The New Dawn

The air was crisp on this beautiful Autumn evening. The sun was setting as Kim stepped out for her evening hike through the woods.

The trees were dancing to the music of the wind as their leaves were forming a blanket on the ground below.

Life was perfect. Kim is a writer and she lives in a small cabin deep in the woods miles away from Starhaven Michigan. The population of Starhaven is around nine hundred people.

Kim travels by foot when she needs to visit town as she enjoys being in nature.

Now on this beautiful evening, she had decided to walk the trails out towards the lake so she could get new inspiration for an upcoming novel.

As Kim arrived to the lake she noticed a young man of around 20 sitting on a stump writing. As a writer herself she decided to go over to the young man an introduce herself. The young man introduced himself also as Bill.

Bill was writing a novel also about nature and how the Autumn winds felt so wonderful as they tickled his nose and froze his ears.

Kim and Bill sat out by the lake for what seemed like hours just talking about writing and nature. Bill finally said that he must be heading home before his family puts out a missing persons report on him. Kim jokingly stated that those don't work unless the person is missing for forty eight hours or longer. They both laughed and started back to their homes.

The very next evening Kim decided to walk back out to the lake and see if Bill had returned also. And to her surprise he was back and sitting on the exact same stump writing again as he was looking out onto the water.

Kim noticed something strange about Bill, it seemed as if he was saddened by something. As she walked up to him he turned to her and smiled.

Everything seemed to be perfect yet again. Or was it?

Bill seemed a bit more distant as he barely spoke but just sat there staring out into the lake while writing the same words over and over.

I fell in

I fell in

I fell in

Well this concerned Kim so she reached down to grab his hand only to find that her hand went right through his.... He was a ghost!!!!

Kim asked him what happened the prior night after she had left him.

He stated "I went to cross the log bridge and my foot slipped off and I fell in the water. And the current was too strong and it pulled me under."

Kim ran to town as fast as she could to find help. She ran to the local sheriffs office and told the sheriff what had happened.

The sheriff then pulled an old news clipping from his desk that was written over 40 years ago about a local writer named Bill Porter that had fell off of a log while writing a book.

Kim was in shock as she slowly walked back home with millions of thoughts running through her mind.

For a few days Kim stayed home as she tried to figure out how to speak to the ghost of Bill Porter.

She then decided to walk back to the library and look through the archives to learn more about Bill and his writings.

She had learned that he was living in the cabin she now lives in and that he used a typewriter that she had found a year back in her attic. She actually wanted to also use it but she could not find any ribbons for it as they were no longer being made.

Bill wrote some articles in the local newspaper that had long been shut down and after many years forgotten. Kim however found some of them in the archives that had a few of Bills well written articles and short stories in them.

Bill was a very good writer and wrote about love, romance, and even about the spirits by the lake.

Kim finally returned to the lake and spoke to Bill and told him what she had discovered. Bill asked her to bring him his typewriter so he could finally be at peace.

The very next evening Kim carried Bills typewriter to him. As he smiled and vanished a simple sentence appeared on the paper in the typewrite.

Thank you Kim for bringing me peace.

Kim went on to write an article about Bill and their meeting on the lake. The love story that made the world smile once again. This is her story.

As time moved on Kim visited the lake often and would always remember this wonderful man named Bill and how he changed her life.

She would often go into town to visit the sheriff and also the library to read more and more of Bills writings. She even reopened the newspaper press and would on weekends add a story from the archives that was written by Bill.

The townspeople were very happy to have the newspaper back and to once again read Bills beautiful writings.

One evening while at the newspaper press a couple walked in to meet Kim and to thank her. These people were Edward and Pauline Porter, Bills parents.

Edward and Pauline had packed up and moved away to Sharkston Michigan which was about forty miles from Starhaven. They had heard of the newspaper being back active and that their sons work being honored so they decided to meet the wonderful person who made this happen.

Kim explained to them how she met Bills spirit at the lake and how it was actually his spirit and the sheriff that inspired her to do all that she was doing.

Ed and Pauline had no clue how to respond but to simply hug her and thank her for finally letting their sons spirit rest.

This is a story of love and of mystery but also of courage.

As this is the end of this story.. Kim's story is just beginning.