We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 Spencil Writers Prize! This year’s top honors in the 9-13 age category go to the incredibly talented Evelyn Moras, an 11-year-old budding author. Evelyn’s captivating story, “A Ghost I Knew,” stood out among the many entries with its imaginative plot and vivid storytelling. We’re sure you’ll be as enchanted by her tale as we were. Congratulations, Evelyn!
A Ghost That I Knew by Evelyn Moras
Freshly bloomed flowers remind me of the hot bread Mama used to bake, oozing with melted butter that dripped onto our clothes as we held it with sticky fingers and laughing, dancing faces. A vase of scented pink flowers always sat on the tabletop as we ate. The fragrance was beautiful, like Mama herself. Her smile could light up the whole room, full of light and her eyes were dancing sparks that drew you in. Her arms were always open, ready for the bad days and the good times that we lived through, for the ugly and the beautiful moments that we all cherished. She cherished them the most, though, knowing that those moments made us who we were, Jamie and I. I missed Mama, missed her more than ever. Where are you Mama? I thought. You were so young, so full and bursting with warm colours and light, so humorous and so full of undeniable wisdom. And then you went missing. Disappeared. How could you Mama?
The year Mama went missing was a bright year, a hopeful year for all of us, Mama, Papa, Jamie and I. We were all looking forward to something, Mama and Papa for the new job opportunity that Papa had earned and Jamie for his first year at school. I was just glad that my family was happy, because that’s how I liked it to be. Mama worked in the Navy. One day, when she set off for work, she hugged me extra hard. ‘You be a good boy Alexander Thompson,’ she said, looking deep into my eyes. I’ll be on that ship a long time so don’t you go playin’ up with your Papa.’ I promised I wouldn’t. A month passed by. She didn’t return. Nobody found the ship or her whereabouts. We all feared the worst.
It was at school one day that I discovered something perplexing. I usually ate my lunch in silence, friendless except for Jamie, who loyally sat next to me each and every day. Something in my mind was constantly nagging me yet I was clueless to what it was. I hurriedly finished my lunch that Papa had so carefully prepared and rushed onto the playground, with the long, slender trees that stretched gracefully toward the sky. What I was looking for, I did not know. Something was possessing me, a desire that was not yet fulfilled.
A whimper echoed through the trees. I was inclined to move forward, to see what it was, who it was. Jamie followed me, though fear racked his mind. I was fearless, goodness knows why. I ran through the trees toward the voice, my mind as blank as a white sheet of paper. The moan echoed again and I saw a silvery shadow move toward me. I slowly walked towards it. A ghost is transparent yet it can be visible. This ghost was weeping sorrowfully, stricken by tragedy. I was shocked and Jamie stood like a skeleton behind me, shivering. The shadow looked up. Salty tears welled in my eyes, threatening to fall. ‘Mama’ I whispered. Mama choked with obvious emotion.
‘You found me.’