The Ghost Girl - Episode 3

Episode 3

YOUR MISSION HANGS BY A THREAD

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Illustration By Carlos Uribe

Abby found herself watching a small, very bright sphere approaching them from above. The golden light was surrounded by sparks or tiny flames, and grew so bright that Abby had to close her eyes. When she looked again a third being stood before her, with a body covered by a golden film. Within the light was the shadow of a very expressive, almost seductive face.

“We are all overjoyed to see you,” exclaimed the red being, and then bowed with the others. “If you have advice from above we sorely need it!”
“I am bringing a message of both hope and fear,” said the new arrival, looking steadily at Wendy. The tiny golden flames flickered and grew around that beautiful head.
“Please,” replied Wendy. “Tell us. I have no secrets.”
The being stared at Wendy as if no one else existed, and declared, “This much I know with certainty: your mission hangs by a thread. The Adversary is free and active, more determined than ever to prove this long experiment a failure – here on earth above all! Whatever help we have provided, humans have not stepped up to the challenge. Over the coming ten years the crisis will come like a flood, and if the tide does not turn, the destruction will become irreversible. But you have a chance of success. Follow through with your plan – your whole plan, mind you – and do not be thrown off course by anyone or anything. I bring you this message: ‘Take courage,’ they said. ‘You are our beloved daughter. This is your hour!’”

Wendy’s face remained hidden in shadow, and with hardly a pause the messenger added in a different tone of voice, looking at the countless lights in the wide circle: “We are taking great risks here. Our presence will be discovered.”
“Do not fear,” replied Wendy. “I am nearly invisible, one of many humans, nothing special. And we are now finished here, my purpose is complete. I am very grateful to all of you.”
“Just a word before we go!” For the first time the green being’s powerful voice rang out, addressing Wendy. “I have served you across the heart-breaking years, and shared your hopes and labors here on earth. My power is limited – the work ahead will need the hand of the Hidden One to succeed. But all I can do is yours.”
Then the green being turned to Abby and spoke: “Little one, I hear an unspoken request in this meeting, and my answer is yes. I will be your guardian.” The strange face looked at Abby and expressed a complexity of identity and emotion that she would know forever, and left her speechless. ‘He will be my inner friend,’ thought Abby.
“Call on me from your heart. You know me.” The being turned back to Wendy and said, “Is that what you had in mind?”
Wendy’s eyes blinked and glistened. She bowed, concealing her tears. “More than I can say,” she answered, trying to control her voice.
In the next moment Abby saw the throng of lights recede into the night sky, back among the swirling billions, the perhaps infinite lights in the vast and mysterious cosmos. All but the green being, who disappeared into the forest.

Abby’s dream-vision ended there. The next thing she remembered was waking in the hospital, breathing through a respirator. Her desperately anxious parents were sitting nearby. She was a very skinny ten year old with chronic asthma, recovering from pneumonia.

PHOEBE COMES HOME (Book I) 
PHOEBE BREAKS THROUGH (Book II)
THE GHOST GIRL (Book III) 

by John KixMiller

The Ghost Girl - Episode 2

Episode 2

THE GUARDIANS OF THIS WORLD

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Illustration By Carlow Uribe

They arrived in a large meadow Abby had never seen before or since – a meadow like a great cathedral between rows of tall trees with branches arching above like a vault.
“Wendy, what’s going to happen?” Abby asked in fear.
The Guardians are coming,” Wendy replied. “The Guardians of this world.”
The stars came down as many spheres of searing light, a throng that assembled around the meadow in a vast circle. Abby could distinguish some of their features by shades of shadow amid the radiant glow of their bodies. They were strikingly beautiful, pulsing with color and a sort of musical hum, the uncanny melody.

One of these glorious beings stepped forward, bright with a reddish light even to the hair and skin. Another entered from behind Abby and stood next to the first. This second being presented a radically different appearance, with skin a dark green color, and a smooth head that came to a point like certain kinds of fish. The body was partly covered with clothing like leaves in autumn, and glowed with a greenish glimmer. Abby risked taking a look at the glistening eyes, and found them staring back with great urgency and sorrow. Wendy appeared dim, frail, and tiny amidst these beings from the sky, and Abby felt even smaller and totally useless. Her whole body was shivering. “What am I doing here?” she wondered over and over.

The being with the red glow advanced even closer, and Abby saw a face so beautiful she felt her heart jump. The pupils of the eyes sparkled with an intensity of life and color she could hardly endure. 
“Yes?” asked the being in a warm voice with an undertone of anxiety. “As you see, we have come.”
“I am forever grateful,” said Wendy in her broken voice. “I present one of the young warriors, as you have foreseen.”
“Their future leader?”
“No, for they will have many leaders. She will be their representative to you.”
“Why do we need such a person?” asked the being. The sparkling eyes gave Abby a piercing look that made her turn away.
“My work draws to a close in the coming years,” replied Wendy. “But the transformation on earth will go on for a long time, nearly a century. Trust me, this meeting will prove important for all of us.”
Abby shuddered. “Her work draws to a close?” she thought frantically. “No! I need her!”
“We shall see…” said the being, conveying uncertainty and doubt. The glowing eyes of the multitude were riveted on Abby, and she felt her heart racing. “Yes,” said the being, who had stared long at Abby. “She has the talent, if it develops. Dreamstone will help her.”
“So… You will know her,” said Wendy.

