This story is written under the mentorship of Sneha Goel, the best writing coach and English teacher in Guwahati.
The Forges who were a family of five lived happily in the icy mountains of Glacier. They were very sweet and caring. Especially their middle daughter, Mila Forge. She was an enthusiastic little lad. But tragedy hit them. They were murdered by a group of dangerous cons for their money when they were at the park near their house. But Mila managed to run away. She went and hid in the secret basement of her house. The people who murdered her family were turning the house upside down and putting the valuables in many black bags. As the cons were still around the area, she did not go out. She managed to survive for 5 days as there was some food and water in the basement. But on the sixth day, she died of hunger and thirst.
Nobody knew that her body was inside until a boy who was playing near her house reported to his parents an unpleasant putrid smell. They called the police. Police found Mila’s body and did her last rituals. The police were able to nab the murderers with the help of a witness and they were given capital punishment for the gruesome murders.
Four decades passed, Riyan who was a kind and patient young man, had just moved to Glacier for his higher studies. One night he could not sleep and so decided to go for a walk. It was a bright and silent night. Riyan could hear his own heartbeat. As he turned around a corner, he saw a beautiful young girl walking before him. Riyan called out to her and asked her why she was walking alone.
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.
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