The Tree of Lost Souls.

This is the beginning of a ghost story for children which I have been writing...

There were ghosts in the old, French house on the end of the street. Blossom knew that because she drank ice tea with them sometimes.

They were not the type of ghosts that you might be scared of on a stormy night, or the type of ghosts that to give food to on special occasions. Most of the ghosts were younger than Blossom, who would be fifteen at New Year. Many of them were too shy to talk to her. There was a girl, called Herb, who had been born in the Year of the Mouse and died in the Year of the Chicken. In some ways she was a little older than Blossom, and in other ways she was much older. She liked to play marbles with Blossom, and braid her hair.

Herb had a cat called Charlie- named after Charlie Chaplin-no one could see him, but you could hear him or feel him if he walked past you or sat on your lap

There was an old lady who owned the house, and she was still alive. Blossom called her Grandmother Snow, but she was no one’s grandmother. She sat outside her house every day on a small chair on the cracked pavement, under a tall tree, and sold tea and red candles.

The tree had wide bows, and thousands of vines that reached down to the street. Old men would sit under the tree and play chess, and working men would sit and drink tea. In summer it gave shelter from the hear and heavy rain. In autumn red and golden leaves carpeted the street. People believed that spirits could live under the shade of that tree, so people put flowers in the nooks of it ancient trunk and burnt incense.

But all the spirits were inside the old French house, where it was more comfortable.

Every New Moon, Blossom went to the temple with her parents. After that, her mother would go to visit her family and her dad would go to drink egg-coffee with his friends, so Blossom was free to go and see Grandmother Snow. She liked to talk to Grandmother Snow, who knew almost everything, and spoke very gently, and wore her white hair down and very long, but she preferred to go into the house and play with the ghosts.  

‘Now you will die!’ he roared.

‘           No…’

‘It’s over for you now.’

            ‘Give me one more chance…’

            ‘No, I am tired of playing with you, it is finished!’

            Uncle Patients and Granddad Mountain always talked like that when they were playing chess, and Blossom always found it funny.

            She watched them tidy up their game, said goodbye to Grandma Snow, then went into the old house.

There were three huge marble steps that led into the porch, then a wide mahogany door that led to the living room. This room had a sink, cooker and table in one corner. In another corner it had a tall shelf full of books, old dolls and broken clocks. There was a big mat in the middle of the floor for sitting.

                On the ground floor there was also Grandma Snow’s bedroom and bathroom. Grandmother Snow only lived on the ground floor (because she was too old to climb the stairs) so it was always bright and clean, but upstairs was very different...