Are you sure you weren't just dreaming?

Title: Are you sure you weren't just dreaming?
Author(s): Ceillean
Timeframe: /
Characters: Ben, Luke, Mara
Genre: Humor
Summary: Ben meets a Ghost
Notes: This is for the Professor Literati's Christmas Roulette Challenge.

Somewhere in your vignette or short story you must include a character with the name, Tiny Tim. You must also include a ghost in your story.
The sentence I used was: Again the specter raised a cry and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands

Enjoy.

---

Ben sat against the headrest of his bed and pulled his knees to his chest. He didn’t know what time it was and he didn’t much care – his new game was way more interesting than sleeping. Uncle Han had given him an early Life Day gift, the new Gamer1300! He could hide it anywhere he wanted because it was so small!

Mara and Luke hadn’t been too happy about the gift because they feared it would keep Ben from his school work and Jedi training. He’d promised to keep up his work and so far he had. But his parents didn’t know about his late nights playing “Rebel Alliance vs. The Empire”.

Ben snickered as his holographic figure shot up a Stormtrooper and the white armor exploded into a hundred oddly shaped, glittering pieces. Ben was a really good player – and it was kind of astral getting to play his Dad in a real hologame. The name Luke Skywalker hadn’t come up of course – Ben guessed it had to do with legal reasons; grown-up stuff; boring stuff – but who else would be the hero of the Rebel Alliance? At least Ben had never heard of another Jedi Knight who’d blown up a Death Star.

There had only been one Death Star, hadn’t there?

Ben wrinkled his nose and paused his game. One Death Star or two? He’d been forced to sit through boring history lessons with Master Tionne and the topic had come up but he couldn’t quite recall…

He shrugged and continued to play, his little figure jumping into an open X-Wing.

Ben giggled. “On to blow up the bad guys!” he whispered in the dark of his small room. And just as the X-Wing lifted off towards space, Ben heard something that had nothing to do with the game. He stopped moving, stopped breathing and switched off the Gamer1300, listening intently. At six years old, he’d learned how to focus the Force on his surroundings and as he did so, he felt something was out of the ordinary.

Leaning across towards his nightstand, he flicked on his light and scanned the room with his eyes. His closet was ajar and he saw a few of his shirts in a messy pile – he grimaced. Mara wouldn’t like that too much and the cleaning droid would want to strangle him! Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to give the droid an emotion chip. She was one moody machine!

A few of his toys lay scattered on the carpeted floor, a plasteel cylinder in the corner showed his collection of stuffed animals. The tidiest place in his room was in fact his desk and only because he hardly ever used it.

Everything looked normal but it didn’t feel normal.

Slowly, Ben kicked the covers off and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His toes barely touched the floor as he sat there, listening.

A rushing sound and then something rattling…

Ben frowned as he jumped to the floor, narrowing his eyes. With tiny steps, he moved away from his bed towards the open closet doors. He scowled at the mess – yeah, the cleaning droid would have his head for this!

When he turned around, he stopped, gaping at what met his eyes. A shimmering form of a boy his age sat atop his mattress, dressed in rags with disheveled hair. He looked like a mixture between a hologram projection and a Force ghost, the ones he’d seen on the holonet a few times already. And yet something was amiss.

Maybe the fact that this ghost-apparition-thing was holding his Gameer1300! Force ghosts couldn’t hold things could they? And neither could hologram projections!

“Who are you?” Ben asked acidly, folding his arms in front of his chest. “And why are you on my bed playing my game?!” If Mara had been there to see him, she would have been so proud!

The boy looked up and smiled. Ben found it a bit disconcerting that he could look through him and tell the time on his chrono standing on his nightstand.

“You don’t mind, do you? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Ben glared and hurried forward, snatching his Gamer1300 out of the boys’ hand. “It’s mine! Who are you?”

The boy shrugged his shoulder and jumped off the bed. “Does it matter?”
“It matters to me. How’d you get here anyway?”

“I wander the area at this time of the year.”

Ben arched a brow. “Huh?”

“Life Day!” The boy frowned. “Are you mentally impaired?”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

“Everyone knows about Life Day!”

