Read The Tidings - [Ghost Huntress 0.5 - A Christmas Novella] for Free Online

heartbeat begins to slow momentarily. This girl doesn’t sound like she wants to hurt me or anything. Still….
    “Seriously. Who and/or what are you?” I ask in a demanding tone.
    “Come on, Kendall. It’s me,” the spirit says. And just like that, the beautiful face of one of my best friends morphs onto the figure.
    “Taylor? Is that you?” I ask incredulously. “What are you doing?”
    Taylor Tillson shakes her head, causing the crown on her head to wobble a bit. She catches a glimpse of herself in my dresser mirror and poses. “I don’t have the first clue. But don’t I look fabulous?” She fingers the tiara. “I think our society should institute a fashion law that all women must wear these regularly.”
    I blink hard, trying to understand. “Taylor, can we get past the bling for a second? What are you doing here?”
    Turning away from the mirror, she sort of snaps into her role. “Oh, right. I’m, like, the Ghost of Christmas Past.”
    My mouth hitches to the side. “Really? That’s what you’re going with?”
    Taylor lifts her arms, causing the robe to spread out, and then drops them back to her side. “I’m not really in control here. I’m just supposed to show you the past.”
    “My past?”
    “Ummm, yeah.”
    I rub my eyes again. “Are you for real or is this a dream?”
    Taylor shrugs and she twists again to check her headdress in the mirror. “Why don’t you conjure up a tiara for yourself, too?”
    A long sigh escapes from me. “I didn’t realize I had invented all of this to begin with.” I crawl to the end of my bed and sit, staring at her. “Why are you here?”
    “Like I said, I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past. I’m supposed to show you how wonderful Christmas was and how much you loved it. You know, to get you out of your funk and give you an attitude adjustment. I’m here for your benefit.” She pouts at me. “You’ve totally been Miss Fickle Puss lately, Kendall. What’s with the ‘bah humbug?’ You have so much to be thankful for, you don’t even realize it.”
    I frown back. “How do you know? You’ve barely known me a year. You have no idea what my life was like before I moved to Radisson.” It was normal. Boring. Staid.
    Taylor raises her flower-filled hand high. “Then why don’t you show me?”
    My brows crease. “What? Like turn on my computer and bring up my Flickr account with all of my old family pictures?”
    Taylor rolls her eyes. “No. Like, get up out of bed and come with me.”
    I glance down at my pajamas. “I’m not exactly dressed for a field trip.”
    She puts her hands on her hip. “Don’t backtalk me, Kendall. Get up!”
    I step onto the floor and wiggle my toes inside my socks. “Geez, Taylor. Bitchy much?”
    “I’m not Taylor. I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past. Come on.” She flashes a bright smile and offers me her arm.
    “Are we going outside or something?”
    “We’re going to fly!”
    I place my hand in hers and she tugs me over to the window seat. She steps up in her bare feet and pulls me along with her. The shutters fly open and a frigid night wind captures my attention. Even though I’m only in my pjs, I’m not cold at all.
    I turn to Taylor. “So, what? You can fly now?”
    She smiles out at me. “We’re about to find out.”
    I resist the jerk or her hand. “I’m not exactly thrilled about falling one story and landing in my mother’s hydrangea bushes.”
    Taylor says, “I’ve got this covered.”
    With that, we are out the window. Walking on air… literally. And then, we are flying. Like Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman—wait, she has an invisible plane, right?—and all of those other comic book heroes. My backyard becomes but a speck below me, as does my house. We soar over Celia’s mansion, above the cemetery, and up, up, and away from the twinkling red and green lights of decorated downtown Radisson.
    There’s no more mist and it’s not as wretchedly dark. Instead, the world below is a palette