Create a chilling story that resolves with someone asking “do you believe in ghosts?” The story shouldn’t be more than 350 words in total, and you should write for a mature audience who can handle grim topics and would relate to adult characters. The story should include two characters who are old friends, Johnny and Ben.
“What are we even doing here?” Johnny asked Ben, thinking he never would have returned to the pine grove for as long as he remained living. It had been nearly fifteen years since Johnny and Ben were together at their old hideout, and almost a decade since they had been together at all. The two friends used to be part of a trio that everyone else in town called The Spares. While not the most flattering name to be given, The Spares wore it with pride.

“Here it is,” said Ben. He was pointing to an old pocket knife carving in one of the pine trees and read the name of their old group aloud. Johnny, losing patience, tugged on Ben’s sleeve and demanded an explanation. “Okay, I’ll tell you. First, I have something to say. I know you moved on and left this town, and maybe that made it easy for you to forget about what happened, but I was never blessed with that distance. I have been here the entire time, without forgetting James once.” The name of their old friend being spoken out loud seemed to catch both friends off guard. Fifteen years before the day Ben would drag Johnny from his apartment in Chicago down to the old pine grove outside of their hometown, the two of them witnessed an accident. One day The Spares were playing in the pine grove, and James fell from one of the trees. He died instantly, and the carving in the bark served as a memorial, forever memorializing where it had happened.

“That’s fair,” admitted Johnny. “Still, I think we could have had this conversation over the phone. I had to lie to my wife and say I had a business meeting just to come here. She has no idea about James and I want it to stay that way. What are we doing here?”

Wearing a look of uncertainty, Ben began pulling back the branches of a bush beneath the forbidden tree in preparation for a reveal. He asked Johnny: “Do you believe in ghosts?”