Death's Lingering

Ellen Jessica Collins and RaeAnna (Rae) Ingrid Rowen met on the first day of kindergarten. They both loved to joke. So, when Rae told a joke to Ellen, they began to see they had more in common with each other then just joking. To start, Ellen and Rae both were five. They loved ghost stories They both loved dogs. They also found out later that they lived four houses away from each other. They became inseparable. The only contrast between the two was their looks. Ellen had short light brown hair and mischievous blue eyes, and RaeAnna had waist length red hair and kind green eyes.

Years later……..

“Hey, Rae?” Nine-year-old Ellen called out to her best friend.
“Yes?” Answered ten-year-old RaeAnna
“I heard the best new joke today!” Ellen said, very pleased with herself. She was trying to see what kind of things made Rae mad, but she just hadn't been able to. Rae was just plain "too sweet." After all, they’d been best friends for almost five years (Ellen’s birthday was in a few weeks) and Ellen still didn’t know what made RaeAnna mad. No, that wouldn’t do. Ellen had to know.
“Ooo, you always hear the best jokes!!!” Shouted Rae “Tell me!”
“Nope” Responded Ellen. This was sure to get her mad.
“Why?” RaeAnna asked, puzzled at Ellen’s secrecy.
“Never mind” said Ellen
“If you don’t” said Rae “I promise you, that if I ever die, I will be with you, day and night”
Said Rae, quoting something she had read out of a ghost story awhile ago. They both started laughing. Ellen forgot about making Rae mad, Rae forgot about the joke, and they both went to jump rope. Little did they know how true that statement would become.

The phone rang.
“Ellen, would you get that, please?” Called Ellen’s mom from the next room.
“Yes, ma’am” Ellen grumbled. She picked up the phone.
“Hello, is this Mrs. Collins?” A male voice asked. Ellen would know that voice anywhere. It was Mr. Rowen, and He sounded as if he were crying!
“No, Mr. Rowen, this is Ellen. Is anything wrong?” Ellen was almost afraid to ask. She swallowed hard. What could have happened to make Mr.Rowen cry? she thought Maybe it was Arfy! Oh, no, not the dog! “Well, I suppose you need to hear it, too.” He sounded as if his heart would break any second.
“What? Mr. Rowen, what is it?” She shouted into the phone. Ellen’s mom heard her yelling and came into the room.
“Ellen, what is it? Are you okay?”
On the phone, Ellen heard Mr. Rowen start sobbing, then burst out,
“Ellen, Rae…RaeAnna and her mom…they…they…they got in a car accident, and…Her moms okay, but…Rae’s gone, honey.”
“NO!” Ellen screamed. She dropped the phone. She ran around, screaming, “NO! It can’t…she can’t be gone”
Her mom picked up the phone, trying to talk to Mr. Rowen and comfort Ellen at the same time. When Ellen’s mom hung up the phone, Ellen was sitting on the floor, crying, hugging herself.
“She was my best friend……my only friend in school…….” She sobbed. “It can’t be true.”


“Oh honey, she’s up in heaven now” cooed her mother.
“Just shut up!” Exploded Ellen. “Don’t talk about God! If there really was one, He wouldn’t have let her die!” She stomped to her room, feeling betrayed, lonely, upset, all rolled into one. Her life had just gone to ruins. She sat on her bed, sobbing. “Why?” She whispered. “Why?” She heard a voice.
“Ellen, Elllenn…”
“Who’s there?” Ellen cried out, suddenly sitting up. It couldn’t be her moms voice, it was much to sweet.
“Its ok.” The voice said.
“Rae?” It couldn’t be, no She thought. Rae’s dead!
“Yes, it’s me.” The voice said in a strangely soft voice.
“Where are you?” Whispered Ellen.
“Up here, and I am looking down on you” RaeAnna called softly. Ellen looked up, but didn’t see anything.
“I can’t see you” She cried.
“Ellen…” Her mother called. “Ellen, honey” Her mom walked into the room and sat on the bed.
“Mom!” Ellen said. “I just heard Rae calling me”
“Oh, honey, you were probably imagining it” Her mother soothed.
“No, I wasn…..oh, yes, you must be right, mom” Ellen said sarcastically. Mom’ll never believe me anyway. Why try to get her to understand? Or, on second thought, was I really dreaming? After her mom had talked to her for awhile and had left the room, Ellen tried to call RaeAnna.
“Rae! You can come back!” Ellen called, but not so loudly her mother could hear. She listened. But she didn’t hear anything. All she heard was a little, quiet tinkling noise, barely audible over the rustling of the leaves in the harsh November wind. She sighed. Maybe it was a dream, after all.

