if you really wanted to."
I took a swing at him and he danced away laughing. "I'll be there when the time comes." We went off to our homes after that.
A few hours later we met outside the Timmidy house, flashlights, snacks, and blankets spilling out of backpacks.
"Come on Dalmo." Ked jumped over the fence and I followed him over to the other side. The three of us made our way to the place. There was a window that had been busted in on the side of the house. We got inside that way.
I turned the flashlight on and took a look around. It was dark in there as the sun had gone down already. There was not much in the room. Just some very dusty furniture and spider webs.
Ked looked around. "This is just way cool!" He walked forward into the room and something came up out of the floor.
The ghost glowed with a soft light all its own. "Hello, there!" Its voice was very soft.
Ked just screamed and leaped out of the window with Terry just a moment behind. I tripped over one of my shoelaces and fell to the floor. I didn't know what happened after that.
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I don't know how long I was out but when I came to, the ghost was over me looking down. "You alright? You had a really bad fall." It held out its strange paw. "My name is Chalala." I was only able to stammer out one word. "G g g gg ghost!"
Chalala floated into the air very fast and started to look around. I was able to get a good look at her. She was small, a child, and from the shape of the paw and ears I would guess a rabbit. "A ghost?" She looked around very fearfully. "I don't like ghosts. They scare me you know. I don't like them at all." She floated back down and looked at me as she bit her lip. "Are you afraid of ghosts as well? What is your name?"
I just blinked and didn't know what to do, so I answered her. "Well yes. Any sensible person would be afraid of ghosts... name's Dalmo."
Chalala nodded. "People say that there are ghosts in this house. I have not seen any though. The idea just scares me though." Chalala floated back up into the air and grinned. My hand where it had passed through her felt very cold. "Would you like some tea?" She didn't wait but went over to, and through, the door.
I had to think about this for a moment but thought it best just to play along and see what would happen. So I followed.
Without thinking about the door being solid for me, I walked right into it and bumped my head "Ow!" Blushing I reached down and turned the knob. The door hinges squealed as I opened it. It must have been many of years since anyone had been in this house. On the other side of the door was an almost empty room. In the middle of it sat a small table and two chairs. I looked around and wondered where Chalala had gone off too. Suddenly, there was a rush of cold air behind me and as I spun around Chalala materialized holding a tray with a steaming teapot and two cups.
She smiled at me and nodded towards the table, "Com' on... sit down and get comfortable."
I walked over to the chair, dusted it a bit with my hand and sat down.
Chalala floated down to the table and put a cup before me and poured. It smelled like real tea. I smiled at her and reached for the cup. My hand went through it. I looked at Chalala and knew I would have to manage some sort of trick. The look on her face . . . so eager and hopeful. . . . I leaned over the cup and slurped. Tea flavor tingled my tongue, but still I'll be darned if I could 'feel' the tea itself. I grinned and laughed shortly.
"I don't get many people to visit me any more," Chalala said softly.
I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess bein' a ghost makes that hard."
Chalala whirled around in a fright. "Ghost? Not here . . . They scare me."
It took a moment to sink in. She didn't know. She really didn't know! I wasn't sure what to do. Tell her? Or . . . not. I had already sort of hinted at that. She was scared of ghosts, but . . . How could she NOT know?
I leaned back in the moldy old chair, mindless of the lint and dust which puffed up from the battered upholstery, and smiled a hollow yet hopefully reassuring smile at my etherial host. "Of course... although I'm sure that really ghosts aren't so bad once you get to know them. Probably some very nice ghosts lurking about, so to speak."
Chalala tittered a bit, and nodded. "I suppose, although I'm not at all eager to meet one *without* knowing if he's a good one or not. More tea?"
Chalala 'filled' the cup before me again, and paused. "I must say you have a most peculier method of taking it. I've known young otters who had a penchent for slurping from their saucers, but but from the cup without even picking it up is something new. *teehee*" And upon finishing she sat back upon her etherial haunches, and looked at me eagerly. A moment later I could actually see her pale ears blush ever so faintly into a sort of embalmer's blush pink. "I am sorry if I seem too eager for your company. It just really has been such a long, long time. I've really havn't the slightest how long, actually. I... seem to have lost track of things since I fell ill with that bout of... what did the doctor say... Scarlet Fever? When I finally woke up from that last terrible sweat, well... everyone had gone. It's... quite strange, really."
