BILLY Meets a Ghost

By

W. E. Lopez

©2001

It was a very hot day in June, shortly before school would let out for the summer. BILLY sat on the bench in front of Mr. Waldrop’s family market and licked the ice cream melting down the side of his cone before it could make his fingers all sticky. He knew his mom would be upset if he spoiled his dinner, but it was such a hot day. Dinner would be another hour away and BILLY made up his mind he would clean his plate anyway.

A small brown puppy came round the corner and sat a few feet in front of BILLY, looking at him. The puppy had a comical expression upon its face. Overall, it was the color of a very rusty saw, one that had been left out in the rain much too long. All four paws, and its muzzle, were the color of very dark brown chocolate syrup. The puppy looked like one of those cartoon characters on television after an exploding cigar has blackened its face.

The puppy tilted its head, first to one side then the other, which gave it an even more surprised and comical look. “Oh, it’s been such a very long time since I’ve tasted ice cream,” the puppy said.

BILLY was startled! “Oh, my goodness!” BILLY exclaimed. “A talking dog!” Then he thought how silly that sounded. “It must be the sun,” he said to himself. “A dog can’t talk, I’m only imagining this.”

“Shhh, shhh!” the puppy said. “If anyone saw you, they’d think you were nuts or something! Have you got enough money left to buy me an ice cream too?”

“I’ve got a quarter,” BILLY said, “but momma told me sweets are not good for dogs.”

“I’m not really a dog,” the puppy said. “I’m a spirit. Whoever heard of a talking dog?”

“You mean you’re a ghost?” BILLY asked.

“Sort of, I’m an apprentice. But, one day I’ll become a full-fledged ghost. Now, how about that ice cream? It’s a mighty hot day, you know?”

BILLY thought about his dinner and considered it might be a good idea to let the puppy finish his cone. He held it out to him, “You want to finish mine?”

The puppy answered by licking the runny vanilla ice cream, then crunching down on the crispy cone. BILLY dropped it on the sidewalk, but not before the puppy had thoroughly slobbered all over his fingers. He found a Kleenex in his pocket and wiped his hands.

“What are you doing here?” BILLY asked the puppy.

“I was sent to protect you. I need to do six more good deeds before I can be promoted to ghost-trainee. I hope you’ll let me help you ‘cause I’m tired of being an apprentice.”

“Well, that’s nice, Mr. Spirit, but I’ve got to get home. My mom will be angry if I’m late from school, and I’ve wasted enough time here. I hope you’ll enjoy your ice cream, and perhaps I’ll see you some other time.” BILLY got up and began walking along the sidewalk.

The puppy watched the boy go and trotted a few steps in his direction before it stopped. It looked back to where the remains of the ice cream lay melting in the sun. “Waste not, want not,” the puppy thought. It scampered back and licked up the remaining sweets and crunchy pieces of cone. When finished, it ran off after BILLY.

BILLY looked down as the dog fell in beside him. “You can’t come home with me,’ BILLY said. “I’m sure mom would not want a puppy in the house. She has some very valuable vases, lamps and things. She would be terribly angry if you broke anything.”

The puppy looked up at BILLY. “And if I promised to be very careful and not break anything?”

“I’m not sure,” BILLY said. “We’ve never had a pet, but I don’t think mom would believe you even if you did promise to be careful. I’m not sure as though I believe you!”

They walked three more blocks and turned left on Linden. BILLY’s home was the fifth one down on the left, with four beautiful rose bushes standing on each side of the yard, and a picket fence painted white enclosing it. When BILLY opened the gate, the puppy quickly darted in. “You’re gonna get me in trouble!” BILLY shouted.

The puppy didn’t listen to him. BILLY’s house had a sizable front porch over which his dad had built a gabled roof. When he wasn’t away on one of his business trips, he enjoyed carpentry projects, and BILLY had a playhouse in the back yard that was large enough for him to share with three or four buddies on a sleep-over. A glider swing with lime green cushions sat on the front porch and the puppy quickly made itself at home.

