The ghost didn’t scare Hazel, but he unsettled her. His sudden appearance—all bushy-haired with a mustache like a walrus—disrupted her routine. He drifted here and there while she polished the library floor or dusted tables, and while she tried to ignore him, he distracted her from getting her job done.
She’d no sooner tidy a row of books so they lined up neatly than a cold finger would hook one of the spines and tug it off the shelf. Then the ghost fluttered away, thumbing the pages. It was anyone's guess where that book might land. The first week he appeared, he disorganized two short story collections entirely.
She struggled to keep up.
Rita Baum was already thinking to fire her. Hazel could tell by how the woman squinted her direction while she re-shelved those errant books. She wished she hadn’t taken on this additional responsibility, but the library was shorthanded, and Hazel was short on rent money. Now, Rita blamed her for the mess the library was in. Hazel had overheard “not qualified” which she knew was aimed at her.
That ghost had to leave, and Hazel was going to see to it.
To be continued…maybe
Now, here’s a strange thing. I got an email from a company called International Impact Book Awards informing me that Because No One Notice won in the Young Adult category. The thing is, I don’t remember entering this contest. When I Googled the company, I discovered they’re a “borderline vanity award” because they’re open to a wide group and cost quite a bit. The “cost quite a bit” raised a red flag for me, so I looked into my records to see if I’d lost my mind one night and entered. I have no record of any such nutty behavior. So now what? Tell people I’ve won an award, but it’s questionable? I’ve won an award, but I didn’t enter to win?
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