The Friendly Ghost of Rosewood School

Emily was a little girl who lived in Rosewood School.

But Emily was not like other children.

Emily was a ghost.

She died one hundred years ago, but she stayed in the school because she loved it very much.

Emily had long brown hair and wore a white dress.

She was very kind and always wanted to help people.

But nobody could see her during the day.

Only at night could some people see her soft, white light.

The school was very old and beautiful.

It had red brick walls and big windows.

There were many classrooms, a library, and a playground.

Emily knew every room in the school.

She had been there for so long.

Every morning, new children came to school.

Emily watched them from the windows.

She saw happy children and sad children.

She saw children who had many friends and children who had no friends.

Emily wanted to help them all.

One Monday morning, a new girl came to school.

Her name was Sarah.

Sarah had short black hair and big brown eyes.

She looked very scared.

It was her first day at Rosewood School, and she did not know anyone.

Sarah walked slowly into the school.

She carried a red backpack and held her mother's hand tightly.

Her mother talked to the teacher, then said goodbye.

Sarah was alone.

Emily watched Sarah all day.

Sarah sat alone at lunch.

She did not talk to anyone.

During art class, Sarah dropped her pencils on the floor.

She looked very sad.

That night, Emily decided to help Sarah.

When everyone went home, Emily went to Sarah's classroom.

She found Sarah's desk and saw that Sarah had left her homework book behind.

Emily picked up the book with her ghostly hands.

She could touch things when she tried very hard.

She carried the book to the school office and put it on the secretary's desk.

Tomorrow, the secretary would give it back to Sarah.

The next day, Emily watched as the secretary gave Sarah her book.

Sarah looked surprised and happy.

She smiled for the first time.

But Sarah was still alone.

She needed a friend.

Emily thought about this problem all day.

That night, Emily had an idea.

She went to the library and found a book about making friends.

She opened the book to a page with good advice and left it on a table where Sarah would find it.

The next morning, Sarah found the book.

She read the page that was open.

It said, "Smile at people. Ask them questions about themselves. Be kind and share your things."

Sarah tried the advice.

She smiled at a boy named Tom during math class.

Tom smiled back.

At lunch, Sarah shared her cookies with a girl named Amy.

Amy was very happy.

Soon, Sarah had many friends.

She laughed and played with them every day.

Emily felt very happy watching Sarah.

But Emily's work was not finished.

There were other children who needed help.

There was a boy named Jack who always forgot his lunch.

His family was very poor, and sometimes there was no food for lunch.

Jack was often hungry, but he was too proud to ask for help.

Emily saw Jack's problem.

Every night, she went to the school kitchen.

The lunch lady, Mrs. Brown, sometimes left extra sandwiches in the refrigerator.

Emily took one sandwich and put it in Jack's desk.

Every morning, Jack found a sandwich in his desk.

He did not know where it came from, but he was very grateful.

He ate the sandwich and felt much better.

His grades improved because he could think better when he was not hungry.

There was also a girl named Lucy who was afraid of the dark.

Every evening, Lucy had to stay late for music practice.

When practice finished, the school was dark and scary.

Lucy was always frightened walking to the front door.

Emily decided to help Lucy too.

Every evening, Emily made her ghostly light very bright.

She walked behind Lucy from the music room to the front door.

Lucy saw the soft white light and felt safe.

She did not know it was Emily, but she was not afraid anymore.

The janitor, Mr. Peterson, was an old man who worked very hard.

He had to clean the whole school every night.

Sometimes he was very tired and forgot to clean some rooms.

Emily helped Mr. Peterson too.

After he went home, Emily cleaned the rooms he forgot.

She swept the floors, cleaned the blackboards, and organized the books.

When Mr. Peterson came to work the next day, he was surprised to see everything so clean.

He thought he was becoming very good at his job.

One night, something special happened.

A new teacher named Miss Johnson was working late in her classroom.

She was preparing lessons for the next day.

Miss Johnson was young and loved children very much.

Emily was walking through the school when she saw the light in Miss Johnson's classroom.

She went to look inside.

Miss Johnson was crying.

She was holding a letter.

Emily felt very sad seeing Miss Johnson cry.

She wanted to help, but she did not know how.

She listened carefully to understand the problem.

Miss Johnson was talking to herself.

"I might have to leave this school," she said.

"The letter says there is not enough money to pay all the teachers."

"I love this school and these children so much."

Emily was very upset.

Miss Johnson was a wonderful teacher.

All the children loved her.

Emily had to find a way to help.

Emily thought about the problem all night.

In the morning, she had an idea.

She had seen many things in the school over the years.

She remembered that the old principal had hidden some important papers in the school many years ago.

Emily went to the old principal's office.

It was now used for storage.

She looked behind old boxes and under dusty furniture.

Finally, she found what she was looking for – a metal box hidden behind a bookshelf.

Inside the box were old papers and a bag of gold coins.

The papers said that a rich man had given the school this money many years ago.

The money was for teachers' salaries, but everyone had forgotten about it.

Emily had to find a way to show people the box.

She could not just put it on someone's desk – that would be too strange.

She needed a better plan.

The next night, Emily went to the janitor's closet.

She moved the box there and made some noise.

Mr. Peterson heard the noise and came to check.

When he opened the closet door, he found the box.

Mr. Peterson was very surprised.

He opened the box and saw the gold coins and papers.

He could read enough to understand that this was important.

The next morning, he took the box to the principal.

The principal, Mrs. Davis, was amazed.

She read the papers carefully.

The gold coins were worth a lot of money – enough to pay all the teachers for many years!

The school continued to be a wonderful place where children learned and grew and made friends.

And though they never knew it, they were all protected by the kindest ghost who had ever lived – Emily, the friendly ghost of Rosewood School.