The Tracks by Sally Royer-Derr (little readers TXT) 📕

damp grass. My heart beat wildly again, being this close to him. I’d been close to him in the past. But this was different.

He remained silent. Just sat there staring at the water flowing freely over the rocks below us. Goosebumps formed on my arms as I realized what I must do. I reached out my hand and touched his arm. He turned and smiled at me. He took my hand into his and squeezed. His warm flesh pressed against me. The heat from his body mingled with my own.

“I can feel you,” I whispered. “I don’t understand any of this.”

Tommy stroked my hair. He kept a firm grip on my hand. “I am real. At least real to you, Emily. But nobody else can see me the way you do.”

“Why is that? Why are you here?” My voice rose. I was angry at him for making me feel all these emotions I didn’t want to feel. I jerked my hand away. “What do you want from me?”

He shook his head and looked at the ground. “I wish I knew. When I died last year, I stayed exactly where my accident was, on the tracks. I was stuck in a vacuum. Some kind of time continuum. On the rare occasion someone would come down here, they couldn’t see me. You should’ve seen me trying to get their attention. Yelling, pushing them, nothing made them see me. Until I saw you.”

“How did you know I would be able to see you?” My nerves eased. The old feeling of comfort he gave me whenever I was around him returned. I’d been scared of the idea I had of him in my mind. But I knew him. Nothing to be afraid of, regardless of the circumstances.

“I watched you before approaching you. I’d given up on the idea of anyone being able to see me at this point. But there was something different about you. I just knew you were the one I’d been waiting for.”

I slid my hand into my shorts pocket. “I found this in my locker. Your old locker at school.”

He nodded, taking the watch. “I figured you would. You were busy today.”

“Do you follow me around all the time?” I hoped not.

“No, today was the first day,” he said. “I was worried about your reaction when you found out…well, that I was dead.”

“I was freaked out,” I admitted. “I still am.”

“I can’t blame you. I would be, too. You know, before you came here, I was limited to the tracks and the woods around it. I couldn’t even walk to the clubhouse, until you showed up.” Tommy squeezed my hand again. “I need you. I don’t know why I’m still here. But I do know you are the person I’ve been waiting for to help me understand. You’re the only one who can see me. And I can go anywhere you go. There’s something I need to do here, before I can move on. Will you help me?”

“Yes,” I said. I didn’t have a choice. I was the only one who could help him.

***

Tommy fingered the old pocket watch. “It was the only thing my dad left behind. I found it the last time we moved. In a box of junk. Mom wanted to throw it out. Said she would if she ever saw it again. It was the only connection I had to my father, and I didn’t want to lose it. That’s why I hid it in my locker.”

“And your letter? You never finished writing it. Were you going to send it to him?”

“Send it where? I didn’t know where he was. I still don’t. That watch is all I have of him.”

This was great. Neither of us knew why he was still here. Or how I was supposed to help him. I remembered seeing a TV show about souls being unable to move on if there was unfinished business on Earth. His relationship with his dad, or lack of one, seemed to be the unfinished business. But what was I going to do about that? I was barely over my dad’s death. And now all this stuff with my mom and her new relationship. I couldn’t even fix my own business.

I felt his stare while I played with the shoelace on my sneaker. He wanted me to have answers. And I wanted him to have them. But neither of us had any.

“I’m sorry, Emily,” he said.

I looked at him. Unshed tears shone in his blue eyes. Tears for me. And for him.

“I shouldn’t be here. I don’t want to be here anymore. And I don’t want to ruin your life.” He sighed. “I’ve never had a friend like you. Never cared about someone as much as I do for you. But all I’m going to do is bring you pain and confusion. Believe me, I wish we had met under different circumstances. Like when I was alive. I don’t know why I need you, or why you’re the only one who can help me. But I do.”

I took a deep breath and grabbed his hand. I gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I guess we’ll figure this out together.”

***

I woke up in the morning, still in my grass-stained shorts and dirty sneakers, sprawled out on my bed. I rocked my head back and forth, trying to calm the raging headache inside. I had no memory of walking home last night. Tommy must have carried me home to my bed.

Something hard pressed against my cheek as I lay back on the pillow. I lifted it. The pocket watch sat there with a crumpled piece of paper.

Please find my father, it read.

Yeah, right. How was I going to do that? Wave my magic wand and, poof, he appeared! This wasn’t going to be easy.

I rolled over and stared at the