“You’d better stay there, puppy. My mom will put you back outside the fence as soon as she sees you. You better go find some other little boy to do your good deeds for. I don’t believe in you.” The puppy looked at BILLY with huge, sorrowful brown eyes.

“Don’t try playing on my conscious,” BILLY said. “You’re not real. You’re just a fickle of my imagination because the day is so hot.”

“The correct word is figment,” the puppy said. “And I’m not going anywhere until I’ve done my good deeds.”

“Suit yourself,” BILLY said. He opened the front door and was about to step inside when the puppy darted in front of him, across the living room floor, and found a place to lay down under mom’s mahogany coffee table, the one with the glass top and the china figurines sitting atop crocheted and lightly starched doilies.

“Oh, no you don’t! Get out from under there!” BILLY said, chasing after the puppy. “Go on! Get! Back outside with you!”

Just then, BILLY’s mother came from the kitchen. “Did you bring someone home with you, BILLY?” With a quick look around the room, she failed to notice the brown puppy under the coffee table.

“No, ma’am, I didn’t. Not on purpose, anyway. But, this puppy followed me, and now I can’t get him out from under this table.”

His mom glanced under the table. She didn’t see a puppy. “What are you talking about, BILLY? I don’t see any dog.”

BILLY was about to say “But it’s right there, Mom,” until he thought that if his mom could not see the puppy, maybe it really was a spirit?

“Oh, I was just joking, Mom. I stopped at Mr. Waldrop’s for an ice cream and I’ve been in a really good mood.” BILLY looked again. Sure enough, the brown puppy was still there. “I think I’ll just go to my room and change clothes, then I have to study my spelling words. We have a test tomorrow and I hope to get them all correct. What’s for dinner?” he said while he headed for the hallway. The little brown puppy began following him.

“Just tuna casserole tonight, dear, but I’m going to fix lasagna tomorrow when your dad gets home. I know how much you and he both like lasagna.”

“Oh, me too!” shouted the puppy. “I go crazy for lasagna, with heaps and heaps of parmesan cheese!” The puppy was dancing up and down on hind legs like Snoopy in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

BILLY glanced at the stupid dog but his mother hadn’t seemed to hear him. “Oh, yummy!” BILLY said. “I can’t wait!”

“I thought you’d like that,” his mom said. “Now, you go and do your spelling, and I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

“Sure, Mom.”

In his room, he said to the puppy, “You really are a spirit, aren’t you? My mom didn’t see or hear you.”

The puppy sat on its back legs and spread his paws in front of him like a television comedian with a silly grin on his face. “Would I lie to you?”

“Okay, okay, I believe you now. But I really do have to study my spelling, and after that we’re doing the six times tables, and I have to memorize them too. So you just be quiet and stay out of my way. You hear me?”

“Sheesh! What a grouch!” the puppy said. It jumped up on BILLY’s bed and snuggled its nose under the pillow. BILLY took off his school slacks and tossed them on the floor next to his closet. Then he thought better, “Mom’ll have a fit if I leave them laying on the floor.” He picked them up and hung them over a hanger and put them in the closet. then donned a T-shirt and Levis. Ignoring the puppy, he took out his spelling book and went over the twenty words six times before his mom called him for dinner.

BILLY loved tuna casserole and asked for seconds, then helped his mom clear the table and put the dishes in the washer. Afterwards, he lay on the living room floor watching a sit-com with the puppy right next to him, his forelegs in front of him like a miniature Sphinx. “How can you stand to watch this garbage, BILLY,” the puppy asked? “The plot is childish, the situations improbable, and the laughter is recorded to give you a hint as to where the writers want you to laugh. The whole half-hour is just a vehicle for the sponsors products.”

“Of course it is,” BILLY told the puppy. “But it’s still amusing. If you don’t want to watch it, why don’t you go chase a cat or something?”

“I’m allergic to cats,” the puppy said. “As long as they leave me alone, I won’t bother them.”

