Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 5, Issue 2 by Penni Russon

Author:Penni Russon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Review of Australian Fiction
Published: 2013-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

The girl was sitting on the front steps of 27A, knees drawn up to her chest and one arm swinging lazily by her side, drawing patterns in the dust at her feet. She had long brown hair that hung over her face like a curtain and was wearing a pale blue dress. Her feet were bare, her toes grotty with dirt.

‘Hello,’ Ghost called over the short wooden fence that divided the houses. She had been combing through the garden in hopes of finding more Flotsam.

The girl lifted her head. She glanced around, as if expecting there to be someone behind her, then pointed a finger towards her own chest. ‘Are you talking to me?’

‘Who else?’ Ghost replied. She stood on tiptoes, hand clutching the top of the palings to keep her balance, and peered over the fence. ‘Do you live here?’

The girl got to her feet, tucked her hair behind her ears. Her dress was baggy and shapeless and came down to just below her knees. Smock, was the word that popped into Ghost’s head when she saw it. The girl seemed to be around the same age as Ghost, and Ghost wondered if she would be going to the same school next week.

‘Do you live there?’ the girl asked, pointing over the fence to Ghost’s house.

‘We just moved in a couple of weeks ago. My mum got a new job.’

‘Oh,’ the girl said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Gina.’ Ghost shrugged. ‘But everyone calls me Ghost.’

‘Ghost?’

‘Yeah, I know. It’s kinda dumb.’

The girl grinned. ‘I like it.’ She took a couple of steps forwards. Her hands were clasped together, fingers curling and uncurling around themselves like a nest of baby snakes. She was skinny, even skinnier than Ghost, and there were dark shadows beneath her eyes.

‘What’s your name?’ Ghost asked.

The girl stopped walking. ‘I don’t...’ She frowned, as though trying to come up with the answer to a difficult question. ‘I don’t remember.’

‘You don’t remember?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to remember.’

‘Is this like a game?’ Ghost asked. ‘Am I supposed to guess or something?’ Behind her, there was a soft scuffing sound and Ghost turned to see her sister standing at the foot of the front steps, arms crossed over her chest.

‘Who are you talking to?’ Jemima demanded.

‘Her.’ Ghost pointed and turned towards the fence, meaning to introduce her sister to the strange, nameless girl, but the yard next door was empty.

Jemima sniffed. ‘There’s no one there, dumbarse.’

‘There was a girl.’ Ghost pulled herself up onto the very tips of her sneakers and peered over the top of the fence, thinking that the girl must have crouched down for some reason. It seemed impossible for someone to have run away so quickly, so quietly, yet there was absolutely no sign of her.

‘You’re getting a bit too old for imaginary friends,’ Jemima said. The smile on her face was more of a sneer.

‘I didn’t imagine her.’

‘Whatever.’ Jemima rolled her eyes. ‘Mum says lunch is ready.’ She tossed her hair over her shoulder and jogged up the steps and into the house.

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