There is a bright spring hidden between large trees in the private property behind my house. The property was a cemetery; on one side there were tombstones, on the other thick trees filled the area they had not expanded to yet. The side of town I lived in was called ghost town. Not many liked to live here. It had a bad connotation. My brother hated living here. I loved it. I was not as popular or “good looking” as my brother. He had a very pretty boy look. He inherited my mother’s hazelnut hair, and light brown eyes. I had my dad’s black hair and dark eyes. Aside from this, we looked similar in features. I liked looking at the spring from my window. It was barely peaking from a clearing between two trees. Even though it was dark, and there was no light, the spring appeared bright blue, almost shinning, especially during a full moon. On this night, the spring looked brighter than ever. Slight movement caught my eye, it seemed to be some branches moving with the wind. It was easy to mistake things in the darkness. I got dressed for bed and went to sleep. That night, I had a dream that I had gone down to the spring. The water looked like a blue crystal, and when I jumped in, the icy water sent shock waves through me. I stayed under for a long time, my body unwilling to let me up. Just when my body could not take the lack of air, a cold hand grabbed mine, and pulled me up. I tried to gasp for air as I was pulled out of the water, but I was both conscious and unconscious. I felt my mouth forced open and a sweet breath filled my lungs. The pressure on my chest light, before I knew it, I was spitting out all the water in my lungs, gasping for life. Light footsteps ran away from me. I was only able to see a wisp of long brown hair before it disappeared between the trees. I felt myself pass out. I woke up with a jolt on my bed. I felt ice cold. I reached down to the foot of my bed and grabbed the folded blanket, wrapping myself in it.

A girl was found the next morning in the spring. She was dead, either by murder, suicide, or just and accident, they were still investigating. I felt a little guilty, the night before I thought I had seen movement. Thinking about it now, it could have been her, and I simply ignored it. My brother was pretty freaked out about it. Once they released her identity, he recognized her as a girl he once dated. She was vaguely familiar, just a girl from school. I stopped looking at the spring after that or tried. For the most part it worked, however, one month after it happened, I could not help but look again. It was very bright again, most likely due to the full moon. It was extremely hard to look away when it looked this pretty. As if it was taunting me, the movement between the trees was back again. I stared hard, trying to see if I would spot a person, an animal, or something, however, as quickly as I saw it, it was gone. I was sure I had imagined it. But what if I had not? That thought was haunting me. Should I look? I decided to stay in the room, but I dragged a chair next to the window and kept watch. Willing anything to happen. Hours went by, everything remained unmoving. I woke up startled. I had fallen asleep without realizing it. It was darker, glancing at my watch, it showed three am. My neck was stiff from the position I had fallen asleep in. I tried to crack it, when suddenly, I spotted down below something that froze me. An arm in the spring, and then another, two arms, they gave quick strokes, finally the whole body was visible. It was hard to see, but it appeared to be a girl, and she was swimming? That was what it appeared. She stopped right at the end and shook out her hair. As if she could sense my stare, her head turned in my direction. Her hand lifted in the air and she began waving. She seemed excited, bobbing up and down. Was she waving at me? Impossible, she could not see me, or could she? With her hand she started beckoning me to come. As scared as I felt, I was also intrigued. What could she want with me? Or was she calling someone else over? I was still unsure if she could see me. I decided to observe her further. She pulled herself out of the spring and put her hands on her hips, her foot tapping impatiently. She disappeared between the trees as she walked away from the spring. I watched her reappear at the clearing which led to the cemetery. Again, she looked up in my direction and waved me over. I pointed at myself, asking if she meant me. Her head, very quickly, kept nodding up and down. Working up the courage, I walked out of my room and went downstairs, stopping right at the front door. As scared as I felt, the mystery girl and all her hidden secrets was too much to ignore. With one last breath, I opened the door and walked out quickly to the cemetery. The fence was low, it was easy to hop over. I jogged over to the clearing where I saw the girl, but she was gone. I could not find my voice to call her. Movement between the trees caught me by surprise. A girl was struggling, she was knelt down on the floor, trying to get away, but someone was holding her in place. This was not the same girl I had seen from the window. She was vastly different.

“Are you ready?” A voice whispered.

The question was caught off by a sharp scream that was quickly silenced. I was not able to do anything as the life quickly faded from the girl. Almost as if in shock, I collapsed on the floor, and began to breath heavily.

“Why do you always get like this?” A girl’s voice brought me back, I looked up and saw the girl I had seen from the window. She had long brown hair, and a tan complexion. She was much shorter than me, and extremely beautiful.

“You got to learn to be tougher.” She said, flashing me a wicked smile. A surge of memories came back to me. That’s right, I did know her. She was mine. I got up quickly and stood next to her.

“Where did you find her?” I asked.

“She came to me, walked right into my spring and gave me her dying wish. People now a days don’t always have the guts to kill themselves, so they come to me.”

Of course, it was always like this, on a full moon you can come to this spring and call the ghost that lurks here. She can concede your wish of death only if it is what you truly desire. I tried long ago, but I did not truly desire death. Her sweet breath brought me back to life, and in exchange I keep her company during these times. I always seem to forget, an effect that she tells me must happen, because your brain rejects what is illogical. Her small body leaned against me, as I held her close. I cherished these times that were hidden deep within my subconscious. I gave her sweet kisses, knowing that come morning I would forget about her again.