*This story is brought to you by La Bella Collaborative: Spooktober Submissions!
**This story is written by La Bella Journeys very own, Bella L., following the above photo prompt.


“A Bea In The Library” by Bella L.

“Excuse me!” shouted a young child at the checkout desk “Do you have any books on hippos? My brother calls them ‘the water warriors’!”

Bea looked up to see a small curly-headed child hopping up and down in front of the librarian, Miss Thompson. Miss Thompson slowly typed at her computer while the child danced with impatience. Bea huddled underneath the reference desk, hugging an older copy of ‘Oliver Twist’’. She had not had the time to check it out to herself last night since Mr. Andrews had reset all of the technology for an update. She wanted to make sure that nobody caught sight of her book before she could check it out. She tucked her book further into the shadows and then turned to look at the child who was now standing at the side of the checkout desk and staring hard at the librarian. Bea could see now that the child was about 5 years old, and definitely a boy. His visible excitement was contagious.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like all of our hippo books have been checked out.” Miss Thompson frowned at the screen and then turned to the boy, who looked like he was about to cry. “But.. we may have something else you would like. I have a copy of Animal Atlas that features hippos and rhinos…. It was just returned. Would you like to take a look at it?”

The boy nodded vigorously, curls bouncing all over the place. Miss Thompson directed the child to the reading area and told him it might take her a minute to find the book in the back. As they both disappeared through the door to the children’s reading area, Bea glanced around the library. It didn’t seem like anyone had noticed her presence. She floated straight up to the ceiling, resting her back on the stained drop tiles Mr. Andrew had yet to replace. Beah gazed down at the romance section. The curly-headed child’s mother and another visitor were deep in their stories. For a Tuesday morning, the library was awfully quiet.
Bea floated towards the children’s reading area and lowered herself to the floor by the poetry display. Posters for books by Shell Silverstein lined the wall behind the display table. At first glance, she didn’t see any sign of the curly-headed boy.


‘He must be around the corner in the beanbag nook’ she thought.


Bea started towards the bean bag nook, stopping in her tracks when a cold shiver passed through her right arm. She turned to see the boy staring at her from between the bookshelves, hand out as if to poke Bea with his extended index finger. His finger had indeed passed through her. Beah didn’t know why the shivers occurred, but they happened anytime she passed through something, or if something touched her accidentally. It was a strange feeling to have when her sense of touch generally felt more… muted. She took a step back and hugged herself.

“Oh. You’re here.” Bea said.

The boy had lowered his hand, eyes round as dinner plates. Bea wasn’t used to being seen. Most people could only sense her presence if they noticed her at all. Children, ever curious, were the most likely to notice her presence, but still very rarely saw her. Bea put her arms down and giggled at the look on the boy’s face.

“Has the librarian found your book yet?”

Much to her surprise, the boy shook his head. No one, not a single person, had ever understood her when she spoke.

“You… You can understand me?” She leaned in closer to the boy as he nodded. Bea did not know what to think! She had been wandering around this library for years, maybe even decades… Ghosts are terrible at counting time… She didn’t remember anyone who could understand her.

“You’re… you look like…a ghost!” the boy managed to finally whisper.

Bea giggled again. “Yeah…My name is Bea.”

She floated past the bookshelves and around the corner to the bean bag nook. Bea did not want to frighten the boy, and due to his age, she wasn’t sure if fear or curiosity would win. She sat atop a beanbag, waiting to see what the boy would do. The boy came around the corner cautiously, looking around for Bea. When he spotted her he stared for a few moments before shyly stating “I’m Eli”. Bea smiled at Eli and patted the beanbag beside her. Eli walked over and slowly sat down. “Eli… It’s nice to meet you.”

Week after week Eli’s mom would bring him to the library. Miss Thompson would often see him curled up in the beanbags laughing or talking to himself about books he was reading. Very often, he was reading about hippos. Eli’s mother repeatedly thanked the librarian for feeding his newfound reading habit. He was reading far beyond his grade level already, and his mom thought this must be the librarian’s doing. Miss Thompson would always comment about how Eli was just a voracious reader. Bea enjoyed Eli’s company in the library. Quickly, he was becoming her one and only real friend. Bea had never run into other ghosts in the library, although she had read nearly every book on them that wasn’t too scary for her. Bea explained to Eli that she could not leave the library without feeling uncontrollably ill. She had tried to leave the library before, and she never made it past the sidewalk. As soon as she was back in the library she experienced immediate relief.

Eli was ecstatic to have Bea as a new friend. He was disappointed that Bea could not come to his 6th birthday party. He had begged her to come, but she had explained to him that she couldn’t leave the library. Eli felt sad for Bea, he thought living all alone and invisible in the library must be… well, lonely. Every time he came to the library he’d find her sitting halfway through a bookshelf, or floating near the ceiling. They would giggle their way to the bean bags, handfuls of books in their arms.

“Bea,” Eli asked, “Can you eat? I want to bring you cake.”

Bea wasn’t sure. She’d never tried to eat anything as long as she could remember. “I don’t know…” she replied, ”I’ve never tried it.”

“You’ve never tried cake?!” Eli shouted. Somewhere in the kids section a hidden parent shushed him.

Bea shook her head. “What does cake taste like?”

Eli thought hard before replying. His eyebrows furrowed, one hand scratching his head. “Well… It’s sweet from sugar. I am having chocolate cake at my birthday tomorrow. Chocolate is brown and smooth and makes my tummy happy.” Eli stood up. “Eating cake feels like this!” He did a little dance, lifting his arms up high, smiling big, shuffling his feet, bending his knees, and bending at the waist. Bea giggled at the sight. She began humming a tune and Eli danced harder. The giggles almost took over them both.