Chalala sighed gently, and crossed her paws on her lap. "I do wish I knew what was happening. When I look out the windows all I can see is is this dreadful pea soup of a fog. Can't see beyond the front landing. What is up with the weather lately? And I haven't had a reason to go out, as there always seems to be nothing I really need out there, which seems strange, as... where did I get this tea anyway?" She trailed off and looked down at her feet, her ears blushing further. "I am sorry... perhaps I'm just not quite over being sick, and it hasn't been that long at all. I... don't really know. I do hope I'm not being too poor of a hostess. My mother is always telling me I need to work on my manners... or she was always telling me... it's been a long time since I've seen her. Or... I think it has. Oh, dear."
Chalala's paws went to her eyes, and a sniffling sob escaped her lips. "I... please forgive me. Don't leave, please. Not yet." And the ghostly young rabbit cried whilst I stared dumbly across the rickity tea table, the phantom tea set dissolving into the ether before my eyes, as it simply was washed away by the flood pouring from the woeful spirit.
I took out my flashlight and shined it over to where she had been a moment before. Flight was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment as Chalala touched me somewhere very deep. I needed to find out more about her and where she came from. So with that in mind and got up from the tea table and looked down. I moved down the hall deeper into the house. Looking for anything about, and searching for Chalala.
Hours and many a cut paw later, my sore tail and I found the trunk up in the attic. It was full of toys and even one old black and white picture of a little rabbit, no more then five years old at the latest. It must have been her as it had the same smile.
"Oh! Do you want to play?"
I think I lost a year off my life with a start. I looked around and there was Chalala. "Hello, Chalala. Well sure. I wouldn't mind playing." I looked in the box for something that was not too old and brittle.
Chalala floated over next to me and brushed my side. I felt ice crawl up my spine. "Oh! My toys! You shouldn't play with them though. My mom said that the fever can get into them."
I put the toys down quickly. Last thing I needed was to get ill. "Oh. I didn't know."
Chalala drifted across the floor and turned around with another tea set. Only this was a fake one. With toy cups and pitchers. Next to her three or four ghost dolls appeared. "Lets have a tea party? Yes?"
It was all I could do to fight any urge not to say yes. The completely eager look in her eyes was just to much. "Sure, sure. Ok. I can do that." She needed help of some kind. What could I do?
I sat down next to the ghost dolls and smiled. "Good day, ladies... it certainly is a lovely tea party." I made a little bow to Chalala and each of the dolls then sat down. "There seem to be lots of things in that chest, Chalala."
The little rabbit ghost nodnodded and her face brightened, "Yes, they are all my things. My mom moved them up here... she said that I had outgrown them. So I sneak up here sometimes and play with them for a bit. I'm glad that you found them and want to play. Shall I get you a hat?"
I waved my hands in dismay, "Oh no, no... I would feel kind of silly in a hat."
Chalala looked crestfallen and her smile drooped into a small frown. I felt badly and thought about it for a minute. Well... the guys had run off. There would be no one to see me in a silly hat, really. What harm could it do? "Well, maybe just this once Chalala. A small hat might not be too bad..."
The little rabbit's ears perked right up and a smile grew from ear to ear. She jumped up from her chair and rushed to the chest to rummage around. Soon she came back with a hat. It wasn't little by any means... it had a broad brim that was clipped up on one side and had big floppy, faded flowers pinned in that spot. I started to grimace then remembered that I was doing this for her and forced myself to smile.
Chalala set the hat upon my head and looked very pleased with her choice. If the guys ever saw me now I would never live this down.
The tea party was a typical girly thing. My little sister did this but none of us boys ever went near her. She has all her friends and dolls there and it's positively icky.
Then, why was I doing this? I guess having a ghost as a friend had me mesmerized. If this ever got out, I would have to do a lot of fighting at school to make it go away. I didn't want that, but . . . I wanted to do this for Chalala. She was so lonely and desperate . . . I wondered what I could do. Tomorrow was Halloween. I wanted to come and visit her again but all the guys would be wanting to trick-or-treat or other things.
Chalala and I played for a bit before I pretended to sip tea and asked, "Chalala, who are all those people in that album in the chest?"
