I Kissed a Ghost - Fun MG/YA Book by Robin Leigh Morgan... Still Active and Sharing...

 

Mary looked out her window the next morning and, seeing the rain, realized that it would be a very miserable day: she hadn’t made any friends yet, and if it had been raining where she used to live, her old friends were probably at the movies in the mall. With nothing else to do, Mary asked her mother, “Would it be okay if I explore the rest of the house today? I still haven’t seen the basement.” 

“Sure, dear, the basement is fine, but remember, the attic is still off limits; the staircase hasn’t been fixed yet.” “Thanks, Mom,” replied Mary as she headed toward the stairs to the basement. Turning on the light switch at the top of the stairs, she slowly walked down the steep flight of stairs. Once she got to the bottom, Mary saw a huge wooden chest in a corner. She went over to investigate it. The instant she opened it, she discovered that it was filled with all sorts of stuff any girl her age would love. Look at all these old-fashioned dresses, shoes, and socks! They’re pretty, but no one wears dresses like these any more. There’s even a beautiful white gown that almost looks like a wedding dress. Mary decided to try everything on. Amazingly, everything fit her perfectly. It was as if the clothing had been made for Mary. I don’t believe it! There’s even a pair of white socks and strappy shoes with a small heel. And the shoes fit me as well. This is so weird! After putting on the dress and shoes, Mary climbed the stairs to the kitchen to show her mother. “Mom. Look at what I found in a chest downstairs. Everything fits me perfectly. There’s a lot more stuff still downstairs, and everything is my size.” “You look beautiful in that dress. In fact, you should put your dress back on after dinner to show your father.” Mary changed back into her regular clothes and then hung all the dresses she found on some hangers she also found in the chest. In another corner of the basement, she came across another chest. This one was filled with a lot of old toys meant for either a girl or a boy. Mary didn’t want to occupy herself with these things in the somewhat chilly basement, so she brought everything up to her playroom, making several trips up and down the stairs. Once she finished moving everything, she inspected her treasures and decided to amuse herself with some of the old-fashioned toys she found. She became so absorbed in playing with them that she lost track of time until she heard her mother calling her for dinner. While everyone ate their dinner, her mother asked, 

“Did you find anything else interesting in the basement today?” “I did.” Mary looked up from her plate and wiggled in her seat. “Besides the chest I found with all those beautiful clothes, I found another chest covered with some dusty blankets. When I took off the blankets and opened the chest, I found it filled with a lot of old toys. In fact, I’ve been playing with most of them since I brought them up to my playroom.” “So that’s what you’re calling your other room.” “Yes, Mom. I think it’s a great name for it, because aside from being able to study there, I also have lots of room to play in.” “You’re right, you’ll have lots of room for that, as well as for other things,” replied her mother. “What kind of toys did you find?” asked Mary’s father. “I found all kinds of toys, too many to mention; some of them were for girls and some were for boys.” Mary smiled because she now knew she had something to help her pass the time until school started again in a few weeks and she once again could begin to make some new friends. As she drank her milk, she asked her father, “Can you bring the chest I found up to my playroom so I can put everything back in it and keep it in my playroom?” “I’ll help after you after I’ve helped your mother clean off the table and checked my e-mail.” “Thanks, Dad.” Mary jumped up from her seat to hug her dad. “You’re the greatest.” 

Mary went to her playroom and got dressed in the white dress and shoes she’d found, and ran to her father. “Dad, this is the best dress and shoes I found today.” My father looked at her. “Mary, you look like a real princess in this dress.” “Thanks, Dad,” replied Mary as she gave him a kiss on his cheek; after which, she ran back to her playroom, changed back into clothes she had on, and went back to playing with the toys she’d found. As she played, her father came up with one of the chests Mary had found. “Here’s the first of the two chests you found in the basement, you can store all these toys in it. I’m going back to get the second chest now, and tomorrow I’ll get you a clothes rack and hangers, so you can neatly hang up all the clothes you found today.” “You’re wonderful Dad,” replied Mary as she hugged and kissed him. 

Mary went back to playing with her newfound toys again until she got tired and decided to go to bed. The moment she fell asleep, Mary once again felt a gentle kiss on her forehead. She woke up and rubbed her eyes. This time, she didn’t see her ghost floating around over her bed or disappearing through the door of her playroom. In fact, this time she saw nothing, even after looking inside the playroom. This routine continued every night for the rest of the week. Every night, right after falling asleep, Mary felt a kiss on her forehead and woke up. The only difference between each night was that the kiss felt bigger and bigger. Yet each time when Mary opened her eyes, she saw no one, including the ghost she had seen the first night she slept in her room. At the end of the week, when it happened again, Mary rushed to the door of her playroom and opened it. She then tiptoed quietly inside, and when she looked at the table where she had placed the boy’s toys, she found that they had all been moved. Who moved these toys? This is impossible. 