“Did you say something, dear?” BILLY’s mom asked. She was sitting on the end of the sofa beneath the reading lamp while she crocheted another of those stupid doilies.

“No, mom, I was just memorizing that last joke so I could tell it at school tomorrow.”

“Mmmm, okay,” mom said.

When the show ended, BILLY knew it was time for him to get ready for bed. He changed into his jammies and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then returned to the living room to give his mom a hug and a kiss. “Are we going to the airport to pick up dad tomorrow, Mom?”

“You bet, BILLY. He will finish up in the afternoon, then fly down here. He won’t be getting in until after eight, but since it’s a Friday, I guess you can stay up a little later. We’ll meet him at the hangar when he puts his plane to bed.”

BILLY gave his mom a peck and squeezed her neck then headed for bed. “Hey,” BILLY asked the puppy. “Don’t you have to go outside, or something?”

“Don’t let that bother you,” the puppy said. “I can let myself out if I have too.”

* * *

When BILLY awoke he did not see the puppy. “I must have dreamed the whole thing,” he thought. He quickly dressed for school, not wanting to be late for the spelling test, and went in to breakfast.

“Good morning, Sleepy Head,” his mom said. “I was just about to check on you, but you’re right on time as usual. How about some waffles this morning? With strawberry preserves on top?”

“Thanks, mom, but not today. I think I’ll just have some Cinnamon Toasties, then you won’t have to go to so much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, BILLY. A growing boy should have something special on the last day of school for the week.”

BILLY was only half listening as he stood on the step-stool to get the cereal from the cupboard, then a bowl, then went to the ‘fridge for the milk. He set her breakfast on the kitchen table just as his mother brought him a clean spoon.

BILLY wondered where the brown puppy was. Could it really have been a dream? His mom reminded him to come straight home from school this evening, and not hang around the playground. “We’ll have a light snack before we go to the airport to pick up your father, and I’ll fix a late dinner when we get home.”

“Sure, mom.” BILLY finished his breakfast and put the dishes in the sink then collected his books and stuck them in his backpack. He gave his mom another kiss, “I’ll come straight home.”

“Have a nice day, dear.”

Jimmy Bartlett was waiting at the front gate when BILLY came out of the house. Jimmy was two years older than BILLY, and in the fifth grade. “Hey, BILLY, look at the neat puppy!”

So there he was! The puppy hadn’t been a dream after all.

“Jimmy and I have been waiting for you,” the puppy said. “I thought you were going to stay home from school today we’ve been waiting so long.”

“Well, I had to finish my breakfast,” BILLY said. “Mom would think I was sick or something if I skipped breakfast. What time did you go out this morning?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Jimmy said. “My mom makes me eat breakfast too.”

For the first time BILLY realized that Jimmy had not heard the puppy speak. Was he beginning to lose hid mind? It was early in the morning and he couldn’t blame the weather for hallucinations. “Didn’t you hear the dog say he had been waiting a long time, Jimmy?”

“Don’t be silly, BILLY… dogs don’t talk. You think I’m crazy or something?”

“No, I was thinking perhaps I’m crazy.” The puppy began tagging along with them as they headed up the sidewalk, but it wasn’t saying anything more.

“I don’t think so, BILLY. You’re a pretty nice person, for a little kid. I don’t even mind when the other kids tease me about walking to school with you. But don’t let anyone else hear you mention talking dogs, or we’ll both catch it, for sure!”

BILLY and Jimmy walked the rest of the way to school, mostly talking about their plans for the summer. “I want my dad to teach me to fly his plane,” BILLY said, “but it’ll simply be forever until I grow enough to be able to reach the pedals.”

“You’re real lucky, BILLY. My dad is taking three weeks this year and we’re going to sail his boat down to Mexico. Three whole weeks! Why you could fly that with your dad in just a few hours!”

“True, Jimmy, but sailing is fun too. And you’ll get to spend lots of time with your folks while you’re on the boat. It sounds like a blast!”