Chalala smiled. "All my family and relatives. I'm in there, too!"
"I saw you in it. Could you tell me who they are?" I reached into the chest and put the thick album onto the table open to the first pages. Chalala floated to my side of the table and I I began to learn all about her family. Chalala pointed out everyone and told me some neat stories about them all as I turned the pages slowly. Judging by all the old clothes and the cars and wagons and all, I figured it was almost a hundred years old. That would mean Chalala . . . My heart was very heavy. She had been here alone all that time with no one to be with her. I had an idea. My mom was one of those people who really would get into all the paranormal stuff! A few well-placed questions . . . .
Chalala drew away. Did she feel my sadness or what I planned?
"Chalala, is something wrong?" The ghostly dolls and toys faded away.
"Don't go!" Chalala sniffed.
"You're gonna go away . . ." She drifted across the room.
"Only for a bit. I have to go eat. I-I can come back tomorrow. W-would you like me to come back tomorrow? I will! I promise!" I was desperate not to lose her just when I had a great idea to help. "Chalala . . . I promise! I promise to come back!"
Chahals sniffled and turned to me. Her fading stopped and she once again became more substantial and her glow intensified. "Really? You won't leave me alone? You'll come back and play?"
I nodded snd managed a smile. "I'll be back tomorrow sometime. We can play and be together." Then I did something that surprised even me. I held my hand out to her and asked her to see me to the window. She drifted close and slipped her small glowing paw into mine. It was cold, but through it came a strange warmth unlike anything I had ever felt before. I knew no matter what I HAD to keep my promise this time. I HAD to, no matter what!
The next day I got up early in the morning. My kid brother was out in the living room watching TV again, some new Power Ranger show with them in space this time. They must have one hell of an insurance policy with all the broken bones they much get doing that crud. The new voice on the robot was worse then the last one. I headed out for the day.
"Where you going, Dalmo...? I wan't to come too!" I winced. That high pitched whine from my kid brother could kill the deafest deaf guy in the world.
"Taking the garbage out. You want to help?"
He promptly withdrew and I got out of there.
The first thing that I did was head down to the library to look up ghosts. I needed to know something about them before I could help Chalala at all. The librarian sure looked at me funny when I asked for help finding the info that I wanted though. The old crone didn't have a clue.
It wasn't until the fourth book where I started to find something useful. Inside the book it said that ghosts only exist when there is unfinished work. Unfinished. Chalala was only a child though. There couldn't be any undone work for her, could there? I went back to reading. Other than that one little bit I found nothing helpful in any of the other books. I left the Library and headed home again. I guess that it was time to talk with my mom again.
The Timmidy house was between where I lived and the library. So I ducked in there fast and called out for Chalala. She apparently didn't show up in the daytime though. So I headed home again.
I wanted to talk to my mom about Chalala, but I had to do it just so she wouldn't get suspicious.
"Mom, why do ghosts haunt houses?"
My mom gave me the strangest look . . . "What brought this on?"
"Halloween," I replied. "Ghosts are supposed to haunt houses and places. Why?"
"Lots of reasons." My mom went about her business and I followed her about the kitchen and living room. "Some have unfinished business . . ." That, I knew. ". . . others are afraid to go and some don't know they're dead."
Paydirt! "Mom, how c'd they not know . . . I mean, they're ghosts!"
"They don't realize it." My mother handed me a Halloween treat she had made.
"How's that taste?"
I grinned.
"Good. I wouldn't want to disappoint everyone." She went back into the kitchen.
"How could a ghost that thinks it's alive find out it's dead and a ghost?" I stood in the kitchen door. "It don't make sense? What would make them think they're still alive.
My mom smiled at me and shook her head. "Halloween certainly has you interested in the strangest things."
"Yeah, but tell me how." I leaned on the door frame.
"Well, sometimes when a person dies, the body is taken away before last rites are given. The spirit never sees the light and goes into it. Just the act of performing that after the body is removed can allow the ghost to move on. Sometimes letting it know there is nothing holding it here can allow it to leave . . . Does that help?"
I nodded, but I had no idea at the moment. "Yeah . . . I think so. . . ."
