“Was it you that rescued me and Biggles from the sea?” I asked Roma the following day.
“Yes, I was following you around and then I realised you couldn’t get out of the sea, so I sort of dragged you out and Biggles too.”
“Why did you mess up my room?”
“Sorry about that but you had put that music thing away and I wanted to try it, so I had to find it. I’m not tidy like you.”
“That’s my iPod. Do you want to listen now?”
“Can I?” said Roma excitedly.
“Sure.” I pulled it out of my pocket and held up the earphones. Roma took them and placed them where her ears were but as she was not ‘real’ they only sort of sat where her ears would have been. They looked like they were hanging. It looked really weird.
“What’s funny Florence?”
“Sorry, it’s just that I have just realised that you are…” I couldn’t think of the right word.
“A spirit, a ghost. I know. Don’t worry I’m quite used to it.”
I pressed the start button on. Roma winced and then started tapping her feet.
“Do you like it?” I asked.
“Yes it’s frozen,” she said.
“I think you mean cool or hot!”
“Yeah, that as well.”
She gently removed the earphones. “I have a confession to make Florence.”
“What?” I asked again.
“The painting of the twins. I stole it from a car boot sale in the village. I saw it and recognised our great, great granny and her sister. Aunty M was right, it had been sold by accident and I sort of brought it back to where it belongs. It was a sign to you that we should be together again. It helped didn’t it because here we are.”
“Well don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” And we both giggled.
I looked into her eyes. They were hazy but I could still see they were blue like mine. A desperate feeling of sadness came over me and I realised how awful this situation was. There was nothing I could do to help her. Nothing at all. All she wanted me to do was help her rest in peace. All I wanted to do was make her come alive again so we could stay as twin sisters. Without realising it, tears were streaming down my cheeks and I couldn’t stop them.
“Why are you crying?” Roma asked suddenly distressed.
“It’s so unfair. Why did you have to die? We could have such fun together. I’m always so lonely. I find making friends hard as I think people think I’m stupid and I never know the right things to say.”
“But you got on with Sam Ok, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but she’s such an easy sort of person to get along with. You should have seen me with these two boys Pete and Matt yesterday.”
“I did,” announced Roma.
“You did?”
“Yup, I’ve been following you everywhere. I’m trying to learn about your world before I have to go.”
“You don’t have to ‘go’ soon though do you?” I asked.
“No. I can stay for a while but I really do have to get myself settled because as the days go by, I can feel a tiredness coming over me. That is the sign that I’m being ‘called.’ It’s what happens. I can’t hang around forever. You get ‘called’ you see.”
“Who calls you? Who wants you to go?” I asked desperately.
“The people who have gone before us. They want me to join them and to rest in peace.”
“I bet they do but I don’t want you to. I want you to stay with me,” I pleaded.
“That’s not possible, Florence.”
“Well I might not be here if it wasn’t for you. I could have drowned.”
“Yes I know. I was a bit naughty there I shouldn’t have got involved, but I couldn’t let you drown even though I wanted you to.”
“Really?” I said astounded.
“Of course I wanted you to drown because then we could be together forever. Then I realised that it was unfair and that I wanted you to have every chance to live. I was being very selfish,” said Roma.
“Thank you for what you did for Biggles and me.”
“Have you realised we have real grandparents. Our real dad’s parents. You need to meet them. We need to bring the family back together. There was a big upset before we were born and I’m not sure what happened. Our real dad’s parents don’t know you. Once the upset is mended, I can go.”
“I never knew about them. I thought my dad was my dad. Now I know he isn’t,” I said.
I stood up and tried to put my arms around her but of course I couldn’t because she was only a spirit. She faded away until there was nothing left. I exhausted her obviously and as I slumped back into the sofa, I realised how tired I was myself. But she was right. We did have grandparents that we had never met. Why was our real dad such a secret? Why did mum not tell me she was married before? I knew then that I had to do something and I had to do it quickly for Roma.