Example of a Novel: Chasing the Ghost

(Excerpt)

Chapter 1

The girl stared somewhere behind me. It made me feel quite uncomfortable. Why was she looking at me so attentively?! Maybe she is cross-eyed? I had a headache and felt fatigued after a sleepless night. A feeling of anxiety had kept me in tension for two days and I didn’t know what was happening to me. Maybe I should go to hospital? The cross-eyed girl was still looking at me, and even began to mutter something. She’s crazy – no doubt! Maybe she escaped from a mental hospital? I thought.

My head hurt like it had been struck with a hummer. I decided to get off the bus at the next stop and go back home. And on the way home to stop at a drugstore and buy a strong painkiller. I got up and moved towards the exit. My neck ached terribly. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that this blissful girl continued to stare at me. Feeling irritated I jumped out the bus and fell down on the dirty road. The day was completely spoiled. How I could stumble on a completely flat surface?! What a day! Nerves snapped, and I burst into tears.

“Can you stand up? Let me help you.” I heard someone say as I was lifted up. Through my tears, I saw it was that weird girl from the bus, but I didn’t care anymore. My whole body was burning with pain, my left leg was swollen, and my neck was aching. More than anything, I just wanted to sit down and cry.

The girl seated me on a bench, and silently sat beside me, waiting until I calmed down. I cried for a long time, but the pain didn’t go away. She continued starring somewhere behind me with her strange eyes. She was wearing a short black jacket, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She was about twenty to twenty-two years old, not very pretty: high cheekbones, small mouth with thin lips and small eyes. If she wasn’t cross-eyed, she could be quite pretty. I wondered how long she would sit silent like this? I decided I was not going to thank her because I did not ask for help. I was just about to turn away from her, but suddenly her slanted eyes stared right at me! I even flinched!

“Have you finally calmed down?” asked the girl who seemed to be normal now. She looked serious as she waited for my answer.

“Um…” I wasn’t able to speak, “oh, yeah…” I mumbled and continued to stare at her like a fool. I understood that she wasn’t cross-eyed and felt confused. I realized that I looked ridiculous and stupid.”Thank you for helping”, I murmured turning away to the side.

“It’s my pleasure,” she answered, “I couldn’t leave you in such condition. Your leg is OK, only a little dislocation.”

We kept silent. I was looking at my knees and thinking that the pain in my head became less. My savior was digging in her backpack and finally pulled out a small roll of scotch tape: “You can fix jeans temporarily”, with these words she gave me the tape. I said, “Thanks,” and I took the roll. “Sorry to bother you, it’s just a bad day for me.”

She looked calmly at me and said,” I know, you have had a terrible headache for two days, and you feel a strange anxiety.”

I quickly raised my head with amazement and groaned from pain.

“But how do you…” I murmured,

“Your head is hanging down in pain,” she answered, “You may think I’m crazy, but here is my telephone number, call me if you get worse.”
With these words, she gave me a piece of paper and left. I sat on the bench and realized that my world was upside down.