Key ideas: creative fiction 4

Helpful Hauntings

1. I was knee-deep in a mound of dirty laundry when I met a ghost named Kate.
2. “Mom," I had just called upstairs. “I NEED my white tights for dance tomorrow—I thought you were going to do the laundry!”
3. “Juliana Maria Polino, you’re getting older," she had yelled. “You can wash your own clothes.”
4. That’s when I groaned to myself, “This is really, truly, horrible."
5. Then, in half a blink, the image of a girl flickered in and out of sight. She wore thick braids and an old-timey blouse.
6. “Actually," the voice said, “this is a good turn for both of us. I am Kate. I chose this trim name before I phased into this time and place. It skips off the tongue like a pebble into the river.”
7. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I just said, “Kate is a nice name. You can call me Jules.”
8. “What a lovely name! Like a string of tiny rubies around my Granny Stanton’s neck! We’re going to have a grand time doing this laundry!”
9. I had my doubts, but I still taught her how to operate our washer and dryer—she went crazy for it.
10. “Oh, the pearly suds! The rushing hot water like a geyser springing from the earth! You should’ve seen the foul buckets of grey swill I’ve had to wash my stockings in during my life!” she exclaimed.
11. Kate’s enthusiasm about the washer and dryer and her silly way of talking made the boring task of washing clothes fun. She told me all about phasing and the places she’d been. In a short time, the mountain of laundry had shrunk to a small hill.
12. As Kate pulled her clean stockings from the dryer, she smiled and said, “Thank you for your hospitality. Now that you’re having fun, my work here is done. Cheerio, Jules!”

13. And with that, she was gone.