July had been blown out like a candle, and clear skies ushered in the new month of August. Summer vacation was extended as always, which increased Catherine’s boredom.
It was not as if she missed her friends, because she had none at school or in her neighbourhood. No one even stood beside her at break time, and there was no exchange of kindness. Although girls came to her to copy her work, Catherine eventually understood what they were doing and stopped helping them.
Catherine was the only child of her parents. Both her parents worked, so she spent most of her days playing in the courtyard, reading books and watching TV.
One day, Catherine was lying on her bed, feeling quite under the weather. Her mother came into her room and said, “Catherine, I thought it was my day off from work, but I had a call and there is some urgent work to be done, so I have to leave. So, dear, have your dinner and study if you wish. And most importantly, don’t open the gate for strangers.”
Her mother kissed Catherine’s forehead and left.
After around just five minutes, Catherine suddenly a noise coming from outside. She got up and looked out of the window. She saw a girl, about her age, stroking a cat. She ignored her and thought about having dinner. As she came downstairs, there was a knock at the door. Catherine peeked out and saw the same girl standing at the gate.
Without opening it, she asked, “Who is this?”
“I am Molly. We have recently moved to this area, so I was strolling around to see if there are kids my age! Would you like to play with me?” she asked.
“Sorry, I can’t. I’m not feeling well,” Catherine said, making an excuse for not opening the gate.
“Okay, no problem. Do you have a favourite drink? Mine is Sting. Listen, what do you call a car running on Sting instead of petrol?” Molly said, laughing.
“I don’t know,” Catherine replied.
“A rocket ship!” Molly guffawed.
“Oh! I know one too. Why can’t you trust stairs? Because they are always up to something,” joked Catherine.
“That was good! Here, why can’t a bike stand up by itself? It is two tired,” cracked Molly.
After exchanging two or three more jokes, Molly left. Catherine felt a bit uneasy. She had her dinner and then waited for her parents. Soon afterwards, Catherine’s parents arrived, and Catherine told them about Molly and all the chat they had.
Her parents became worried after hearing about the girl. Her father checked the neighbourhood and found that no new family had moved there. Her mother and Catherine then looked at the CCTV camera recordings and were shocked to see that there was no one on the other side of the wall, except a cat.
Catherine couldn’t make out what had happened. Who was Molly? A ghost, a hallucination or her loneliness playing tricks on her?
That night, her parents discussed the strange event. They realised that Catherine had been spending too much time alone and might have imagined Molly because of her loneliness. Their daughter didn’t need expensive toys and games as much as she needed their love, attention and comfort. They decided that things at home had to change.
Catherine’s mother resigned from her job, while her father took up a better and more financially secure one. This meant that Catherine would no longer have to spend so much time alone. Her parents understood that they needed to give her more love and attention rather than simply providing material comforts.
From that day, Catherine was no longer an isolated child. She was now a happy and sociable girl who got along well with people.
Sometimes, Catherine still wondered about Molly’s reality because, on the concrete wall outside the main gate, someone has used a sharp pebble to write in crude letters: Molly.
Published in Dawn, Young World, September 26th, 2026