“Eli! Come on and check out buddy, let’s go home!” called Eli’s mom. Somewhere, a disgruntled parent shushed and grunted.

Eli reluctantly stopped dancing. He picked up a few hippo books off the floor and put them on top of a copy of “Where The Sidewalk Ends”. “I’ll be back with cake after my birthday Bea!” He whispered through a lopsided grin.

Bea watched the back of Eli’s head disappear around the corner. She wondered how long Eli would be able to see her. His birthday coming up reminded her that he was getting older, as humans do. In most of the books she read, kids forgot magic the older they got. Bea didn’t want to go back to being invisible, but she had no idea what she could do about it. Some day, Eli would forget her… and she would be alone again. Bea heard Eli’s mom thanking Miss Thompson on the way out. She hoped this wouldn’t be the end of her friendship with Eli.

Eli bounded into the car and buckled himself into his seat. His pile of books sat in the seat next to him. As his mom began driving away from the library, Eli asked if they could bring a slice of cake to the library after his birthday party.

“Your party is tomorrow afternoon baby, maybe we can bring some the next day?” She could see Eli nodding in the rearview mirror. “Who do you want to bring cake to anyways?” She thought maybe he wanted to thank Miss Thompson.

“Bea.” Eli said
“Bee?”
“Bea, in the library. I don’t want her to be lonely.”
“You saw bees in the library?” Eli’s mom made a mental note to call the librarian and let her know as soon as they arrived home.
“No, Bea- B, E, A. Bea is my friend, mom.”
Eli’s mom was confused. “Miss. Thompson?” she asked.
“No, “ Eli said slowly, “Bea! The little girl, well big girl, bigger than me, lives in the library.”
“Eli, What… What girl? Nobody lives in the library. Everyone has to leave after hours- even the staff.”
“Not everyone.”

“Sweetie, what… I don’t know who you’re talking about. Can you help momma out?” Eli’s mom glanced at him in the rearview mirror again, completely perplexed.

“BEA!” Eli shouted. “I think she’s 10. She’s Daniels’s age I think. She always wears a purple poncho and white shoes. I see her every time we go to the library.” Eli sighed and looked out the window before he very quietly continued. “She’s my best friend… and she’s never even had cake.”

Eli’s mom considered all of this, thoroughly confused as to who he had been talking to in the library. She couldn’t think of a single person that fit his description, much less a child who had been there for each of their most recent library visits. Maybe it was an imaginary friend? She asked Eli how he could be sure Bea would be there the day after his party, but the boy was insistent that she would be there. Finally, she conceded and asked to meet Bea. Eli nodded. They picked Eli’s older brother, Daniel, from soccer practice. Daniel noticed Eli’s new hippo books right away, commenting on how they hadn’t read those ones yet. The boys chatted about hippo facts until their mom was able to get in a question about soccer practice. Eli returned to looking out the window. A few minutes from home Eli started humming the tune that Bea had hummed in the library.

It had been two whole days since Bea had seen Eli and been promised cake. Bea looked for pictures of chocolate cake and went through every cookbook she could find in the library! Each picture showed beautifully decorated cakes. Some looked soft and spongy, others dense and smooth. Bea wondered if she should try to eat something before the cake arrived, but an opportunity to sneak a bite of someone’s lunch never arose. It was a drizzly day out, and the gray clouds and dark shadows of the afternoon didn’t give Bea much hope that she would see Eli that day. Bea floated along the ceiling, pushing herself down toward the floor every few feet. The ceiling tiles would raise slightly with her movements before falling back into their places. For the first time in a long time, Bea was bored! She glanced at the clock behind Miss Thompson’s desk… 1 hour til closing. It didn’t look like Bea was going to get to see Eli today.

Bea made her way to the seasonal ghost story display in the adult section. So many of the ghosts looked scary, or the illustrations were otherwise grim. Bea wondered If that’s why so many people couldn’t see her… they were too afraid to see something might exist and also be terrifying. Bea knew she was a friendly ghost, but it seemed most humans didn’t have the impression that ghosts could be genuinely friendly. Bea peered at the books, wondering how Eli was able to see her as she felt. Bea couldn’t see her reflection, but she felt like she had a distant memory of what she looked like packed away in her mind somewhere. Eli certainly was hesitant at first, but he was never scared of her, which according to these books, was extremely rare.

15 minutes before closing time, the door to the library swung open followed by two voices that sounded like they were gasping for air.

“My my, are you two alright?” Miss Thompson rushed over to Eli and his mother who had just been blown in with the wind and rain.

“Oh, we just need a minute,” Eli’s mom laughed, “Need to catch our breath.”

Bea floated towards the floor, walking towards the voices. She could feel the excitement building with each step!

“Eli had something he wanted to bring a friend here at the library,” his mom continued. “Miss Thompson, do you know anyone named-”

“BEA!” Eli rushed forward to meet Bea, who had stopped a few steps away. His raincoat was covered in little beads of water, but his face was alight with all the joy in the world. Bea giggled at Eli and clasped her hands in front of her.

Miss Thompson & Eli’s mom looked at the empty space, and then at each other quizzically.
“So… I’m not the only one… totally confused?” Eli’s mom asked. As Eli excitedly took off towards the eating room, Miss Thompson scratched her head.

“Did he just say ‘Bea’?”

Eli’s mom nodded. “I assumed it was an imaginary friend. He described someone that I’ve never seen around here. I-”

Miss Thompson helped get the boys returning books free from his mother’s backpack. “That’s not the strangest part,” She said slowly, “The strangest part is that we had a retired worker here with that same name…. Almost 30 years ago.”