Rose (standard:Ghost stories, 3977 words)
Author: Tiffany Harrington	Added: Jun 22 2005	Views/Reads: 3983/2488	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Young Karen Harper is forced to leave the only family she knows. She befriends a poverty stricken little girl who turns her world upside down.

I still have vivid dreams about my first images of Rose. I was seven
years old when she came into my life. My mother and father were both in 
the military so moving came quite often for me. It was the first move 
that my family made and I just didn't understand why I had to be ripped 
away from the only friends and family that I had ever known. It didn't 
seem fair. It was the hottest summer day that I had known when the 
moving truck pulled up to carry me far away from my former life. I 
climbed into the car with tear filled eyes and gave a brokenhearted 
wave to my friends through the tinted windows as we pulled off. 

It was at least a month in our new home before the boredom took over the
loneliness and I decided to venture out of the house. It was still 
during summer break and my young legs were itching for some adventure. 
We lived on base in one of the many cookie cutter military homes in the 
subdivision. Our house was located in the far east corner where a 
wooded area was located behind the house. There was something about the 
woods that called to me. I couldn't figure out what it was, but I 
wanted to go exploring to see if I could find it. I wasn't ready just 
yet to mingle with the other kids playing on the playground. I need a 
little bit of self-discovery before I tried to figure any one else out. 
I slipped on my flip-flops and told my mom I was headed out to play. 
After giving me the usual warnings, she kissed me with permission to 
go. 

The woods were great. There were tall trees that stretched to the sky.
Sturdy branches supported my weight as I climbed towards heaven. I 
spotted a great big oak tree, perfect for my new tree house that my 
parents had bought to coax me out of my shell. “This might not be so 
bad after all”, I thought to myself with a semi-smile. I played for 
hours that day chasing butterflies and catching bullfrogs. I loved the 
woods. I hoped that none of the other children had discovered my 
private sanctuary. The sun started to set and I figured I should start 
heading back to the house before it got to dark to see my way. There 
was only one problem: where was home? I was lost. Lost deep in the 
woods with no clue as to where to start to find my way back. I looked 
around for something familiar to use as a guide. Everything looked too 
much alike. All of the same trees and flowers grew everywhere. “Do I go 
left or right? Oh god, what am I going to do”, my heart pounded in my 
chest with panic.  I walked around for a while longer just getting 
myself deeper and deeper into the wooded nightmare. The thought of not 
ever seeing my mom and dad again terrified me. Very dim light was the 
only thing peeking through the tree branches now. I knew before too 
long that it would be completely dark and the night creatures would be 
out to get me. I sat on a rock and cried until my whole chest heaved 
uncontrollably. Then, there she was. She walked out from behind a big 
tree from somewhere in the woods. She looked like one of the beautiful 
porcelain dolls that I kept in my room on high shelves so not to break 
them. She had pale ivory skin with clear blue eyes that seemed to glow 
in the darkness. Her red cherry lips that were pressed together in 
silence. Her head was topped with ringlets of honey blonde curls that 
were secured with a bright pink bow. She had a matching pink dress that 
cut off right above her knee. The bottom frilled out with a white lacey 
slip just barely peeking under the bottom. White lace trimmed socks 
were slid into black Mary Jane sandals. I didn't know what to do. The 
living doll that stood in front of me mesmerized me. “What's your 
name,” she asked breaking the trance. “Karen,” I slowly replied. “Hi 
Karen. My name is Rose. Why are you crying?” “Because I'm lost and I 
don't know the way back home.” Rose looked at me and smiled, “Well I'll 
show you. You don't have to cry.” She grabbed me by the hand and a 
peaceful calm came over me. She led me through the dark woods straight 
to my house. I didn't know how she knew where I lived. I assumed she 
was another kid on base. I really didn't care where she lived at that 
moment in time. I was just thankful she had found me. “Here you are, 
Karen. It was nice meeting you! Maybe we can play tomorrow.” She 
released my hand and skipped off towards the woods. I couldn't say 
anything. I was just frozen there. Rose was my hero. I turned around to 
ask her if she wanted to come in and play but she had already gone. I 
went inside, relieved to have made it back. 

The next day I was itching to find Rose. I had gotten in trouble for
coming home so late the night before but was permitted to go out and 
play anyway. I searched for Rose very cautiously, as not to lose my way 
again. She was nowhere to be found. I made my way back to base to see 
if she might be playing on the playground but she wasn't there either. 
I went back to the woods and sat on the same big rock as the night 


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