The Boy in the Road

Ghosts to me have always been something made up... I always thought ghost stories would have just been fake, or exaggerated versions of something that happened that wasn't paranormal at all. Well last week I got a taste of what other people had been talking about.

I was with my mum and younger brother on the way to pickup my sister from her boyfriend's house that night, he lives on an old road that is right next to miles of country and a forest so It was pretty dark in most parts apart from the occasional streetlamp or passing car. We where just round the corner for our destination when a small boy ran out in front of the car, I screamed for my mum stop the car, the force of the sudden halt threw us all forward in our seats. Were we left in dead silence apart from the car radio playing an old song from the 90s, my mum practically punched off the radio and looked at me very sharply.

"What the hell are you trying to do!" I sat in silence, confused at her anger. "What if I'd have swerved and went into that old wall? It would have killed us all! What do you have to say for yourself?"

My whole body felt like jelly, my mind on the injured or possibly dead body the must be on the outside of the car as I didn't see the boy anywhere on the road or the path. The only place he could of gotten to is the old train tracks next to the road, which are fenced off so he would of taken a while climbing up them. I found strength in my arms and pushed open the car door, my mom was yelling at me but the chill from the freezing weather distracted me. I felt like a statue as I looked at the frail boy, he had on this hat that was tatty and scratchy looking, I remember his skinny knees that had gone blue from the cold.

"Are you hurt?" I said quickly as I realised I'd just been stood there staring at him. He just looked at me, I could feel his gaze. "Here let me help you up" I offered him my hand and he didn't move a muscle, he gaze never even broke from my face which was now numb with the cold night air.

I leaned down to pull him up from the freezing floor as my mother grabbed my wrist, "What are you doing out the car! Your already in to the wrong now your acting crazy, talking to yourself! Get in the car now!" She screamed in my face, with fury in her eyes. "B..b..but th..the boy he's—"

"WHAT BOY?!" she exclaimed, she then roughly held my face into the light from the streetlight, she squinted her eyes as she checked my pupils to see if they where dilated at all. "Have you been taking drugs?"

I let my eyes drift away from her and I saw the boy over on the train-tracks, looking at me in the eyes with a frightened stare. "Do you need a lift home, its warm in the car?" My mother let go of my face and looked in the direction of the boy, she marched back into the car and slammed the door. "Get in... Now!"

I looked at her with a shocked expression, "Your just going to leave him here all alone in the dark?!" I asked meekly. I looked at my mother and she looked at me like a crazy person, my brother was sat in the passenger seat shaking his head. I looked back over to where the boy was stood and their was nothing but cold air, I quickly looked around the area to see if he was there but there was no sign of the boy. I fell to my knees, and realised that the boy was not really there at all. He was a ghost. I got back into my car and my mum looked at me in the rear view mirror with angry eyes and nobody talked the whole way home.