Old Ghost [Amelia]

This story tells us about how the main character, Jim Brennan, was feeling lonely on his seventy-sixth birthday as he there was no one to celebrate it with and he did not receive any birthday cards either. He thought of the past and was extremely remorseful because of what he had done.

He had a childhood sweetheart, Ellen, whom he broke up with as he had met another girl. Upon finding out that Ellen had passed away not long after, he was conscience-stricken but there was nothing he could do by then. He was full of melancholy and realised how selfish and immature he was when he was younger. Distressed and grief-stricken, he wished that he could be with Ellen again. He started to have illusions of Ellen and even talked to what seemed to be the spirit of Ellen. Hence the name 'old ghost'.

I think this story relates to teenagers like us as well. We are all constantly exposed to temptations that may lead us in the wrong direction. It is up to us to be intelligent enough to stay away from such temptations and to reject them when necessary. At this age, we are highly impressionable and may be easily influenced by our peers. However, we have to learn to think for ourselves so that we would not be led astray.

In the story, Jim did not cherish Ellen and only regretted when she died unexpectedly. This shows that we have to treasure what we have and the people around us. We should never take things for granted. Time is also of grave importance as we would never know what is going to happen tomorrow.