“I will,” said the red being. Then he raised his voice: “But tell us! Your long labors draw to a close? Yet the most important things are left undone! You stay in retreat and do not cooperate with Teresa!” The being paused as if to control the anxiety pouring out, and the voice became sad. “You have given complete devotion to this work, yet you have accomplished very little given the need. Yes, yes, we know you have potential and strength in reserve…”
The red being paused, staring at Wendy, and then said in a tone of fierce warning: “But we also know that this great era of time is coming to the crisis, and you do not seem ready! Eons of development are in danger. The outcome is shrouded in darkness!”
“I chose the dark path on purpose,” replied Wendy, her voice uneven and frail. “I am hidden until the end, but that does not mean I am unready. And never forget that I cannot force people and events. I must inspire them. People are as free as ourselves to choose their path.”

PHOEBE COMES HOME (Book I) 
PHOEBE BREAKS THROUGH (Book II)
THE GHOST GIRL (Book III) 

The Ghost Girl- Episode 1

Episode 1

A NIGHT UNDER THE STARS

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Later that night – after the state police and the reporters and the television crew had all gone – Reverend Tuck told Abby she’d better make herself a decent place to sleep in the gardener’s cottage. That small, flimsy two-room structure had not been lived in for a decade, and needed work and supplies. Tuck gathered sheets and blankets and a pillow, a broom and dustpan, light bulbs, sponges, two kinds of soap, toilette paper, some dishes and cups, a small pot, and a frying pan. “But don’t sleep yet,” he added. “I must have another word with you before tomorrow.” Then he turned to Middletown Police Chief Santiago and Dr. Geraldine Bear to continue their conversation.

Abby took five trips from Reverend Tuck’s living quarters near the sanctuary to the cottage in the churchyard, taking all the above items as well as her duffel bag, striped red blanket, a handful of tea bags, and some leftovers from their excellent dinner. Long after midnight she finished cleaning and organizing part of the kitchen and a place to sleep. Then she rewarded herself by taking an old folding chair outside and sitting under the amazing night sky. A breeze blew through the leaves of the giant maple trees. The world was blissfully empty of people. She scanned the tumultuous events of the day, and their happy ending.

“This happened to me!” Abby thought. “Something special happened for me!”
She leaned back and took a deep breath of the fresh air that had blown into Middletown some hours before, sweeping out the enormous thunderheads and drenching rain, and leaving a crystal clear sky and a sense of a new world beginning. The stars were unusually bright and colorful, and dazzling in their swirling multitudes, going on forever. Abby began to sense a strange shift in her awareness, a sense of another world she had experienced since childhood. She normally avoided these feelings whenever possible, and quickly tried to snap her attention back to the mundane objects close at hand. But it was too late. The stars had triggered her most powerful memory…

Already she saw the stars coming closer, and felt the eerie sensation that she was rising to meet them. The small gray shape of Wendy was walking ahead of her through the dark forest. Abby could hear an uncanny melody, with a high voice singing. Her memory of the song obsessed her as the years went by. 

Through heaven and earth a tree is growing
Around the world a river is flowing
We can travel by secret ways
Like a shadow through our days
Follow me, come and see
We’re climbing the world tree

As the ages have gone by
The abyss has grown so wide
Heaven and earth are separate now
A journey no one know how
Follow me, come and see
We’re climbing the world tree

Do you see how we come closer
We’re on the pathway to the stars
Reach out your hand and touch the heavens
It’s not far, it’s not far!
Follow me, come and see
We’re climbing the world tree

PHOEBE COMES HOME (Book I) 
PHOEBE BREAKS THROUGH (Book II)
THE GHOST GIRL (Book III) 

by John KixMiller

THE GHOST GIRL BLOG! STARTING MAY 6th!!!

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TWO EPISODES A WEEK!

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Our deepest thanks to all of you from around the earth following our story of a group of misfit teenagers who save the world from climate change. In Books 1 and 2 we saw the action from the point of view of Phoebe, an eighteen-year old girl who returns from college to find her hometown suddenly in the grip of mystery and danger.

In book #3 Abby becomes the church gardener and moves into the old, run-down churchyard cottage. She soon discovers that she is watched night and day by professional investigators hired by the colossal corporation trying to take over the town, and force Abby to reveal the secrets of the forest and the source of dreamstone.

Reverend Tuck, Abby, and their allies form a community council to run churchyard events and gather support for their efforts to engage the church in the fight against climate change. The community in Rivergate, an island in the wetland preserve, and Abby’s childhood home, joins their mission. The struggle with Milton Morphy and his corporate empire reaches a dangerous climax as Abby flees for her life into the forest.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Protectors of the Wood #3

by John KixMiller

Giveaway ends May 05, 2019.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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The Protectors of the Wood adventure novel series is a fully illustrated story of a group of misfit teenagers who save the world from climate change. In Book 3, Abby becomes the church gardener and moves into the old, run-down churchyard cottage.