‘Danny,’ I said proudly,
‘this is your grandmother - it was taken before she was ill.’
I looked again. A beautiful, elegant young woman with long dark curls
was smiling back at me. Her name was Margaret Elizabeth – it
was written on the back! Why hadn’t I realised before? Maybe
it was because by the time I met Maggie she had a slight stoop and
her hair was completely grey – premature ageing due to the stress
of her illness, the doctors had said. The curls had gone and in their
place was a short, elfin haircut. Yes, she had changed physically
but the warmth and beauty of her personality obviously hadn’t.
The next day I went back to the library – eager to find her
and tell her that I knew, but she was nowhere to be seen.
I never saw Liz again but somehow it didn’t seem to matter.
I felt a warm glow, knowing that she was still with me, that she hadn’t
gone at all. |
Judging Comment
Has Mary Thompson written a ghost story here? The Librarian’s
name was Liz – but had she been Margaret Elizabeth? And did
she know exactly when to turn up at the library, just as her Dad needed
help the most? And was it on purpose that she started to help by guiding
to the books on coping with grief? It all falls in place.
But perhaps Liz was no ghost at all? She could well have simply been
a young lady librarian who had a great deal of sympathy for the more
elderly library users, especially those who were unhappy. Such lovely
people do exist, and we can decide for ourselves whether Mary’s
story is a ghost story or not – which is exactly how many of
the best ghost stories are written. |
