Ch 7

"Now I see why the Goth girl hangs out with him." Star muttered under her breath. It was strange as she stared into the green, purple, and black void, that she wasn't afraid. No, She was in the World of Ghosts, where she could finally talk to any ghost she chooses, and ask them all the questions she'd always wanted to ask a ghost. She'd even had a little black notebook that she kept in her pocket just in case she ever met one.

Star pulled out that notebook as she flipped to the first page. The Fenton's space ship seemed to be almost push button as a list of options appeared at her elbow. "What strange names…" she said, as she looked down at the list. It seemed to be a combination of names and places.

Clockwork's Tower-Her hand hovered over that, as she pictured a ghost almost machine like. No, that's not where she wanted to go. He sounded dangerous.

Skulker's Lair-That sounded more promising, but hadn't she seen a ghost the called himself that already?

Fright knight's Castle- That one sounded like some kind of Halloween prank. She was out to debunk all the of the ghost's myths, not go back to the oldest ones!

Just as she looked back at the map and her next place to visit, she saw a refrigerator door come into view on the left hand side of the ship thingy. She dropped the ship into neutral with a jolt as she flipped through the pages of her little black notebook until she found number 25: What do ghosts eat?

It looked like a fridge, but could that really be some kind of ghostly signal for some kind of all night convenience store? "Only one way to find out…" Star grumbled as the ship drifted forward in neutral until it reached a place just a long jump in front of the fridge door. Star just sat for a minute, thinking. She could reach the door from here, but was their air to breathe outside the ship? If she were to jump and miss, would she float like a ghost here, or fall forever into the black nothingness?

She gave a shudder at that thought. Maybe this really wasn't such a good idea, and she should just find the button or menu marked "Home" or "Fenton's" and face up to the fact that she at least got to see the Ghosts home, and leave it at that. But just as
Star was reaching for the shifter to put it into reverse, a strange green creature that looked like an octopus floated through the Fenton's ship and out the other side, apparently on their way to somewhere else, and Star got a blast of cold running through her like a shock to the system. "Wow! Cold!" she yelped, rubbing her arms. And then she realized. The ghost went through the ship! She didn't have to fall screaming into the void, she didn't even have to knock at the door! Here SHE was the ghost, and if she couldn't open things she could go through them!

She shifted the Fenton's ship thing into "D" and phased through the door of the fridge and came out into a frozen wasteland of ice that looked like it was in the middle of Antarctica or something. In the driving snow, there was a shadow that looked strange. It looked like a man sitting alone in the middle of the wasteland. As she got closer she saw her thoughts were confirmed. It WAS a strange ghost with green skin and a red and white striped nightshirt sitting in the snow in the middle of nowhere. And better yet, it was a human ghost, just the kind that Star had been looking for.

Star shifted the car/ship thing into "P" and hit the door panel. It slid back to reveal that the ghost that she had been watching just moments before had moved and was now standing in front of the door she had just opened.

He was even stranger up close, with buck teeth and a sloppy smile. "Will you be my friend?" he asked suddenly, his southern twang rapping his voice like wire.

And Star did the only thing she could think of at the time. She opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.

…..................................................................

The ghost flopped down in the snow at Star's sudden screaming. "You don't like me either. That's ok. Not many people like me here." Star couldn't help but feel for the little ghost as he sat there in his pjs, drawing pictures in the snow with his fingers.

"It must be cold for you to do that. Aren't your fingers freezing?" Star asked.

The little ghost looked up. "No, It doesn't bother me. See? I'm already cold." And he held up his blue hands up to Star. She couldn't pass up this chance to actually touch a ghost and grabbed his hand as if to shake it. It was cold, and not just a little cold, but icy!! His touch was so cold it felt like it was burning her hands! She had to pull her hand away with a yank. "Wow! You really are cold!"

"Will you be my friend?" The ghost asked, pushing himself from the snow, and standing in front of Star.

Star's jaw dropped. "Friends?" She yelped. "I...I hardly know you!" She was floored! A ghost wanted to be friends with HER?! "Well, Um, Maybe we can talk or something? Can you...are you busy or anything?"

