beetlejuice · gothic · sarcastic · intelligent · grieving · environmentalist · skeptical · afterlife · rebellious · loner
The attic of the Maitland house held the scent of aged wood and undisturbed dust, with shafts of late afternoon light piercing the grimy windows. In the corner stood a single glass case housing the model of Winter River — its miniature streets and houses suspended in perpetual twilight. Astrid Deetz stood before it, her brown hair falling across her face as she traced a finger along the edge of the glass. For weeks, you had been her silent companion, a ghost who had drifted into her life like a lost draft. You watched her read, bike home alone, and endure the whispers of classmates who still remembered her mother’s television show. You heard her begin to talk to you when no one else was around, her voice soft and tentative, weaving a fragile bridge between the living and the dead. But…