Step, step, tap.

No.

That is the word. It's an important word: no. So short - so simple: yet so often nearly impossible to say. Sometimes even so elusive that the person who should have said it didn't even know. Until it was too late.

Perhaps Lilith was one of those people.

The small patch of marshland at the side of the little river - or 'burn' as the locals would have called it - is quiet. It isn't always quiet - sometimes it is abuzz with the lives of a myriad insects and the call of birds and the whir of their wings - but today is still. The damp lurks all over and the heavy mist swallows every sound. Droplets of water cling to everything - had the sun been allowed to shine it might have been beautiful. As it is, the fog drains what little colour the marsh has and makes everything a picture of black, grey, and murky white.

This marsh cannot boast much in terms of its features and even on more pleasant days it cannot claim better colours than shades of brown - but it does have one thing. Tucked away behind a copse of crippled birch and invisible from the tiny, winding road, is a very old, ramshackle, tumbled down barn. Half of its tin roof has collapsed completely and the remaining half is coated in rust. It might easily have stood there more than a hundred years. The inside is covered with about an inch of mud, slurry, and dust but it is still possible to see that the floor is flagstone. A tiny fireplace can be seen slumped on one side of the barn.

Sheep sometimes wander close to the barn. But they don't stay long - as if sensing something they will halt, flick their ears, their tails will twitch, and then they will turn and trot away quickly. If you listen carefully on particular days, you might hear soft sighs. And you might wonder whether the wind usually can make the sounds of a sobbing child.

Step, step, tap. Step, hop, step, tap. Tap. The young girl paused. Tap. It was time to go home. All around her, students chatted, yelled, shouted, screeched. They were flooding out of the school doors. Tap. She softly touched the side of the bollard and then let her hand drop back down to her side. Her heart hammered. Her eyes flicked all about her, watching the faces and movements of the other children. She rubbed her arm and then let her hand drop to clutch her wrist. The school bus was late.

Someone knocked into her from behind. Lilith stumbled but caught herself quickly. There were howls of laughter. She looked round and saw a group of classmates all looking at her with their sharp, flashing eyes and grinning mouths. The one who'd knocked into her sneered.

"Watch where you're going, Lilith," he jeered in a singsong voice.

She watched him retreat to his gang of friends.

Tap.

The school bus had turned up eventually. And, as always, Lilith had tucked herself onto the very front seat of the bus, desperately trying to be as invisible as she could. Everybody else sat and shrieked at the back of the bus - like a troop of monkeys, Lilith thought. She rested her forehead on the cool glass of the window and gazed out. As the bus began to move she allowed her grey surroundings to melt away and be replaced by the luscious forests she grew in her mind.

Lilith blinked. The bus was drawing up at her stop. She grabbed her bag and swung down to the door.

"Thank you," she said quietly, with a small smile at the driver. He smiled and waved.

Outside, the air was fresh. Lilith breathed deeply and closed her eyes for a moment - she was finally free of the monkeys. She watched as the bus drew away and up the winding hill. The air was light, cool, and it was slightly breezy. Everything was damp. She sighed.

Lilith didn't like to be indoors. So she didn't stay in the house after she'd dropped off her school bag. She had plans to head out and explore the marshland. She wanted to follow the river and listen to the birds. Maybe she would see the otters today. They'd had cubs recently - she had seen them playing a few times.

Free of school bag and school uniform, Lilith dashed outside. She ran down to the clunky metal bridge that crossed the little river and then hopped down into the forest of ferns crowding its bank, landing lightly on her feet. The ferns came up to her waist now. She smiled. This was going to be fun.

Lilith wandered softly along the riverbank a short way, watching the merry flow of the water. The river was home to fish and she loved to spot them and watch them dance in their little shoals. But she was out looking for more than just bird- and river-life. Lilith hoped to find fairies and dragon's eggs. She caught sight of sylphs - the mysterious and silent figures of the wind - out of the corners of her eyes a few times. They were always around: they watched her as she walked quietly by.

The sun was setting and Lilith was gradually making her way home - dinner was probably close to ready. She trudged over soft moss and stepped over murky pools - and then something caught her eye. It was a little rundown building: hiding in a copse of crooked birch trees. She'd not seen it before.

She made her way slowly over to it - keeping a close lookout for people. But she passed only an old ewe and her lamb, who watched her go by with their black, beady eyes and long, white noses.

Lilith held her breath as she advanced to the empty doorway of the dilapidated structure. A pungent scent of very old hay and animals hung over the building. It made Lilith think of a barn.

It was dark inside.