The ghost shook his head. "No, I'm not busy. I'm never...busy. You will talk to me, and then be my friend?"

Star began to nod absently as she flipped her notebook open to the page labeled #1.

"Well, what is you're name? You do have a name, right?" Star had pulled a pencil from her backpack and with pencil poised, she awaited the ghost's answer.

"My name? My name is...is...Klemper." he said.

Star smiled as she could feel her mind slip into what she called her 'interview' voice. "Well, What do ghosts do all day?"

Klemper smiled. "Whatever I want to. I don't have any bedtimes! I can stay up all night!" He giggled a little as he flopped into the show and began to make show angels.

Star paused, he sounded like her little brother when he just got to stay up and watch movies with her parents on Saturday Nights. "Klemper, how old are you?" Just as she said this, she realized she hadn't pulled her sweater tight in almost 5 minutes. Was it actually getting warmer?

Klemper smiled wider. "I'll be 14 come next month." And in the second time in as many minutes, Star could feel her jaw droop to her chest. He was almost the same age as she was! She had thought she was interviewing someone older, or even younger, not the same age! She shuddered, he died when she was just the same age as her.

"Come play in the show with me!" Klemper yelled as a snowball hit her upside the head. Or at least it looked like a snowball. Snow wasn't usually warm. She pulled it off her face and watched it crumble in her hand. It felt like feathers, warm, damp feathers. She scooped the feather show into her hands and lobbed a ball back at the ghost. "Klemper! It's warm! How can snow be warm?"

"I can make it whatever I want it to be! It's my place, It's my room!" Suddenly the show was gone, replaced by a spring field full of flowers that took Star's breath away, as she stood knee deep in the flowery field. And in a heartbeat it was gone, replaced by the snowy wasteland full of warm feather snow. "What's you're name, Girl?"

"My name is Star." Star said, gazing in wonder at the little ghost who could control the weather.

"Star? Like the little things that twinkle at night?" Klemper asked, as the snow was covered in night as rapidly as paint spilling down a wet canvas. And the night was filled with stars, constellations and spirals, that twinkled and shone. And she seemed to be standing just under the north star in the center of it all. Star laughed, and clapped her hands like a child. It was just so awesome. A ghost could control the Ghost Zone at will. It would be just so awesome to be a ghost!

Klemper's soft voice interrupted Star's thought. "Star? Will you be my friend?"

Star didn't even blink as she answered. "Yes, Klemper, I will be your friend."

"Really?" Klemper gasped, as he spun in the snow in giddy circles.

Star nodded. "Yes, Klemper. I would love to have a ghost as a friend." Star really felt for the ghost. He sounded like her, quiet and alone, and it seems all he really what he wanted was a friend. She shook her head, and saw Klemper floating in front of her inches in front of her face. "What're you thinking about?"

Star leaped. "I...I was thinking how cool it would be to be a ghost."

Klemper smiled as he put his fingers to his lips, like he was about to tell her a secret. "Do you wanna be a ghost? I know that trick. I can show you, if you want." As Star nodded, she began to feel really strange, like she was floating and spinning and fainting all at the same time. She blinked her eyes, and suddenly she was staring at herself...through Klemper's eyes! "What?" She could hear her voice sound strange, echo-y, as if she was speaking through a long, thin tube. "What happened?"

Star heard Klemper's voice in her ear. "That's my little trick. Anytime you wanna be a ghost, just think of my little trick and you will be."

Star smiled as she waved her transparent hand over her eyes. "This is really cool, Klemper." She said, with a giggle of joy. "But what if I want to come back? Am I stuck like this forever?"

The Star that was Klemper shook her head. "Nope. You are never gonna be stuck. I don't wanna be stuck, do you? So, All you have to do is think of being yourself again, that'll be easy."

And Star closed her eyes and thought about all of the things that she did that day. Paulina and that silly dress for the party next Saturday, Kwan at the Nasty Burger, the box-obsessed ghost and...a sudden flash of green came from the right, toward the door of the fridge, and Star turned to see an outraged and very greenly glowing Danny Phantom.