“Yeah, so do I.” He raised his voice just a fraction. “Who are you?”

The boy walked closer and smiled brightly. “The name’s Tim. And who are you?”

Ben wrinkled his nose, as he looked the boy up and down. “Ben. Are you a ghost?”

Tim shrugged. “Looks like it, don’t it?”

“A Force ghost?”

“A what?”

“A Force ghost.”

Tim raised his brows. “What’s that?”

“I’m guessing that’s what you are?”

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head. “Never heard of it before. I’m just a ghost. I visit people on Life Day.”

“Why?”

“Just because.”

“Why?”

Tim turned on him and narrowed his eyes. “Stop saying that!”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll hurt you if you don’t!”

Ben’s lips quirked up into a little half smile. “I’d really, really like to see a ghost try and hurt me.”

“Well – “ The boy huffed out a breath. “I could curse you!”

“Curse me how?”

Tim took a step back and plopped back down on the bed. He seemed sad, Ben thought. Alone, maybe? “All ghosts can curse the living. I’ve never done it before.” His voice was quiet. “But you’re annoying so you might be my first!”

“What would you have to do?”

“Say a few words and wave my hands around.”

“Well, then say the words.”

Tim frowned. “You do know what a curse is, right?”

“I’m not stupid!” Ben said indignantly.

“Fine! But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I’m not scared.”

Tim grinned and then shook his head. “Again the specter raised a cry and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands.”

Ben arched a brow. “That doesn’t sound like a curse.”

“But it is!” Tim’s voice sounded squeaky to Ben’s ears.

“What does it do?”

“What does what do?”

“The curse, you stupid ghost!” Ben shouted, feeling exasperated with him. He could hardly believe it! He was arguing with a ghost!

Tim shrugged. “I dunno. I just read the line in a book last time I was here. Can we forget about it?” He asked, trailing his finger along the covers of the bed. “Can’t we just play? I’ve been bored for so long.”

“How long?”

“A few hundred years.”

“Seriously?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah. You’re the first boy I’ve visited in a long time. Can we play or not?”

Ben shrugged and sighed. “Fine.” He gestured for the ghost to join him on the floor while he sat down cross-legged.

“My friends used to call me Tiny Tim, by the way.” The ghost said with a wistful smile.

“Because you’re short?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m short, too. Who cares?”




Luke stretched tired muscles – wincing at the audible pops – and leaned back in his chair. Mara sat opposite him at the table, sipping at a cup of caf while skimming through the latest news on her data pad.

He jumped suddenly, as he heard Ben pounding down the hall like a crazy-boy, “I saw a ghost last night!” He exclaimed with a bright smile as he hurried to take his usual seat at the breakfast table.

Mara arched a brow and gave him a peculiar look. “A ghost?”

“Yeah! He was a Life Day ghost! He tried to curse me but it wouldn’t work. We played the Gamer together! It was astral!” Ben grabbed a box of cereal and poured it into his already waiting bowl, which had small pictures of roaring Wookies all around it. “He promised to come back tomorrow night! He could be my very first best friend!” He poured milk over his breakfast, oblivious to his parents’ amused yet concerned glances.

“Are you sure you weren’t just dreaming sweetheart?”

“Uh-uh.” Ben shook his head. “Because he told me everything I wanted to know. Including the gifts you’re getting me!” He smiled brightly.

“You peeked?” Luke asked with raised brows.

“No! I swear! Tiny Tim told me!”

“Tiny Tim?” Mara echoed, placing her data pad on the table.

Ben nodded vigorously while stuffing a spoon full of cereal into his mouth. “And thanks for getting me a game for the Gamer1300!” He exclaimed before taking a drink from his juice and jumping up off his chair. “I need to get dressed. Master Tionne will be so mad if I’m late!”

He gave his parents a quick kiss on the cheek and ran back into his room, closing the door behind him.

Mara frowned at Luke and cleared her throat. “Where’s our son?”

Luke smiled. “Seems he had a lively dream.”

“I’ll say.”

“And he peeked.”

Mara shrugged, taking another sip from her caf and directing her attention back to her data pad.