Axi thought that she saw something shiny blue next to the Catacomb building.

She approached the blue shining and then she saw her first ghost ever. She wasn‘t even shocked. As she was now the surveyor of the ghosts, she felt responsible.

She looked severely at the ghost and said: “Hey it‘s too early for you… go back to where you belong.”

The girl‘s ghost was not very pleased that the surveyor was still around and she went away.

Now Axi knew that she had to take that taxi right away, otherwise she would be in trouble.

Now that her relationship with Miriam was all right, she didn‘t want to disappoint the woman and besides that, tomorrow she had to go to school.

When she came home, Miriam fortunately had gone to bed already and Axi went to bed as well. She fell asleep immediately and had a dreamless night.

So time went by and Axi started to feel extraordinary good because Miriam took her out more often to different places. When people saw them together, they thought that they were mother and daughter or friends.

One day after finishing a game of chess, a man who had been looking at them asked Miriam if he could speak to her alone and Miriam told Axi to wait for her because in 5 minutes they had to go home.

Axi just walked a few meters away in order to give Miriam and the man privacy to talk but she couldn‘t help overhearing what was said.

The man: “Isn‘t that the girl you‘re responsible for?”

Miriam: “Well, yes but I‘m pleased to say that she will be a young adult very soon and then I‘ll get that snotty teen off of my back.”

Axi stood there in silence and could hardly believe her ears.

The man: “I don‘t understand how you manage to deal with her…“
Miriam: “What do you think? They have given me a lot of money and they promised to give me much more and a very good promotion if I would be able to ‘mother‘ her until she can manage herself. It has been quite a hard job because she has a very bad character.”

 The girl felt if though they had emptied a bucket of cold water over her head.

Axi couldn‘t resist any more. She didn‘t wait for Miriam and ran to the house. Once inside, you could read on her face how disappointed she was.

She had started to trust Miriam and now it turned out that the ‘lovingly lady‘ only wanted money and a promotion. She was used to rude behavior but she never had an experience like this one; acting nice and behind her back acting otherwise. Axi was too strong to start crying but her heart hardened.
She didn‘t mention anything and was pleased when it was time to go to work.

After work, she decided not to go home. One way or another, she wanted to punish Miriam.

So she wandered around at the graveyard and was interested to see the difference between the ghosts.

Especially the younger ones looked unhappy because they lost their lives in an unnatural way. She was just as unhappy as they were.

Later that night she fell asleep on a bench.

At home, Miriam had discovered already that Axi was not at home and she felt unsure what to do. If she would call the Police then that would mean that her boss might not give her all that promised money and promotion. Anyway, the girl looked already grown up enough and, most possibly, she wouldn‘t be caught if Miriam wouldn‘t alert the Police. Besides that, it wouldn’t be long before the sunrise.

She wondered what the reason was of this unexpected change in the behavior of the girl. She had been quite reasonable lately… then why this sudden change?

She decided not to alert the Police.

That morning, Miriam heard the doorbell ringing and she went outside to see who it was.

It was the Police. Once inside the Police told her that Axi had been brought to school directly. He accused Miriam to be a bad custodian because she didn‘t call them that the girl had been missing. The Police had informed the Office of Social Workers about it.

Miriam tried to defend herself and spoke up loudly: “Well, it has been practically impossible to let that ‘snotty teen‘ behave!.
Then the policeman (who has teenagers of his own) replied: “Madam, we are talking about children and not about ‘snotty teens‘. I know you will be visited by the Social Workers Team to replace you. Until then, you will have to stay here. Good-bye.“

When Axi came out of school, she decided not to go home but instead she went to the fast-food restaurant to have something to eat and after that she went to the cemetery.

After work she thought I would rather stay here then go home but *sigh* I cannot afford the Police finding me tonight again and then she felt something weird… What was happening to her? She felt if though…

To be continued….