Elle stood at the base of the wall gazing upwards, her hand playing with the hem of her skirt as she watched the younger girl stand upright, with her arms spread wide for balance. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself. And then what do you expect me to do about it?"
The younger girl just smiled down and shrugged her shoulders slightly before taking the first tentative step as if she were a tight rope walker in the circus. Tabitha was used to the cautionary admonishments of Elle. But by now they did little to discourage her of her reckless behaviors. True, she knew that if she did fall that no one would be able to hear Elle's calls for help, let alone would Elle be effective in aide. But she'd been possessed by the strong desire to walk along the top of this wall from one corner of the block to the other since her family had moved.
Elle followed on the sidewalk, her eyes wary for any signs of stumbling. "Mother would be furious if she knew."
"Well, she won't," Tabitha retorted. "Because I'll be fine. You're such a worry wort." Already, they were half way down the block without a single mishap. In Tabitha's eight year old mind, she was in the clear as the wall was slowly but surely coming level with the sidewalk.
"I'm a worry wort? Pfft..." Elle glanced sideways as she snorted and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "Maybe that's because I know the consequences."
Tabitha glanced down at the older girl and screwed up her nose in confusion. "How? Mommy said you died in childbirth. You didn't die because of an accident or fall or scraped knee."
Elle started up straight for a moment at the mention of her death. It was hard to deny the truth. A baby ghost growing old and only seen by her younger sister, Elle had resigned herself to the role of a guardian angel in some aspects.
Tabitha had always been amused by her 'imaginary' friend. It'd only been recently that Elle had admitted to actually being her sister. Even as a seven year old ghost she'd had the forethought to not tell Tabitha her real name of Lily for fear of the effect it would have on their mother. Now Elle would have been eleven, and she looked every bit of it. Her dark hair had grown long, and she wore Sketchers with her denim skirt just like any other girl her age would.
As they reached the end of the block, Elle stood waiting as Tabitha assessed her choices as to how to get down. It was a solid three feet to the sidewalk below and she was hesitant to jump. She carefully sat down on the edge of the wall, lowering herself as much as possible before making the leap.
Elle reached out to catch Tabitha but the girl passed right through her arms and fell, scraping her knee as she'd prophesied unintentionally earlier. Tabitha's face scrunched up as she willed back the tears, pushing herself back up to her feet. A glaring hole in her jeans framed the bloody knee as the girl chewed her lower lip.
"Mommy won't find out, huh?"
"I'll tell her I fell from the monkey bars at school," Tabitha retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively.
TesselationRey Community Member 
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