The Ghost of Whispering Willow. Amanda M. Thrasher

thought about the question for a moment. He’d had experiences before, including an actual sighting of a shadow figure. It was that sighting, after all, he thought, that started the search for the ghosts in the first place. The boys had started an investigation club, and had even given it a name: The Ghost Hunters of the Whispering Willows Club. This was very serious stuff! But last night, during their investigation, it was safe to say that Stewart had not experienced a personal experience by Camera Three. He shook his head, “No” he said, “I didn’t have a personal experience . . . except that I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched.” Stewart looked at Andy and asked, “You? Did you have a personal experience?”

      He hadn’t expected Andy to say yes, but to his surprise, Andy nodded his head and whispered, “Just one – or at least, I think I did.”

      Stewart’s eyes grew huge. “No way! What happened?” he asked, his mouth dropping open.

      Andy looked around and lowered his voice. Barely whispering, he said, “Well, I’m pretty sure it was a personal experience. In fact, the more I think about it, I’m positive it was. You know what I mean?”

      Stewart knew exactly what Andy meant. “What happened?” Stewart asked. “Think about the facts and tell me exactly what happened!”

      Andy laid the logbook down in his lap. It was all in there, but he didn’t need his notes to explain what had taken place, not this time. He took a deep breath, and his voice quivered as he started to speak. “It was creepy,” he said. “It happened just as we were setting up the last camera. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t dare scare it off, so I kept working. But it’s safe to say that I was freaking out inside!”

      Stewart nodded and motioned with his hands for Andy to continue. He knew Andy’s recollection of the event would be accurate and a good one. He wasn’t disappointed.

      “I was about to check the battery because it was getting so late, so I bent down and hit the record button and made sure the camera was rolling. Here’s the good news: it was!” Andy took a deep breath and said, “I was squatting down on my knees, positioning Camera One, when it happened!”

      “What happened?” whispered Stewart. “Come on, tell me.”

      Andy looked down at his arm. There were goose bumps forming as he talked. “I got really chilled, cold, and I suddenly shivered.” He looked about him to make sure that no one was listening. “Like the temperature dropped or something,” he said.

      Stewart knew exactly what Andy meant. A drop in temperature was a good sign, indicating the presence of something. “Did anything else happen?” Stewart asked, “Anything at all?”

      “Yep. My hair – I mean, all of my hair – stood on end!” Andy ran his hand up and down his arm as he spoke, demonstrating what he was talking about.

      Stewart had goose bumps himself just listening to him. This definitely sounded like a personal ghost experience. Stewart waited patiently for Andy to spill the rest. He was dying to know what had happened.

      “It touched me or, more like, brushed past me. Whatever it did, I felt it!” Andy whispered.

      Stewart’s mouth dropped open. He looked around the bus to make sure no one else was listening to his conversation. With eyes wide open, he waited for all of the details.

      “I, too, felt as if someone or something was watching me, but then it just brushed right past me and touched my arm!” Andy said.

      Andy stopped talking as the other kids got on the bus. He waited patiently for them to sit down and for the bus to start moving again. Then he dropped another bombshell. “And then that thing, well, it brushed right past me for a second time, as if on purpose, and I felt it again!” Andy pointed to his arm. “I’m not gonna lie. I was so scared. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t,” he said.

      This was definitely a fantastic personal experience, thought Stewart, as he pointed to the notebook. Andy grinned.

      “Already in there. I stayed up and logged every single detail that I could remember as soon as I got home last night. I swear, I think I’ve slept five minutes.”

      “Wow!” said Stewart “You realize what this means, don’t you? We’re getting closer to finding out what’s really going on in the Willows. This is great stuff!”

      Andy closed the logbook just as the bus pulled up to the school and shoved it into his backpack. The boys agreed to meet after school and go over the data from the cameras in the woods. Maybe the experience had been captured on the recorders. Stewart offered to call their other partner in crime, Zack. They knew he’d want to be there, too, especially if they had captured the ghost on the DVD. Actual physical evidence that the Whispering Willows Woods was haunted; it was just what they’d been looking for. Concentrating on school with so much going on in the woods was going to be difficult for both of the boys. It was clearly going to be a very long day for both of them.

      Stewart’s mind raced; there was so much that he still wanted to talk about. Andy was reliving the experience he’d had and was creeping himself out. They had a long day ahead, for sure, and the day had just begun. Notes were passed in the hallway, and a meeting after school was set up. Now all the boys had to do was stay out of trouble. How hard could that be?

      2 The Girls:

      “We saw what you saw!”

      Andy’s experience had been phenomenal, and the evidence was just waiting to be reviewed. It’s useless, thought Stewart, because he was having difficulty concentrating on school. His mind was racing, and he wondered if this time they would have the break they’d been looking for. The problem was that they didn’t know what they were looking for. They were looking for a ghost, but what kind of ghost had they found? Was it male or female, young or old? He had questions for sure and yet no real answers. Suddenly, a thought popped into Stewart’s head. What if the ghost is playing with us? Now that was a very creepy, unnerving thought. Stewart didn’t think so, but to be on the safe side, he texted Andy. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice he wished he hadn’t actually heard.

      “Excuse me, Stewart,” said Mr. Campbell. “Would you care to join us?” he asked. The entire class started to laugh but soon quieted down as the teacher glared across the room and made eye contact with each one of his students. “Pay attention, please!’ he said firmly.

      Stewart turned a lovely shade of red and wished more than anything else the bell would ring or that he would simply just disappear – he didn’t care which. “Sorry, sir, and yes!” Stewart said with his eyes downcast, looking at the paper on his desk. He had no idea what the class had been discussing, and he had no intentions of asking.

      Stewart jotted down make-believe notes in his spiral notebook. He had every intention of catching up later. He was not prepared for Mr. Campbell’s next announcement.

      “Okay, people, pop quiz!”

      Pop quiz? What? Ahhh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Thought Stewart as his heart sank. He knew he wasn’t prepared for a quiz; a passing grade didn’t even seem like a realistic possibility.

      Mr. Campbell cleared his throat and started the quiz. “Which of the following English groups were supportive of the French Revolution and immigrants in the early years?” his teacher asked.

      What in the heck does that have to do with English literature? Stewart wondered, staring at the blank sheet of paper before him as the sound of other student’s pens scratched across their papers in the background. Up went the other kid’s heads, and, yes, they were ready for the next question.

      “James I shaped culture by publishing works about which three subjects?” asked