"Sophie, please keep up." 1

"I'm trying Mommy," Sophie replied, a frown denting her pretty white face. Chocolate-coloured bangs floated in front of her eyes, obscuring her vision and causing her to trip over a branch. "Mommy, wait!" 2

Linda turned and smiled at her daughter, beckoning her forward. "Come on, darling, don't you want to see the pretty forest?" 3

Sophie nodded eagerly and started to run, her five-year old mind excited at the thought of a forest. She gazed in wonder at the tall, old trees, liking the dark green leaves. Then she noticed something that made her smile. 4

"Mommy! Look, Mommy, a bobbin!" 5

Linda's tinkling laugh echoed through the trees and she shook her head at the little girl. "Not a bobbin , sweetheart, a robin. See the pretty red feathers on her chest?" 6

"Like my dress," Sophie said proudly. She glanced down at the dress she wore, which was exactly the colour of the robin's breast. Linda smiled and looked up at the sky.The dusky sky was darkening - soon, it would be real night-time. 7

"Quickly, my dear, we don't have much time." 8

They hurried on through the trees, Sophie stumbling every now and again. Eventually they reached their destination, a clearing in the middle of the forest. A small cross of stones lay on the forest floor, beside a wizened tree stump. Sophie perched herself on the stump. 9

"Tell me a story, Mommy." 10

*** 11

Not too far from where Linda and Sophie had settled themselves, a lumberjack was finishing up his work for the day. He heard strange cracks and noises, like someone was running through the forest, but he thought nothing of it. 12

That is, until he heard the voice. 13

A soft, sweet sound, the voice of a young girl. It hypnotised him - the lumberjack was reminded instantly of his late daughter, of whom he'd been very fond. He dropped his tools and started toward the voice. 14

"And what did the princess do then, Mommy?" 15

The lumberjack blundered his way through the trees, coming to a stop at the edge of a clearing. He saw the back of the little girl. She was sitting on a tree stump beside a cross made of stones, brown hair raining down her back like a waterfall. She was alone. 16

And talking to herself? The lumberjack started to worry. By the sound of the girl's voice, she couldn't be more than five years old. What would a five year old be doing in a forest at night? 17

"Excuse me?" he said hesitantly, moving toward her. The girl twisted on her stump and smiled brightly at him. 18

"Hello, mister! I'm Sophie and this is my mommy! Have you come to hear the story?" 19

The lumberjack frowned in confusion. "Poppet," he said gently, "where is your mommy?" Sophie frowned right back at him. 20

"Standing right a'side me," she said. "See her?" 21

But the lumberjack saw nothing. He opened his mouth to tell Sophie, but she had started a conversation with her "mother". 22

"Yes, Mommy, I know I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers." 23

The lumberjack watched in fascination as Sophie talked animatedly with the woman who wasn't there. He jolted back to reality when the little girl turned back to him. 24

"Mommy says you have to take me home," she stated. 25

"What?" the lumberjack said, shocked. 26

"S'nearly proper night-time, and if Mommy leaves here at night-time, she won't be able to come back to me," Sophie said sweetly. 27

"Why can't I see your mommy, Sophie?" the lumberjack asked slowly. 28

"My mommy's a ghost, mister," the little girl said. 29

*** 30

Linda watched her daughter with pride, her heart swelling with love. Her daughter, the psychic, who had brought Linda back from the Other Side with the sheer force of her love. 31

How proud she was. 32

But now Linda was trapped. She couldn't leave the forest at night, or she would be banished to the Other Side forever. She needed to stay at the memorial her husband had erected for her, to "recharge", in order to leave and be with Sophie. 33

How proud she was.