A Ghost of Christmas Past

“Daddy, Daddy, look what I got!”

Emma clambered onto her father’s lap, proudly holding her precious find before her. Her father took it from her, staring at the small, slightly worn, pink teddy bear in shock.

“Where did you find this?”

Emma opened her mouth to answer, only to hesitate, staring at something just above her father’s head. Her father didn’t notice, still staring at the little bear.

“In a box,” she said, at last, “In the attic.”

When he continued to stare at the bear, not saying anything, she added, “Daddy, what is it?”

He shook himself, as though coming out of a trance.

“I never told you about my older sister, Melody, did I?” he asked.

Emma shook her head, eyes wide.

“Well, she was the oldest of the three of us, by more than five years, so she usually didn’t play with either me or Aunt Maddy when we were growing up, but she had this special little toy bear named Penelope. Whenever Maddy or I got sick, or hurt, or just upset about something, Penelope would appear out of nowhere, just to make us feel better.” A rueful smile twisted the corner of his lips as he added, “She said that she was a magical bear; you could tell by the fact that she was pink. She had this special voice whenever she was playing Penelope, sort of like…” he paused, then shook his head, “Never mind. I couldn’t do it justice. But it was really funny and sweet, and Melody always knew what to say to make our current sorrows go away. Then…”

He had to pause again, his voice going thick when he spoke again, “I never mentioned Melody because she died when I was in high school - car accident. Before the funeral, Maddy went looking for Penelope, but we couldn’t find her anywhere. We never knew where Melody put her when she didn’t have her out and well… after a few months we forgot about even trying to find her. I have no idea how she could have ended up in the attic…”

Emma gave the bear a solemn pat on the head, then glanced up at her father, “Can I keep her? I’ll take good care of her! Promise!”

Her father hesitated, then nodded, a small smile replacing the grim look on his face, “I think Melody would like that. Be very careful with her, though; Penelope is a very special bear.”

He handed her back the little bear and Emma gave him a big hug, before scampering back up to her room with Penelope. A moment later, a second figure entered the room, a warm smile on her face.

“Told you he’d let you keep her,” Melody grinned, “She’s been far too long without an owner.”

“Thank you Auntie,” Emma replied, “But why didn’t you want me to tell daddy that you gave her to me? He seems really sad.”

“I don’t think he’s ready to know about me, just yet,” the ghost of her aunt answered, drifting down beside her, “So, let’s keep this as our little secret for now. Merry Christmas, Emma.”

“Merry Christmas, Auntie,” Emma grinned back at her.

Inspiration: This was mostly inspired by a short story I read many years ago, about a young girl whose imaginary friend is implied to be the ghost of a doll maker, who gives her a gift by leading her to the last doll she made. Although it was categorized as a ‘horror’ story, I also felt that that was mislabelled, and so this is my yuletide version. The holidays are a time for joy and family, but also a time when you remember and miss the ones you’ve lost… although this does not have to be a negative thing, as in this story. 

Word Count: 532