It wasn’t me, so someone else must have moved them. But I’m the only one who has come in here, so there’s only one possibility—it was a ghost! But it can’t be a ghost, because they don’t exist. Mom and Dad have told me that many times when I woke up from a bad dream with a ghost in it. I know they would never lie to me about something like this. Mary became more and more confused. She didn’t know who or what to believe anymore. Should she believe what her parents had told her many times or should she believe what she could see with her own eyes? The stairs to the attic had been professionally repaired by Friday, and that weekend, her parents were working up there, cleaning it so it could be used for several reasons, including parties. Her father was working to finish the hard things to do there, like painting. And then her parents could get a new floor and windows put in. Mary’s father found more old toys as he cleaned the other side of the attic, which she couldn’t play in yet, and figured they were about one hundred years old. When he asked Mary if she wanted them, she quickly nodded her head and asked her father if he could put them on the study table she’s been using there. Later in the afternoon, Mary went to her playroom to check out what her father had found. Besides an old ceramic doll, he found under a broken floorboard, her father had also found more than 150 miniature toy soldiers and Indians, which Mary sorted out by placing the soldiers on one side of the table and the Indians on the other. At dinner, her father asked, “How do you like the toys I found?” “I love them, especially the ceramic doll. I’m going to have Mom help me clean her, and I’m glad you also found some additional clothes for her.” “I’m happy you like them, dear. What are you going to do with the soldiers and Indians?” “I’m going to keep them for now. 

When I go back to school, I’ll tell everyone what I have, and if I’m lucky, someone interested in history and old toys may want to come over to see them.” I know my idea sounds sneaky. But who cares? If I can get someone to come over because of them, then my idea will have worked. When it came time for Mary to go to bed, things were no different than they had been since arriving at the new house. The only difference happened when Mary’s ghost gave her another kiss on her forehead, and she could have sworn she heard it faintly say, “Thank you for the miniature toys.” “Thank you for the miniature toys?” I heard that. But who said it? I wonder…can ghosts speak? There’s no one else in here besides Suzy. And except for saying, “ruff ruff,” she can’t talk. So, it must be a real live ghost. The next day, Mary asked her father, “Can you could move my computer, stereo, and CDs into my playroom and put them on the large table I study on?” “Certainly dear,” replied her father. “Is there anything else you’d like me to do?” “No thanks, Dad. You’ve already done everything I need. You’re the greatest.” After he moved everything for her, she glanced outside and noticed that it had started to rain again. Since Dad has moved my computer and set everything up again, I feel it’s an appropriate time to go online to search for information on ghosts and find out whether they’re real. 

While Mary searched the web, she was sure that she felt someone standing behind her, watching closely as she used her computer. Several times she even felt someone breathing on her neck. Yet each time she turned around, she couldn’t see anything—not even her ghostly figure. With no windows in her playroom and no ghostly figure in sight, an eerie sensation came over Mary her as she continued trying to figure out where the breathing had been coming from.

