The Ghost Club

A Children's Story.* * *Far, far away, in a small mountain village, where the sloping green fields touched the icy blue skies, was a school for children. It was a boarding school, which means that the children studied, played, slept, shared, and lived in the school. There were kind teachers and happy cooks and busy gardeners who looked after the children. Also staying in the school were ghosts. Ghosts are spirits of people who are no longer living. There can be funny ghosts and scary ghosts. The ghosts usually came out at night. It was vacation time in the school. All the children were going back home to meet their families. Their parents came to pick them up. Boxes and bags were loaded into cars, and the children said goodbye to each other and left for the holidays with their families.There were seven little children who had no parents or families. They were orphans, which means, children who have no parents who are living at this time. There were four little girls: Anita, Ania, Sofia and Diya; and, three little boys: Aditya, Aristotle and Jayjit, who insisted that he be called JJ. These lovely children would stay back in the school during the vacation as they had no families to visit. They were a bit sad when their friends left with their families, but soon they realised that they could have a lot of fun now as the whole school belonged to them!As the sun set that evening, the skies and mountains were drenched in red light. A cheerful group of mountain birds flew away into the horizon. Anita, who was the self-appointed leader of the children said - "Let's form a club amongst the seven of us! We can have more organised fun that way!" Aristotle asked, "But, what will the club do?" Diya, who was always quick with answers, said, "Our club will make friends with the ghosts!" "What will we be called?" asked Ania. Sofia answered, "We could be the Ghost Club!" JJ and Aditya said, in unison, which means, at the same time, "Super!" And, so, Anita, Aristotle, Diya, Ania, Sofia, JJ and Aditya formed the Ghost Club. Anita said that their first meeting would be held in the homework study after supper later that night.* * *Supper was served. Miss Cowell stood at the head of the table and said, "Time for Grace, children". The seven children and Miss Cowell held hands. Miss Cowell said, "For what we are to receive, may the Lord make us ever grateful". The children started with their soup. It was their favourite tomato soup, with a little bit of cream on the top. JJ, the ever curious boy, spoke up, "Why do we thank the Lord, Miss Cowell?" Miss Cowell answered, "Because He puts warm food on our table, Jayjit; there are many little girls and boys like you who have no food today". JJ replied, "But we cannot see the Lord". Miss Cowell replied, "We believe in the Lord, Jayjit; we do not need to see Him. We see Him in all his creations: the flowers, the birds, the mountains, the fields, little children like you". JJ was silent: he was thinking. "So, what will the children do this evening?" asked Deputy Headmistress, Miss Hurtis. No prizes for guessing who'd answer that: Sofia, who was terrible at keeping secrets! "We will make friends with ghosts, Miss Hurtis!" she answered. Miss Hurtis looked alarmed. A bit shocked. Miss Cowell said in a strong voice, "We don't believe in ghosts, Sofia. You are all good children, clever children. You should only believe in things by using your minds". JJ the Curious could not hold himself back. He said, "But, Miss Cowell, if you believe in the Lord, why can't we believe in ghosts?" Aristotle was a perceptive child, which means, he could notice things and understand them better than others. Aristotle noticed that JJ's question had caused worry to Miss Cowell and Miss Hurtis. He said, "Shush! JJ, let's not question everything!" Miss Hurtis told Miss Cowell, in a very low voice, so that the children couldn't hear, "These children are quite bright, bless them!" Miss Cowell nodded, she agreed.