The Forest- Noel

  1.

  She peeled off a faded orange bracelet, the writing still held her known name. Winona. no last name, because technically she had never had one. Why would she? She had raced with the wind, felt the tall golden grass brush her toes as her horse raced the clouds in the sky. 

  But it had ended and she had appeared, barely remembering the details of her life, as a poltergeist. She had taken on the name Noel, and with Denshu's help, had managed to settle into clinic life. Her bedroom reflected her thoughts with its stone mosaic aligning one wall. She had tried escaping at times, but everywhere she went, she was greeted usually by shrieks of "You're a Ghost!" or simply just "Ghost!" she hated it and always tried to explain that she, was a poltergeist. But, most didn't understand. So at Denshu's clinic was where she had made her home. Often, when things became chaotic she'd head down to the third ward, where the comatose lay in their eternal like sleep. She liked sitting on the edges of their beds meditating until someone usually Craig or Kate came looking for her. 

2.

  Craig had come looking for her. It was simple enough, a mental message asking where she was at. She was hiding out in a very remote part of the forest, probably meditating about something. "Noel, where are you." he called out.

3.

  Noel sighed, she shook her head. It would take a long time to get over the fact that she'd seen Little One and Luta. They had looked just like she remembered them; young, happy, carefree. The entire Lakota tribe had looked like they always did on a warm summer day. Horses racing in herds freely through the camp, people bustling to and fro. She had even taken Siri through it, on their way to find the witch that had tormented him for 3054 years. 

  Siri, she had never been able to connect with a comotose until she'd met him. She'd learn that he'd been trapped in his body for so long; punishment from a witch named Picayune. He had stolen an amulet from her and in returen, she'd banished him to his body for 3054 years. And then they had met, almost by accident at the clinic and together they had returned the amulet. But, it had helped that someone had tried to exorcise her at the same time, pushing them to Elsewhere. 

  He had come back, and it seemed that maybe they were meant to end up together, when he'd actually rescued her from her captor who had trapped her in a canister. She would never forget the tender kiss and the way he wrapped the jacket around her. 

  But no, she'd awaken on a journey to find him kissing another girl. She'd fled, not wanting to be a third wheel. Who would want her anyways. She'd happen a glance at the river and saw a scrawny poltergeist, who'd given herself a gauze scissor haircut, so that her black hair stuck up in all strange angles, medical bracelets stacked on one scarred arm, her other arm a mass of scars where she had tried again and again to gain access to Elsewhere and failed. 

  Now, Craig was searching for her. At least, one of her friends still seemed to care. She had sent him a message to meet her in the woods. And as she listened, she could make out his voice, calling out to her.