Greenwood, my hometown, is modest in size. It's a few kilometres north of Kentridge. There are many small, red brick cottages with white picket fences and some quaint, wooden cabins closer to the forest at the outskirts of the town.
Most of the members of the community are involved in subsistence farming. Eating farm fresh food, playing in the meadows and swimming in the lake near my grandad's house were some of the good times I remember and will always cherish about my childhood.
There are only two churches, one primary school, one small post office, and an old pub. The local health care centre is down the street from the only police station.
Everyone knew each other, and it wasn't uncommon to get reported to your parents by an adult down the street if you were a naughty kid. My fiance once joked that coming to my hometown was like walking into a real life episode of Postman Pat.
I can imagine, looking back now, that such simplicity would have been boring to Ciara Manning. She was the tall, vivacious, redhead, freckle faced friend that any petite, shy, curly haired, brunette like me would be lucky to have as a friend.
We used to ride our bicycles to Kingston High School every morning. We quickly became known as ‘Ciara Squared’, we were both named Ciara, but her surname was Manning and my surname is Oladele.
We had a lot of fun adventures together. Both of us were serious with our studies, but she had a wild streak that was strong enough to make her popular at school, but moderate enough to enable her to get along with the teachers. I would usually spend my time reading English classics, participating in school plays or playing the violin. On the other hand, she would be playing the drums, getting medals in track and field events and experimenting in the lab.
Our parents were friends, both our mum's were primary school teachers and our dad's were policemen. Greenwood was a very quiet and peaceful town, so most of the time our dad's did administrative work and only sorted out the occasional dispute.
No one was prepared for our town to get turned upside down by Stardust. That's right, you're not mistaken. The scoundrel's name is Stardust and my best friend fell hook, line and sinker with immediate effect.
YOU ARE READING
Frosted Glass || Short Story✔
Teen Fiction||6X FEATURED|| 'What really happened to Ciara Manning?' The simple townfolk of Greenwood, England, assume that the tragic death of Ciara Manning, Ciara Oladele's best friend, is an accident. A year later, a ghost from Ciara Oladele's past challenge...
