MYSTERY OF THE SINGING GHOST

                            By Ana Riley

©  Ana Riley 2003

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

             Dear Reader,

           I’ve been meaning to write you a letter for a few weeks now, but you know how crazy things get when school starts.  I have Ethan, new classes, new students, Ethan, homework, new friends, a few new clothes and of course, Ethan.

          You have probably been wondering about my trip to visit Jenny, about the farm vandalism, about the Beach party and what happened to Spike.  I felt bad that I haven’t told you until now, so here goes.

          I’ll begin with Spike.  He was completely traumatized by being in the stupid trap Alex built, so my dad let him free as soon as I went to the garden and saw for myself that our singing ghost was indeed, a porcupine.  I told Alex that his trap was ridiculous but I think he’s doomed to ongoing ignorance, as he never takes my advice.  We never heard the lovely singing again from our garden.         

I did go to visit Jenny on the Labour Day weekend, at the beginning of September.  I flew to Calgary after school on Thursday and didn’t come home until Monday night. 

          Jenny’s sister, Jane, is doing very well.  Jenny spent her summer holidays helping Jane to exercise as much as she could in her wheel chair.  Jenny’s parents let us take Jane to Banff, where we tried to find out about the ghost at the hotel.  I won’t take your time to tell you that whole story just now.  It was amazing, and yes, the three of us girls all believe the hotel in Banff is haunted.

            The Beach Party was the event of the year!  It was wonderful!  I met so many people and I had a great time with Ethan!  It was the perfect way to end the summer and begin the new school year.  Here are some pics that you may enjoy!  

Do you remember me being all worried about Ethan and some girl he went to school with in Kindergarten?  Well, this is her and all she did at the Beach party was swim.  Ethan would have to be a fish for her to take him seriously!                                                                                                             

This is Jarod, Ethan’s friend  He was a fun guy to be around.

Ethan playing football

                                                            This is one of our friends wind-surfing!  Looks fun, huh?

Our friend is a champion diver!  

One girl had a great cheerleader’s costume      

This is one of Ethan's friends playing baseball! 

                                                                                                     Ethan and I danced up a storm !                                                                                    

            The farmers didn’t have a great year with their crops, but at least their homes are safe once again.  Mr. Gustafson still works for the community and is going to be a candidate in our upcoming election.  Mrs. Gustafson never did send me the bill for the chair.  I met her one day at the grocery store and I asked her about the muddy chair.  She said it cleaned up very well and that I had nothing to worry about. 

My dad is teaching at the High School and the kids really like him.  He’s a serious, intelligent teacher, and they respect that.  They also think his car is the coolest, which helps.

Alex is Alex.  I’ve managed to stop calling him ‘Marti’, because of my promise to God.  It’s hard but I’m coping.  Alex is still working weekends at the flower shop.  He’s saving his money to buy a motorcycle.  When I pick Alex up from work, Mrs. MacDonald and I have a chat.  She is an exceptional woman.

My mom came home with me on the long weekend.  It was so good to have her back.  We all missed each other very much.  She has said she will never go away for that length of time again, even if her sister is having twins.  She said grandma can go next time, if there is a next time.  I think the nephews drove mom nuts.  Dad smiles again every day and the house is back in order.  We did have the living room window repaired before mom got home, so at least she didn’t have to worry about what had happened all over again.

The egg lady comes every few weeks and since our brief time of traveling together, she now thinks of me as a friend.  She brings her recent garbage dump finds or her garage sale purchases, and shares her excitement about the ‘wonderful’ treasures she’s found.  She’s been combing her hair recently – I’m thinking she has a boyfriend.  What some women will do for a man!

        Alex’s friend, Harley, did eventually visit the farm the same weekend I was at Jenny’s in Calgary, so I didn’t see him after all.  I did see a few photos of him and I’ll admit to you only that he’s definitely hot!  But, he’s no Ethan.

Ethan is back at university in Saskatoon.  We see each other whenever he’s home for the weekend or for a term break.  He’ll probably take me to my grad, and then after that, I don’t know what will happen.  I’m not ‘in love’ with him the way the other girls are with their boyfriends, but I do love him in some special way. Personally, I think the entire ‘falling in love’ thing is over rated. 

Well, that about sums up my life to this point, in the Middleofnowhere, Saskatchewan.  I hope you had fun reading about this mystery which turned into a few different mysteries.  I’ll keep you posted should there be any other developments at the Weldon house or with the writing on our bathroom walls.

Take care and please try to make the world a better place.  Bye for now,

Yours truly,

Gia

 PS:  I almost forgot to mention – Shakespeare has grown to double his puppy size, and in just a few months.  He eats everything [not my shoes – he has matured] and we’re teaching him to play Frisbee.  He loves to go swimming and fetch the Frisbee from the lake.  Did I tell you, we have a lake just ten minutes from our house?

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