I wandered out of the kitchen and went into my room and thought. "How would one tell a ghost that in the first place?" I moped about my room deep in thought, then strolled aimlessly through the house until I got to my mom's library. I looked up on all the shelves. She always had some interesting stuff even though I thought it was half-baked. I pulled down a book and leafed through it until something caught my eye. I grabbed some paper and wrote it all down. This was what I wanted! I should've looked here first! Everything mom said made sense in a arcane way. I just hoped what I was about to do was okay.
I spent my afternoon gathering stuff for that night. When dark came and all the kids were out trick-or-treating, I stole back into the Timmidy house with all my stuff. Once in the attic, I laid it all out and called Chalala. She was slow to come but when she saw who I was, she brightened and became animated and happy.
"I told you I would come,"I said. "I keep my promises."
Chalala swooped down on me and hugged me. My heart went out to her and although she was ice itself, the warmth I felt made up for it. I knew what I would do had only a small chance of working, but I had to try.
"What will we play?" she asked.
That was my opportunity. I had to set this up right or all was lost. "Let's play like I'm the daddy and you're my little girl."
Chalala took to that like a duck to water . . . just like Ken's little sister. I grinned and we began to play. After an hour or so, I set my plan into motion and prayed it would work.
"Now you get sick and I'll be unhappy and cry," I suggested.
"Like when I was sick and mommy and daddy cried so much?" Chalala wasn't too keen on this part.
"Exactly," I said with a smile. "Only I won't go away."
Chalala pretended to get sick and I acted concerned and helpless as much as I could do . . . funny, though . . . I was indeed!
Chalala rested upon her bed and pretended to be very sick. She play-moaned and coughed and whimpered.
I knelt beside the bed. "No, you die and go to heaven."
She smiled at me. "This is fun!"
"I'll be the priest." I dug into the bag I brought and put on the cloth rainments I had gotten and took out a prayer book and some incense and other things. Then I came up to the bed very solemn. Chalala giggled and I found it hard to concentrate. I opened the book to the stuff I had copied and began last rites. Every word, each motion, all of it! It had to be right and had to be done seriously. I carried it out completely and finished with the prayer I had practiced all that afternoon.
The room felt suddenly weird. I held fast to what I was doing. Then, out of the middle of nowhere, a bright light appeared . . . Like opening a door into the sunlight of a summer's day. Goosebumps rolled over me in chilling waves.
From the light, a beautiful female rabbit in old clothes appeared. "Chalala!"
Chalala sat up and grinned. She leaped down from the bed and ran, leaped into the arms of the ghostly adult. "MOMMY! I missed you so much . . ."
I blinked and felt tears run down my cheeks. I had done it.
"Mommy, you're not gonna leave again? Please, mommy take me with you!" Chalala clung to the female as she wrapped her arms about her. "I will never leave you, Chalala. I have looked for you for so very long. Now we are together forever."
I sniffled and a lump rose in my throat. I wanted to cry but held back as much as I could. My eyes were all blurry.
She spoke.
"Young Dalmo, you have done something selfless and wonderful. Such things do not go unnoticed or unrewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven." Chalala's mother touched my head and I felt warm and fuzzy all over . . . so wonderful. "You have brought my daughter home to us again and you are blessed from this day on. In the coming days you will come to know this, for Heaven smiles upon you for this kind and selfless deed."
I wiped my nose and blinked away the tears. "I had to, Ma'am. I had to try to get her to where she belonged. She is my friend."
Together they moved to the light in a graceful drifting motion. Chalala waved at me G'bye, Dalmo! I won't forget you!"
I waved hastily lest they go without a good'bye. "I won't forget you, either!"
They drifted into the light and darkness returned all around me. The house felt different . . . empty . . . truly empty and alone. I gathered up all my stuff, stopped and picked up the great dusty album and took it with me as a memory of what I had experienced those two days when I was thirteen.
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"So long ago . . ." I smiled into the faces of my grandchildren whose eyes were wide with astonishment. "Tonight's Halloween. Go get your treats and have fun!"
They scrambled down and left the room. My daughter shook her head at me. "Dad, I swear . . . what are we gonna do with you and those tales?"
I smiled up at her and grinned. She grinned back and left the room. I settle into my easy chair and closed my eyes. After all these years, I could still see her and I knew soon we would meet again and we would play in a sunlit sky. . .