Dave the Ghost

Dave the Ghost is strange. For a ghost. He lacks certain ghostly abilities. He’s always very willing to learn, but always seems to miss the mark by a very large margin.

He’s been practicing for years – centuries even – the ghostly OOooOoOoOOOh that one sometimes hears. All he can manage is a ‘Hoop’ every now and then. Imagine, sitting in a quiet sitting room, a clock is ticking loudly on the mantelpiece. The branches of the old tree are gently scratching at the glass behind the curtains. The candlelight is flickering, casting shadows that dance across the across the room. An open fire crackles occasionally. You think you see a mist move across the room in the corner of your eye… And a ‘Hoop’ suddenly appears from out of the blue.

Dave thought he had managed the ability of astral projection, until he realised that he had tripped on an old chain (that was also from the ghostly realm!) and stumbled across the room. He’s never managed the ability to pass through solid objects, so careered headlong into the bookcase in the sitting room.

Cats love him. He tries to shoo them away, and they bring their friends.

He accidentally managed to move a ping pong ball once that someone had placed in the middle of a circle of talcum powder (he had no idea why they would do this) and was so horrified he remade the circle of talc and put the ball back exactly in the centre, and exactly where it was.

He tries to make the air feel chilly whenever he is in a room with someone, but rarely succeeds. He did manage it once, though, back in 1989, but the person he was in the room with, King Henry the Eighth, wasn’t very impressed at all. It was only when King Henry walked through a wall Dave realised he was in the room with a ghost. And he fainted.

He can’t lift anything from that ghostly dimension. The chains he fell over were too heavy for him. He said the ghostly “OoOoOooooOOh” as he strained to lift them, but once again the ‘Hoop’ filtered through. And that time only the cats were present. And they knew he was there.

One thing Dave is good at though, is impersonating birdsong. He’s had centuries of mastering his technique, due to listening to all of the birds outside. He is so good, his birdsong actually does filter through into the heavy realm, the realm of the mortals. Which may also be another reason why the cats like him.

Feeling a failure, Dave has reluctantly enrolled at the Spook School. His first lesson is on Halloween. Will he become a better ghost?

Only time will tell…