The next morning at breakfast, Mary’s mother, noticing her tired face, asked, “Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” How can I tell her the truth? How can I mention the ghostly figure, or the kiss it gave me, or the voice I heard without her thinking it was my imagination? But how could it be my imagination? Mary thought. She knew what she had seen, and it could only be described as a ghost—a ghost she knew had to remain her secret. The days passed quickly, and before she knew it, it was time to go to school. I’m glad tomorrow is the first day of school and I can finally start making friends... 

~~~

Robin recently announced on the Reviewers Roundup Group at Facebook that she was retiring, so I thought I'd do a little show-and-tell about her significant efforts over the years... Check out her Bio!

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About the author

General Member - RWA [Romance Writers of America] / Member YARWA Chapter

I'm a retired NYC employee who's been married for 24 wonderful years, alas no children. My 1st endeavor as a romance author has been a MG/YA Paranormal novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" originally got released in December 2012. On October 16, 2017 the revised paperback version of this book got released; followed by the KINDLE version on October 27, 2017. Here's the link to the revised KINDLE version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076Y77RHD

You can read several unedited excerpts from the original manuscript here: https://mypennameonly.blogspot.com/search/label/Ghostly%20Whispers

My 2nd book, is "Micro Fiction - An Anthology," which contains 100 Micro Fictions, with a majority of them having a romance theme. US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QH15K4M

My own writing endeavors consist of an adult contemporary romance novel entitled "His Darkest Secret," and "The Secret of the Well," which is MG/YA Urban Fantasy novella, as well as is a stand-alone sequel to "I Kissed a Ghost."

Since becoming a Book Reviewer in August 2014. On February 13, 2014; and as of 10/1/2018 I've read/reviewed 936 books and my Amazon Reviewer Ranking is 1,165. in addition, I'm also a TOP CONTRIBUTOR for True Crime Books. If you're interested in reading my reviews on Amazon here's the link: https://tinyurl.com/y83l8h4m

But what I'm liking most of all these days is that I've begun writing Christian poetry, which is probably due to my apparently increasingly becoming a Christian Book reviewer with 17 [50%] of the books of the books I'd reviewed [34] in September 2018 had been of a Christian nature. To learn more of this recent change in my book reviewing habits, check out my blog on BlogSpot about this: https://tinyurl.com/y7c8zxzc

I'm available for interviews regarding my books and my writing in general. If anyone is interested in interviewing me; please contact me via a DM on my Twitter account

THANKS and have a BLESSED DAY !!! :-) :-) :-)
O X O X O X

Robin Leigh Morgan

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I had first read I Kissed a Ghost probably during the times when I was unable to review and blog, but still was reading. Sooo, I had to read it again, and that was not a hard task to do. The story is catchy, comforting, and, yes, a little bit corny. LOL The main thrust of the story is that the main character, Mary, goes around kissing boys! LOL Just teasing, a little... But, indeed that is true...

You see, we get to enter Mary's life when she and her friend are just beginning to get interested in boys. So much so that, especially with her best friend, Jessica, they spend lots of time sharing exactly what happened with so-and-so, and how they felt... You know, girl talk... But Mary got a heads up on the issue when she met Jonathan and soon they were friends and, more importantly for him, she was helping him with school subjects since he was a great baseball player, but needed to keep good grades... Little by little Mary started to really like him, so much so that she asked to meet him some place where they could be alone--she needed to tell him something privately.  You guessed it, when they got to that corner way back in a department store, she turned around and kissed him on the cheek and told him she really like him... Of course, he was at first surprised--it would be, he told her this was his first kiss, as it was hers... But it didn't take long for him to kiss her back!

And then, it was over, even before it started. Mary's father had gotten a new job and they were moving! Mary was devastated not only because she loved her school and friends, but when she relocated, she would have no friends to even start school with. Although she did continue to talk with Jessica over the Internet.

Now here's the catch! Her family moved into a beautiful old victorian home, with plenty of space, even a large room next to Mary's bedroom, that would serve as her playroom. Mary had fun going through the house because many old boxes were found in the basement and, later, in the attic... Clothes, toys and dolls were found to her delight!

Mary was soon restless, however, and she started walking to a nearby park, hoping she would meet some neighborhood kids. Sadly that never occurred. But school was not too far off and she hoped that she would begin to make friends on the very first day!

There was only one issue, there was a stranger in the house, who, upon seeing Mary, started to do things to attract her... Like breathing on her neck from behind. Or placing a "sleep well" kiss on her forehead as she was falling asleep...  Mary was a curious, outgoing person and so it was her nature to check things out. Soon she had discovered a young boy late at night in her playroom, playing with a set of small soldiers that had been boxed up for over 100 years... Indeed, her ghost had been in that house, also, for 100 years... And Mary was not a bit afraid!

Mary's starting to school was finally here and she did make friends quickly, even to their willingness to walk home with her. They would play with Mary in her outside playhouse that they had been able to bring with them in the move... But, no matter how many times Mary and her Mother invited them in, her friends would claim that her house was haunted and they had no desire to go inside... Now there is a little bit of teasing by the local students and, some of them too far, only to learn a big lesson at the end...

Still, Mary soon had a special, private friend. For indeed, she was to meet and become a close friend to spend time with inside... Because there was indeed a ghost and they became very close friends... Now, being a ghost in this story, also gave the ghost the gift of telepathy so that he could know what Mary was thinking... And, taking it a step further, the ghost could also travel back in time and could transport Mary to his home when he was living...100 years ago!

It was a wonderful time and soon it became natural for Mary to kiss him on the cheek, just as he kissed her on her forehead at night... Slowly, they were holding hands and traveling around, even singing Christmas carols in the neighborhood... But no way around it, Mary still wanted her "real" friends to be willing to spend time with her in her playroom... How could she get them to come in--after all her ghost was really a friendly ghost!

But soon Mary noticed George, her friendly ghost, seemed despondent, sad...and, even uncertain... What had happened? Had George decided it was not a good idea for a ghost to be friendly with a human?

I enjoyed going back 100 years with Mary and George and seeing how holidays were done in those days, many of which I had also been living through... Fun and joy were the main goals and Mary and George did enjoy all of the major events... Each time only being away from home, where she was seen sleeping for a short cat-nap of 5 minutes or so... The creativity of the book is a major drawing point...Those days of community and family are often set aside, as technology and expensive activities are now important. Like Mary, I wished that boys back then were here in her own time... It was good to have thoughtful, caring boys who showed respect and concern... Do check this book out!

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