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It was the day after Halloween and I was taking the decorations down at Bitter Beans. It was a little sad, but I knew it was time to make room for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. And frankly? After everything that happened recently, I was ready to move on.
The door tinkled. Nate, Johnny, and Echo walked into the shop. Echo cleared his throat sheepishly and then walked over to the bookcases to browse, finally picking up a book with the history of Seaside, and placed it on the counter.
"Go on..." Johnny said, nudging him in the side. "Fear is a paper thin wall that must be walked through to see it isn't real."
Nate's eyebrows lifted, impressed by Johnny's sage advice, and nodded his agreement.
Echo seemed to steel his courage for some reason. He cast his eyes up at the ceiling. "I just wanted to say thank you for being there for me as Tango was trying to sabotage my business. I was really sick and you took care of me."
Johnny slapped him on the back. "There you go, Echo! Was that so hard? Gratitude is the answer, man—"
But before he could continue, the bell tinkled again. Oliver, the kid who had been dressed up as a professor for Halloween, came in struggling as he tried to drag something behind him.
"Oliver!" Granny exclaimed, puzzled. "Are you here to pick up the basket your mommy won?"
Nate jogged over to give him a hand. It was a wooden Red Flyer wagon with a big box on it. "What's all this?" Nate asked, peering inside as he returned the handle to the wagon to Oliver.
"Is the museum open yet?" Oliver held up his ticket.
"Oh, no," Granny explained with a kind smile. "Not for awhile."
His face fell. "Yeah. I thought so. The door is locked again."
I looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I have all this stuff," he said, putting his hand proudly on the box. "It's historical stuff. I have been collecting it. I was in Ralph's hardware store when you first went there to buy it."
"You were the one who knocked over the paint pans!" I exclaimed.
He nodded. "Nobody goes up there. It has a ladder on the outside and it's like my own tree house. Except it’s a building. And you said you wanted to start a museum, and I wanted to leave this for you for the historical museum, but the door is always locked. So, I went upstairs and left everything inside for you."
"Wait. YOU'RE the one who has been leaving all the stuff?" I confirmed. I swiveled to Echo. "So, it wasn't a ghost."
Echo's face went bright red with embarrassment. "Probably channeling an old soul or something..." he mumbled defensively.
But Oliver was excited "I love history!" He opened the box and pulled out a tin truck, well-loved with flaking paint. "My family keeps putting all this stuff in the donations box. So, I thought I would give it as a donation."
"DUDE! We thought you were a ghost!" Johnny exclaimed.
Oliver looked at him seriously and like he was very disappointed in Johnny. "Ghosts aren't real."
"Right you are, little dude. Right you are," Johnny said, ruffling his hair.
Granny leaned down. "Well, I know we would love this stuff for the historical museum," she told him. "But instead of dropping it off at the building, you make sure to bring it to me, okay?" She went behind the counter and grabbed a Halloween sticker. "And here is your reward for being our very first conservator. Now, why don't you come with me and I'll show you some of the wonderful things we've already collected," Granny said, taking his hand.
She and Oliver left the shop, leaving the door open for the fall breeze to blow through. It made me realize that for all of the need for forward growth, there were still some people very interested in finding out how we got here.
Nate reached out and took my hand, smiling at me. "What a neat little guy."
Echo muttered defensively, more to himself than anyone else, "I always knew it wasn't a ghost."
Johnny slapped him on the back, bracingly. "It made for a great story though, didn't it?" he said. "And that's the most important thing of all. Happy memories and good times. Even if ghosts aren't real."
We all stood there for a moment together, staring at the empty shop, thinking about everything that had happened over the past couple weeks.
I couldn't help it. There was one question we hadn't answered. "Okay, but if there are no ghosts, how did Echo's ghost box say 'Run to me' right before the catwalk collapsed?"
I could see Johnny's head noodling it through and his jaw dropped. He turned to Echo and grabbed his arm. His eyes were huge with wonder. "Ghosts are reeeeal..."
Just then, the front door slammed shut.
* * *
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