“Uh-oh,” Jimmy said. They were still a block from school and three tough boys from the sixth grade were hanging around the corner. “There’s Ralph the Mouth and his chums.”

“Hey, Jimmy, Dude!” Ralph the Mouth said. “How about a small loan for me and my buddies to have lunch on?”

“Buzz off, Ralph!” Jimmy said. “I’m not going to give you my lunch money any more!”

“He’s getting mighty brave now that he has a chum to hide behind,” one of Ralph’s cronies said. “Maybe we should give the squirt a black eye too!”

“How about it, Jimmy,” Ralph said. “You want us to sock the kid in the mouth or give him a bloody nose?”

“No! No, leave him alone,” said Jimmy. “You can have what you want, it’s only money.” As Jimmy was reaching into his pocket, a tall figure stepped between him and the three boys. Ralph and his chums opened their eyes with fear! The huge figure had yellow and purple bruises on its face and a swollen and blackened tongue. He looked like a drowned man after a week in the lake. Swamp grass was knotted in his hair and hanging from his shoulders. “Aarrrrgggghhhh!” the creature roared, waving its arms at the boys. Ralph and company immediately turned tail and began running as fast as they could, not even bothering to look back as the sinister figure changed back into that of a small brown puppy.

Jimmy simply stared.

“Hey, that was a pretty cool trick,” BILLY said.

“Oh, it wasn’t so hard,” the puppy said. “I can do several, but not as well as some of the other spirits can. I don’t get much practice because it’s against the rules. Some of the guys like to change into bright colored lights and go drifting over the city starting flying saucer rumors, but I don’t do it because we get demerits if we are caught. I can turn invisible too! Or change into a wisp of smoke, want to see me?”

“Wow,” Jimmy said. “That really is a nifty dog, BILLY. Is he yours?”

“Of course not, Jimmy. He’s not really a dog either. He’s a spirit studying to be a ghost. And he’s been following me since yesterday, claiming he has to do several good deeds before he can graduate, or be promoted, or something.” To the dog he said, “Thank you very much for your help. We appreciate what you did, but you can run along now. We have to go to class.”

“Sheesh! That’s gratitude for you,” the puppy said. “A lady can’t even rescue a boy in trouble without getting chewed out for it.”

“What!” BILLY exclaimed. “You mean you’re a girl? And I undressed in front of you last night? You should be ashamed of yourself!” He removed his backpack and swung it at the puppy, but the little brown dog only scampered away.

“Don’t flatter yourself, skinny! I used to be a girl, now I’m a spirit masquerading as a puppy. When I’m reborn I don’t know if I’ll be a boy or a girl, but I’ll send you a note and let you know.”

“That horrible dog,” BILLY said. “He’s almost as impossible as you are, Jimmy. Why didn’t you stand up to those ruffians?”

“Three reasons, BILLY. I like my teeth. I’m allergic to pain. And they probably would have hurt you. I wouldn’t miss a little lunch money.”

“But, that’s wrong, Jimmy. It’s stealing. You should tell the principal, or your father or the police.”

“You’ll understand when you grow up, BILLY. Boys are taught not to be crybabies. A boy is supposed to be self-reliant and grow into a man. Besides, what would happen if I did tell someone? Ralph the Mouth would get scolded, then a few days later he would beat the crap out of me anyway. No, he’ll get his some day. He’ll meet a boy who’s tougher, or he’ll get in trouble with the law, and it won’t be my fault.”

When BILLY and Jimmy entered the large double-doors to the main hall, the puppy stayed outside. BILLY was glad it did not follow him to class. The day sped by, classes were actually fun, and he shared a sandwich and a frozen orange juice popsicle with Jimmy at lunch. When school was over, the sky had clouded and a light rain was beginning to fall. The puppy followed them as Jimmy and BILLY walked home, but Ralph was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

“You sure you don’t want to sit up in front with me?” BILLY’s mom asked on the way to the airport.

