Riyan asked what was her name and she replied, “Mila!”

Mila asked, “Your grandfather used to stay here. Right!”

Riyan was rather surprised, “Yes! But how do you know this? I haven’t said about this to anyone.”

“He was a good man.”

“My father told me that he could no longer stay in this town after the gruesome murder of an entire family. Though he managed to catch the murderers, he was haunted by the sight of a teenage girl in the family who died of starvation and fear.” There was deep despair in Riyan’s eyes as he spoke about his grandfather. “My father was just ten when grandfather moved to the South Island.”

They talked for some while and when they came near an old cemetery, Mila said her house was near and said bye.

“Will we meet again?” Riyan wanted to talk to Mila for some more time. After all, he has found some belongingness in Glacier, a person whom he can share his deepest secrets with.

Riyan gifted her a very expensive pen which he had bought the same day and put it in his pocket while he was fiddling with the idea of going out for a walk or writing his diary. To his surprise, Mila did not react nor did she thank him in her warm voice.

The next morning Riyan told his friend everything and that he thought something was off about her.

His friend replied, “Oh my goodness! She died years ago. She must be a ghost."

Riyan told him, “Nah!”
“There is no such thing as a ghost! What are you? Five?”

But he still went to the old cemetery and found Mila’s grave. There, beside the grave laid the pen he had gifted her. A faint smile appeared on his face as he thought Mila was sweet even though she was a ghost. He had always imagined
ghosts as scary and mean.

Meet the young writer here:

I am Amirtha Natarajan and I study in primary 5 at Gan Eng Seng Primary School. I am very interested in story writing, cycling and bullet journaling. I have written five stories till now. In my free time, I like to chill with a book. My favourite book series are A to Z Mysteries, Geronimo Stilton and Triple Nine Sleuths. I love the subject of science. My best friend inspired me to write stories. I desire to be an author when I grow up.

Know more about the mentor, Sneha Goel:

Sneha Goel is a British Council–certified IELTS trainer and Scholastic India–mentored short story writer. She is a published author, poet and diarist. Her reviews, blogs, poems, stories and thoughts are appreciated by writers of international repute. Apart from writing, she is passionate about teaching English to children. She teaches English grammar, literature, creative writing, academic writing, story writing, poetry writing and Spoken English to students from class 1 up to grown-ups. To know more about the best English teacher in Guwahati and the services provided by her institute, Young Story Weavers, click here.