Autumn Ghost Story (Draft 2)

Every year since he left, she met him on the platform. Every year her heart swelled when she heard the clicking of the train on the track, bringing her brother home. When she was ten, she had waited for him for the first time. Five years later, on the same day, she stood on the platform, eager for the train to arrive. It was no different from the other four years. Or so she thought.

Juliette was dressed in a thick, navy coat with fluff around the hood. A woolly, brown scarf was wrapped around her neck and she drew it up to her chin as she waited at the station.  A soft exhalation pushed a wisp of breath into the cool air. It was cold outside, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to see Thomas again.

The twenty three year old was a pilot in the air force. Juliette could remember seeing photos of him when he was little, always clutching a toy airplane in his tight, toddler grip. She could remember the mass of plane models he had in his bedroom when he was a teenager, so proud of his collection. And she could remember the beam on his face when he announced that he was becoming a pilot, finally getting to fulfil his dream. These were the images that played in her head as Thomas’s train pulled up in front of her.

The train doors slid open, revealing him standing just behind. He looked exactly the same as the last time she saw him, Juliette thought, he hadn’t changed. His blonde hair formed waves on his head, and she could see the faint freckles on his nose that he had always hated. She only let him take a few steps forward before bounding into his arms, embracing him tightly.

“Hey sis”, he whispered into her ear. A sad expression crossed his face momentarily, before he thought better of it and adopted a smile as she pulled away.

“I’ve missed you”, she replied, looking into his deep blue eyes which had become slightly watery, even through his effort to remain cheerful. A tear of her own escaped and slipped down her cheek. Over Thomas’s shoulder, she saw an old man’s brow furrow in confusion as he watched over the scene. Ignoring him, she grabbed one of Thomas’s icy hands with one of her own, wrapped snugly in a mitten. 

“Shall we go for our walk?” she suggested, already knowing the answer. Whenever he came back, the first thing that the two would do was take a walk down the Crab and Winkle, an old pathway near their house, where trees from both sides grew so large that they loomed over the path, forming a sort of tunnel. It was filled with memories from when they were younger and used to play there every day.

When they reached the Crab and Winkle, Thomas sucked in a breath at the beauty of it. The trees on either side of the trail were just starting to lose their leaves, so although they were mostly still decorated with the vivid oranges and yellows, a thin coat of the colours also lay across the pathway. As they walked together, Juliette told him stories of the year that had passed since he last visited. He chuckled as she told him about when her and her best friend fell into the river during the summer, and pride shone in his eyes as she told him about how well she was doing in school.

“So tell me about your year” she said, once she had finished. Thomas sighed and begun to speak gently.

“Well, about eleven months ago, not long after we went back, there was an incident. The engine on my aircraft blew, and it came crashing down. My entire platoon was in there; forty people. Only eight survived.”

As Juliette listened, more tears threatened to spill over her eyes, and she almost didn’t see the woman with a pushchair who was about to pass by.

The woman came to a halt just in front of her and said “Excuse me, miss, are you all right?”

“She’s fine, aren’t you Julie?” Thomas said, nudging her lightly.

Juliette nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine thank you.”

The woman gave her a sympathetic look. “Are you sure you’ll be okay out here on your own?”

“Um, its fine, I have my brother” Juliette replied after a moment of hesitation.

Thomas let out a heavy breath, and then softly murmured “Come on, Julie, let’s go.”

The woman stood and watched the strange girl continue down the pathway. What had she meant when she said that she had her brother? Maybe he was meeting her soon. Shrugging, she turned away, pushing her pushchair as she continued her walk.

Juliette turned to face Thomas, and spoke quietly. “I can’t believe how close you were to dying.”

“You have no idea”, he replied. Oh, the cruel irony.

“What do you think happened to all those people who died in the accident? Do you think they went to Heaven?” Juliette didn’t really believe in Heaven and Hell, but she wanted some reassurance that they would be in a place with no more suffering.

Thomas hesitated before answering. “Who knows? Perhaps, or maybe they are still roaming this world.”

“You believe in ghosts?” Juliette was surprised; Thomas didn’t seem like the type to believe in anything supernatural.

He shrugged noncommittally. “I believe that you shouldn’t dismiss something as impossible just because it’s improbable.”

“I guess”, she replied.

Later that evening at the station, just before Thomas had to leave again, he held Juliette’s face in both his hands. He looked directly into her eyes as he spoke. “You know I love you more than anything, don’t you, Julie?”

She was taken aback by his sudden outburst, but her heart blossomed with love anyway.

“Of course I do. I love you too, Tom. More than anything.”

He seemed satisfied, and after one last hug, the train pulled up to the platform. The doors opened and he stepped onto the train, turning to face Juliette once he was inside. He blew her a kiss, which she pretended to catch, and caught the one that she blew to him.

Juliette didn’t like to watch him pull away again so she left before the train set off. Her brown boots shuffled the few leaves that were scattered on the floor, and the slight evening breeze fanned her hair out behind her.

Thomas stepped out of the train again just before it could depart. He watched Juliette from the platform as she walked away; almost unable to believe how much she had grown up in only one year. There was a regretful look in his eyes and a lump in his throat, which he tried to swallow. Once she was out of his sight, he shifted his vision to the station. It was a beautiful building; one that he had always loved. The red bricks seemed to catch on fire in the light of the setting sun. He watched the birds that flew over his head, he watched the wild rabbits that moved at the side of the track, and he watched the sun as it slowly sunk downwards. He watched it all; capturing a mental image, so that he would never forget what life looked like.

He suddenly adopted a look of acceptance, his lips curling into a small, sad smile.

It was only once he closed his eyes that he faded into nothing.