“No, this will be just fine,” said BILLY from the back seat. There was no way he could explain to his mom that the puppy was sitting on the passenger side up front and was very annoyed because it was raining when he wanted to stick his head out the window.

When BILLY and his mom arrived at the small airport that serviced their town, the rain was coming down in buckets and lightning flashes were frequent. The windshield wipers on the car went “snick-snack, snick-snack,” as they swept back and forth, clearing the windshield so mom could drive. They pulled into a parking spot and hurried into the small terminal.

Inside it was warm and dry. BILLY’s mom purchased hot coffee from a vending machine and bought a hot chocolate for BILLY. The terminal was not like that in a big city since this was just a small airport where a flying school offered lessons and aviation fuel could be purchased. There was a counter where pilots could buy maps called “sectionals,” and a pilot’s lounge with charts on the wall and desks to use while filling out their flight plans. The Centerville airport had only a flight service station where flight plans could be filed and some maintenance could be hired. There was no control tower and no radar, but the airfield did have lights, which could be turned on when aircraft were arriving at night. It also had a sixty-foot tower with a powerful green and white rotating beacon to guide planes to the runway after dark. BILLY knew that it could be seen as far as thirty miles because he and his mom had flown in with dad several times at night. The beacon was always on, day and night, because the law required it, but arriving pilot’s had to radio the attendant at the field to turn on the landing lights if they were coming in at night.

“It sure ain’t a fit night to be flying, Ma’am,” Mr. Holt said. “Your husband radioed about half an hour ago that the head winds were stronger than forecast, but he expects to be right on time getting here.”

“It’s not too bad for flying, is it Mr. Holt?” BILLY asked.

“Why, it’s bad enough that I seen ducks flying with flashlights strapped to their chest and one foot tapping the ground, BILLY.” He chuckled at his wit. “Naww, it ain’t so bad, and your pop’s a fine pilot. He’ll be just fine, you can bet on that.”

The minutes crept slowly by on the big clock in the terminal, while lightning crashed and the wind gusted outside. BILLY’s mother was apprehensive also, but tried not to let her son know it. She knew her husband would not attempt a landing here if he thought it was dangerous. Instead, he would land at one of the nearby airports where the storm might not be so intense.

“Centerville, this is Cessna November three-seven-one, over.”

BILLY recognized his dad’s voice coming over the loudspeaker. “Three-seven-one, this is Centerville,” Mr. Holt radioed back. “Go ahead.”

“Entering your control area now, Centerville. Request landing instructions.”

“No traffic to report, three-seven-one. Use runway one-five. Altimeter two-niner-eight-niner, winds one-two-five at twelve, gusting to eighteen. You are cleared to land.” Mr. Holt reached for a switch next to the radio and turned on the airport landing lights. Through the broad glass window, BILLY could see the blue and yellow lights shining brightly.

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light and a crash of thunder! Then the airport terminal and the landing lights went dark! In seconds, the battery-powered lights in the terminal came on, but the runway was still dark. How would BILLY’s dad see to land?

“Not to worry, BILLY,” Mr. Holt told him and his mom. “We have a backup generator for such emergencies, though we haven’t had to use it in a long time. We start her up once a week just to keep a check on it.” He opened a glass-covered box and flipped a circuit breaker, but the runway lights stayed dark. He flipped it again, and then again, but there was still nothing.

“Centerville? This is three-one-seven. Where did everyone go? I can’t even see the town now. All the lights are out it looks like.”

“Three-one-seven, this is Centerville. There’s been a lightning strike nearby. It must have gotten the sub-station over on Smith Road. Suggest you divert to an alternate landing field, three-one-seven.”

“Uh, sorry, Centerville, but I seem to have used up too much fuel bucking that headwind earlier. I’m running on fumes now, and I’ve really got to put her down.”

“Can you circle for a couple minutes? We seem to be having a little problem with our backup generator. I’ll head down to the shed and try to get it started, but it’ll take a bit.”

