Fiction

The Girl by the River

The car screeched to a halt and the three of us nearly fell out. It had been a three hour trip and we hadn’t seen civilization for at least an hour.

The bathroom situation had gotten desperate and we ran into the small gas station/general store.

After revolving trips to the bathroom we grabbed the necessary road trip snacks, everything surgery and salty we could find. Plus we grabbed enough pop to float to our next destination.

A young guy in a flannel shirt manned the cash register.

“Do you take Apple Pay?” Sarah asked.

“Mmmm no. Cash or card only.”

“I got it,” I said, handing him the cash.

“You guys from down state?”

“What gave it away?” Carey laughed.

“Just had a feeling.”

“We’re here looking for the…” I said before realizing it was kind of silly.

“Ohhhh, you’re here for the Ghost of King River.”

“Yes,” the three of us said sheepishly.

“People are always getting lost trying to find her.”

“Have you seen her?” Sarah asked.

“Once or twice.”

“Seriously?” she gasped.

“Mmmmhmmm.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Okay, most folks think the old bridge by the dam is the best spot but there’s a better one. Go down the road we’re on and you’ll see a trail on the left. Take that until you see a little two tracks on the right. You’ll have to walk about a mile but it will take you down to the river.”

“Oh my god thank you,” Carey said.

We did as he said and sure enough we found the little trail down to the river.

“A mile is farther than I thought,” Sarah said.

“I thought you ran cross country,” I asked.

“Only cause my dad was the coach. I could barely make it around the track.”

Finally, We found the river cutting its way through the woods. It was a much smaller stream than out by the road.

“What are we supposed to do?” Carey asked.

“It didn’t say,” I said, “People see her doing all kinds of things. Some have seen her by the road. Some people saw her fishing.”

We walked up and down the river for hours.

“Ugh,” Sarah said, “let’s go b….” she stopped mid sentence.

Carey and I turned to see a girl in a white shirt walking down the river.

“It’s her,” I whispered.

“Oh hello,” she said. She sounded normal. I’m not sure what I thought a ghost would sound like though.

“Pleased to meet you,” she said and extended her hand.

Sarah was the closest and raised her hand.

The second she touched the ghost she was pulled into the water. We screamed. The water was barely ankle deep. I couldn’t tell where she had gone.

The girl in the white shirt appeared again, “Come in the water with me.”

But we declined and ran.

The forest got deeper and the banks got taller but neither of us wanted to get close to the water. I was as lost as could be in the trees but it was better than going back.

Suddenly we ran into the guy from the gas station,

“Whoa,” he said “you guys okay? I came to see if you found the spot.”

“She took Sarah,” Carey yelled.

“What?”

“She took her.”

“Guys it’s just a story. I think your mind’s playing tricks on you.”

“She’d gone man,” I said.

“Why don’t we go back to the store. We can call for help there.”

We followed for a bit. We were so tired we weren’t paying attention to where we were going.

Suddenly we were back at the river.

“What? Why are we here?” I asked.

“Sorry guys,” he said and pushed us. It was enough to send us tumbling down the bank into the water where it all went dark.

The man in the flannel shirt walked to the water’s edge.

“How many more do you need?” he asked.

“About a dozen should do,” the ghost said.

“I think there’s a field trip coming to see the leaves change. I’ll bring them.”

The ghost smiled.