Darkness swallowed Prim. The blackness was so complete that if not for the sound of crashing waves, she’d have forgotten she stood on the shoreline of Cranberry Cove.

Where was Ellis? Her heart beat faster as she thought of her cousin. He had been standing beside her when the warm rush of murky air had blown over her, stealing the afternoon light.

“Ellis!” Prim waited for an answer, but heard only wind and water. She was about to cry out again when she felt a coolness pool around her bare feet. She jumped back, slipped on seaweed and fell hard on her butt. The impact shook her bones. From beneath her, a strange white cloud began to seep into the air, brightening the darkness, gathering and swirling around her.

Prim scrambled to her feet and cried out for her cousin again. She peered into the white cloud, hoping to find him, but saw nothing. She frantically waved her arms, trying to push the cloud aside, but the more she moved, the faster the cloud turned. She was afraid to look down because the water was up to her knees.

“Ellis, where are you?” She noticed a shadow coming out of the spinning cloud. She forced a smile. At least she wasn’t alone anymore.

“Ellis? I thought you were lost.”

She reached out, but jerked her hand back with a gasp. It wasn’t Ellis! Her pulse raced. Instead of Ellis, a ghostly figure stared down at her with black, hollow eyes. White flowers fell from the pockets of his baggy shirt and drifted down to float on the water.

The ghost reached for her. Prim rushed backwards and stumbled and fell under the rising water. Salty water filled her mouth, and she spat and sputtered as she tried to rise to the surface. The waves tumbled her across the sand and seaweed as if she were a plastic bottle, bobbing in the surf.

Prim slammed into a boulder, then a wave heaved her on top. She clung to it, waiting to catch her breath. Trying not to make any sudden movements, she peered around, searching for the ghostly figure, but it was gone. When something touched her arm, she shrieked and whirled around, almost tumbling off the boulder. It was Ellis!

Her cousin looked at her strangely. “What are you doing?”

“I was . . .” Prim looked around. The dark fog had disappeared and the shore was brightly lit with afternoon sunshine. “I was looking for you.” She sat straighter and took a deep breath. “Did you see him? Did you see the ghost?”

“Ghost?” He blinked, then shook his head. “I didn’t see anything. Why did you run from me?”

“Run from you?  Did you see the darkness? The white cloud?”

Ellis raised his eyebrows and gawked at her. “Did you bang your head?”

Prim jumped off the rock and flung her arms into the air. “The ghost! It was right there!” She pointed to the spot on the shore where the ghost had stood. She wasn’t crazy. She knew what she had seen. “It scared me. I fell. I got caught up on the water and . . .”

She stopped talking and touched her t-shirt, then swallowed. The t-shirt was dry. “But . . .”

“Maybe we should go home.”

“Yeah . . . I don’t . . .” She looked up at him. “You’re sure? You didn’t see anything?”

Ellis shook his head. “Nothing.” He reached out and held her hand. “Do you think you can make it, or should I run and get your mom?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Prim replayed the scene in her mind. What had happened? Why had she believed the sky had gone dark and a ghost had appeared? Why hadn't Ellis seen it? It seemed so crazy. She glanced back as he led her away from the shoreline. What was that in the water? White foam? She yanked her hand from Ellis' grip and ran to the water.

It wasn't foam, but white flower petals floating on the water. They were the same as those which had fallen from the ghost’s pockets. Her heart beat faster. The ghost had been real!

 

* * *

 

Prim shook herself awake and sat up in bed, gripping her chest. It had been a dream . . . only a dream. A nightmare! Just in case, she searched the small room of the cottage for any signs of a ghost. In the darkness, there was nothing to see. She heard the steady breathing of her younger brother, Henry, and her cousin, Shona, both sleeping in their bunks.

Prim pulled open the window curtain by her bed and looked outside. A sliver of moon twinkled on Cranberry Cove. For several minutes, she searched the calm water and the shoreline, but nothing moved.

Satisfied there was no ghost, Prim snuggled beneath the warm blankets and closed her eyes. She was tired from travelling all day from South Harbour and needed sleep if she were to enjoy her first day in Cranberry Cove.