After her mom had tucked Ellen in that night, And had left the room, Ellen tried calling Rae again.
“Rae!” She called “C’mon, I’ll tell you a joke!” Instantly Ellen heard Rae’s voice.
“I’m up here, Ellen.”

“Where? I….I can’t see you!” Ellen heard a giggle.
“Of course you can’t see me. I’m a ghost.” Ellen was disappointed that she couldn’t see her friend, but she was also ecstatic to talk to the person who she missed so much.
“Now” Rae said, in a mock serious tone. “What’s this I hear about a joke?”
“Sure, I’ll tell you one!” Ellen said loudly. One joke led to another, and another, but that one special joke was never told. Then, suddenly, Rae stopped laughing. Then she said, “You need to go to sleep. It’s very late, and you have school tomorrow.”
“No! No, Rae, please don’t go!” Ellen started crying.
“It’s okay, Ellen, I’ll be back, don’t worry.” Ellen lifted her tear-stained face.
“Really, you really and truly will?”
“Yes. Now go to sleep!”
“Ok, if you promise.” Ellen waited for an answer, but the only thing she heard was the sound of the wind and the soft tinkling. She fell asleep thinking about Rae.

Ellen woke up. She looked around. Today is gonna be awesome! She thought, excited. I’ve got a cool new joke to tell Rae….. Suddenly she sobered. Oh, she thought sadly. Today I’m going to Rae’s funeral. But as she thought harder, she also remembered her conversation with Rae. Was it a dream? Was it? She thought. I’ll find out soon enough.

Later that day, at Rae’s funeral, Ellen started crying. It must have been a dream. She thought sadly. When they got home, Ellen ran to her room and flopped on the bed. She’s gone. She’s really gone.
“Yoo hoo?” She heard a voice call.
“Rae, is that you? Bu…but you’re dead.!” Ellen called. It can’t be. I was only dreaming yesterday…wasn’t I?
“I know what your thinking. Just ‘cause you saw me in that coffin today, doesn’t mean anything. That was my body, but not my spirit.” Rae said, sounding happy.
“Ok, so what do you wanna talk about?” Ellen asked, overjoyed. So they talked about school, boys, how Hanna likes Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, (Yuck!!!!) and other small things. Finally, Rae said,
“Ell, I need to go. I will talk to you later.” And with that she heard a small noise, a tinkling noise like the sound of a small bell. It was one of the most beautiful sounds Ellen had ever heard.
“Ahhh, that was fun” Ellen said out loud.

All that week, all that month, and for about twelve months after that in fact, Rae visited Ellen. Finally, on the day before the first anniversary of Rae’s death, the day that Rae said the words; “I promise you, that if I ever die, I will be with you, day and night”
Rae asked Ellen, “Ellen? You know that joke? The one I asked you to tell me on the day before I died? Tell it to me.”
So Ellen told it. Then she gasped, as she realized what would happen now that she had just told that joke.
“You mean…you mean you are here talking to me…because of a curse? I mean, those words you said, they were right?" She finally remembered the words.
“Yes, Ellen, and I can no longer talk to you. But I will always be with you, watching you. God has assigned me to be your angel. He will also be watching out for you. But you can see me before I go.” And with that, she heard that small tinkling noise, and then, there was Rae, in front of her face, Her red hair shining.
“Goodbye, Ellen.” Said RaeAnna softly. And then she disappeared. Ellen stood there, amazed. Then, she walked to her bed and cried as though she would never cry again. “I will miss you, RaeAnna.” She whispered. RaeAnna was never seen or heard from again. But Ellen swears that on quiet nights she can hear tinkling noises in her room.