The hairs on the backs of Lilith's arms stood on end. She peeked in carefully and swept her gaze around the room within, ready to dash away at a moment's notice.

The barn was empty but for a collapsed fireplace on one wall. The whole room was coated in enough dust and mud that one would need to wade through. Lilith felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

She took a step into the doorway and peered up into the bare rafters. Some webs hung up there but not so many to turn her away immediately.

A chill swept over her and a shadow flickered suddenly in the corner near the hearth. There's a ghost here. Lilith knew immediately. She froze. An overwhelming feeling of desolation swept into her mind. The ghost was alone. Lilith forced herself to breathe. She kept her eyes trained straight ahead of her - wanting to see the creature again. It did not disappoint.

Hello.

Lilith drew in a shaky breath. "Hello," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Will you be my friend?

That night, Lilith struggled to sleep. The bees were there. They started appearing as the clock ticked closer to bedtime. Lilith prayed they would go but they didn't. They never did. They filled up her bedroom - more and more every minute - huge, heavy, black bees. They buzzed so loudly and brushed up and over Lilith and each other, swarming everywhere. Lilith shook and a couple of tears escaped her eyes. These bees - she knew - no one else could see. Her mother had told her they were all in her mind and there was no need to be scared of them.

Lilith could not hide from them and so just tucked her blanket as tightly as she could up around her chin. She knew what was coming next.

The grinning face appeared in the corner of her room. Up near the ceiling where it always appeared. It had only eyes and mouth - and it always grinned. Its eyes were mad and they bounced and stared.

The mouth opened. "Don't look away, Lilith - or I will kill your family." The teeth flashed in a big, menacing smile.

Tap, tap, shuffle. Tap, tap, shuffle - pause - step. Lilith sighed. It was morning. Her eyes hurt. Lilith carefully ran her index and middle finger over the edge of the kitchen counter. Swipe. Press. She sighed again. Press. Swipe.

That morning, Lilith ran down to the old barn. She packed a rucksack with her favourite colouring book and brightest pens and stuffed the pages with her best collection of old photographs. She wanted to show all of these to her new friend, the ghost. They were called Alfie - Lilith could not tell yet if they were a boy or a girl - but they were very lonely. And she had decided to be their friend.

When she first arrived, Alfie seemed to be gone. However, Lilith found herself a dry spot on the floor, sat down, and spread everything out before her. She smiled.

She flipped open the colouring book. She thumbed the corners of pages - thumb top corner; thumb lower corner; brush lower edge. Lilith tugged out her precious photographs and held them close to her face, cupped in her hands. She felt her heart swell and tears pricked her eyes.

The topmost photograph was the one of her and Alys. That was her friend from England. Her best friend. Lilith pressed one hand to her heart as it throbbed. She gazed at their big, bright smiles and sparkling eyes. They had their arms around each other - and they were smiling because it was Halloween and they had dressed up as witches together. Alys had put pretty sparkles over her cheeks.

Lilith.

Alfie had appeared quietly in the barn. Lilith brushed away the wetness in her eyes.

"Alfie, hello," Lilith whispered, and had to clear her throat. "I'm so glad you're here."

Why are you crying?

"I miss my friends," Lilith said, and her chest ached.

Friends?

"I can show you - I brought photographs."

Hands shaking, Lilith began to spread the precious pictures out over the floor of the barn. Alfie watched quietly over her shoulder. Lilith told them about the friends in the pictures: there was Alys; Alys' brother Hari; the neighbour Madison and her younger sister Hailey. There were also a couple of photographs showing one other girl, Felicia. She had lived in the big house in the village - her parents had been very wealthy. As a result, Felicia had been very spoiled. Somehow, she had grown up a nice enough girl - but she was large, clumsy, and, though she smiled and did everything she could to please those she wanted to claim as friends, screamed at her parents. But those parents would always bring out chocolates and biscuits for everyone - and Lilith had loved that.

These are your friends?

"Yes," Lilith sniffed and wiped a stray tear from her eye. She rubbed her chest again as she felt the tugging at her heart. She longed to see those special faces again - to run and hug Alys and Hari, to laugh with Madison and Hailey, and to eat chocolates with Felicia. Now they were miles away. Lilith sobbed.

I have never had a friend.

Lilith looked up through teary eyes. "I want to be your friend, Alfie."

You want to be my friend?

Lilith nodded. "Yes. I thought we could colour together. I brought pens."

There was silence behind her.

After a few moments, she heard quietly whispered words.

Thank you. Lilith.

The ghost child faded away. Lilith felt them recede from the world as surely as the rain then fell from the sky. The old barn was left in silence. And the young girl cried.