Once upon a time, in a little house on a green hill, lived a tiny ghost named Boo.
Boo was round and fluffy, like a little white cloud. He had big, kind eyes and a happy smile.
But Boo had one big problem.
He had no friends.
Every morning, Boo floated down to the village to find someone to play with.
One day, he saw three children playing with a ball.
“Hello!” said Boo. “Can I play too?”
“AAAAH! A GHOST!” cried the children.
They dropped their ball and ran away.
“Oh,” whispered Boo sadly. “I only wanted to play.”
The next day, Boo saw a little girl picking flowers.
“Hello!” he said with a friendly wave.
“EEEEEK!” screamed the girl.
And off she ran!
Boo looked down at his tiny ghost feet.
“Why is everyone afraid of me?” he wondered. “I don’t want to scare anyone.”
That evening, Boo sat alone under a big apple tree.
He watched the stars twinkle in the sky.
“I wish I had just one friend,” he whispered.
Suddenly, a little boy walked by.
His name was Oliver.
“Hello!” said Oliver. “Why are you sitting here all alone?”
Boo looked up in surprise.
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Oliver tilted his head.
“Why would I be?”
“Because I’m a ghost,” said Boo.
Oliver smiled.
“Well, you look like a very friendly ghost to me!”
Boo’s eyes grew wide.
“Really?”
“Really!” laughed Oliver. “Would you like to play?”
Boo was so happy that he floated all the way around the apple tree.
“YES, PLEASE!”
They played hide-and-seek behind the trees.
They chased falling leaves.
And Boo made funny shapes with his fluffy ghost body.
First, he became a bunny.
Then, a butterfly.
And finally, a giant marshmallow!
Oliver laughed so hard that he fell onto the soft grass.
The next morning, Oliver took Boo to the playground.
When the other children saw Boo, they gasped.
“A GHOST! RUN!”
“Wait!” called Oliver. “You don’t have to be scared!”
The children stopped.
“But he’s a ghost!” said a little girl.
“Yes,” said Oliver. “But he’s a kind ghost. He doesn’t want to frighten anyone. He just wants to be our friend!”
Boo gave a tiny wave.
“Hello,” he said softly. “Would anyone like to play?”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then a little girl stepped forward.
“Can you turn into a bunny?”
Boo smiled.
“Of course!”
POOF!
He became the fluffiest ghost bunny anyone had ever seen.
The children giggled.
“Again! Again!” they shouted.
Soon, everyone was laughing and playing together.
And from that day on, Boo was never lonely again.
Every afternoon, the children called:
“BOOOOO! COME AND PLAY!”
And Boo would float down the hill with the biggest smile in the world.
Because now he knew something wonderful.
You don’t have to be scary just because you’re a ghost.
And sometimes, all it takes is one kind friend to help everyone else see who you really are.
The End. 🌙
Commentary