“Guess I’ll have to wait,” BILLY’s dad radioed back. “What else can I do? Just don’t take too long, Centerville.”

“I’m on it right now, three-one-seven,” Mr. Holt said as he slammed down the microphone and grabbed his raincoat. Without a word to BILLY or his mom, he ran from the building toward a smaller building located two hundred yards down the flight line.

“Ahem,” the little brown puppy said to BILLY. “I guess this is my cue. You stay here and keep your mother calm while I take care of this, BILLY.”

“But what can you do?” he asked the puppy?

“Remember I told you some of the apprentices can turn into bright lights? Well, I can too. You just watch me.” While BILLY watched, the puppy headed straight for the terminal doors where he went through them even though they were tightly closed because of the wind and rain.

The airport beacon was located on the far side of the runway, more than one hundred yards from where BILLY and his mom were watching through the glass. Suddenly, a brilliant white light appeared atop the darkened tower. BILLY couldn’t see against the glare, but he could imagine the little brown puppy standing high up there and turning around and around. The light flashed white then, a moment later it flashed green. Around and around it went. Again and again.

“Centerville! This is three-one-seven! I have the beacon, beginning final approach now.”

Looking through the glass, BILLY could see the bright landing lights come on and he knew his dad would be safe. “We’re waiting for you,” his mom said over the microphone. “Be careful, honey. Be very careful.”

“That you, dear? Piece of cake, you betcha. I’ll just ease her down gently…,” BILLY held his breath as the wheels of the small plane touched down and it rolled out on a perfect landing. “See? Nothing to it,” his dad said.

BILLY and his mom ran through the rain to the hangar where they arrived just as his dad taxied up to the tie downs. They stood in safety until the spinning propeller came to a stop, then they both ran to the open door.

“Oh, Jeff, Jeff,” BILLY’s mom cried. “We were awfully frightened. Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

BILLY’s dad stepped out of the aircraft and looked around.

“Say, all the power is still off. Where did that beacon come from?”

BILLY didn’t say anything. Who would believe him anyway?

A few moments later the power came back on. Mr. Holt must have gotten the generator started BILLY guessed. He helped his dad do his walk-around and post flight inspection then they all headed for the car. This time, dad drove home.

BILLY looked and looked, but he didn’t see the little puppy anywhere. He didn’t worry about him because he obviously knew how to take care of himself. Instead, he wished him luck and thanked him for bringing his dad safely home.

When they got home, mom headed for the kitchen and began warming up the lasagna she had prepared earlier in the day. “BILLY,” dad said, “you better get out of those wet clothes and change into your jammies. You’ll catch a cold for sure if you sit around in those things while eating dinner.”

“Sure, dad,” BILLY said as he headed for his room. When he turned on the bedroom light, he saw a large brown German shepherd asleep on the bed.

“Where did you come from?” he asked.

“Hi, BILLY,” the dog said. “It’s me! I’ve been promoted to Trainee First Class since I did such a good thing at the airport. My GI, that’s ghost instructor, said that I was quick thinking and showed initiative in a critical situation. It won’t be long now before I’ll become a full fledged ghost, then I’ll be that much closer to being reborn again!”

“Well, I’m very happy for you,” BILLY said. “And I’m especially grateful for what you did to help my father. But you’ll have to get out of my room now because I have to change before we have dinner. Even if you are still a dog, I don’t want any girl dogs here when I change.”

The dog gave a very un-canine chuckle. “That’s no problem, BILLY. When I was promoted, I asked if I could be a boy dog so I could stay longer with you!”

Still skeptical, BILLY took a closer look. It was true! The dog was a boy now. “I sure hope the change didn’t cause you any grief,” BILLY said. “But I’m glad you’ll be around more. I’ve sort of gotten used to having you here. Now,” BILLY said, as he took off his wet sweater, “if you promise to remain invisible, you can stay as long as you like. It will just be our little secret. Okay?”