Tom is a ghost and has a secret place, a bookshelf. If you move the bookshelf to the right or left, you will see a hole in the wall. In the hole in the wall, you will see Tom. Books cover the shelf. The bookshelf is made out of wood. It smells like smoke and dust. It is very old and there are cobwebs. Tom likes to be in the library. 

Tom goes to ghost school because he is eight years old. He wants to have a friend. He has fifteen classmates and four cousins. He has no friends because he can’t talk. Tom writes with others since he can’t talk. He reads books and so do his classmates. He likes when the teacher has a read-aloud.  

Tom has lived in the hole behind the bookshelf for a long time. He likes to have privacy.  Tom was the one who made his home. He carved the hole. It took a long time. Inside his hole, Tom brought a TV and a couch.

There is a water bottle on the library shelf next to his hole. The water bottle is dirty because it is touching the dust and cobwebs. It had been there for five weeks. A little boy threw it on the shelf.  There are lots of people in the library. It is noisy for Tom. It bothers him because he can’t hear the TV.  So he sleeps. Tom is a very good sleeper. 

When he woke up, he realized that he didn’t turn off the TV.  He watched it. There were scary movies. Tom likes scary movies. Three hours later, he turned it off. He worked on math problems to get ready for fourth grade. He did six pages of homework and read four chapter books. Tom likes homework. He ate dinner. He watched the sunset through the library window. Then he saw a caterpillar. He is scared of caterpillars, so he ran to his hole. 

Tom wants a friend. The problem is, Tom is scared of bullies. And he can’t talk. It was a serious problem.

When Tom was bored he went outside. Tom likes to play ball by himself. Tom always plays by himself. Tom is lonely. One day, while Tom was playing ball, he saw a park by his library. At the park, Tom saw other ghosts. They were playing. They were all friends. Then Tom noticed another ghost. Tom saw that ghost push the other ghosts. Those ghosts ran away. Tom felt bad. 

The ghost bully saw Tom and chased after him. Tom tried to run away, but the bully caught his leg. Tom was sad and cried. The ghost bully pushed Tom. 

Tom stood up and ran to the library, to his hole.

The next day at ghost school the same thing happened. The bully was new in school. As soon as he saw Tom, he pushed Tom. Everybody saw it, and one classmate told the teacher.  

The ghost bully got in trouble. The teacher made him say sorry about what he did.

Tom made a heart with his hand and the bully knew what Tom meant. 

The bully said, “Does it mean we’re friends?”

Tom nodded, and the bully and Tom became best friends. His new friend’s name is Ben.  They played at the playground. 

The next day, Tom and Ben played at the park. Other ghost kids were there. Tom brought his ball. At first, the other ghosts didn’t want to play with Ben, only Tom. Tom did his trick. He made a heart with his hands and the other ghosts knew what it meant.  

They played ball, and they are all best friends!