Charlotte suddenly had an insight. “I think I know why Sheldon is getting so upset.”
They all turned to look at her, curious what she would say next. With everyone watching her, Charlotte was starting to feel very self-conscious, but she decided to soldier on.
“It’s because he came here for a reason.”
“Well of course I came here for a reason.” Sheldon said.
“But that’s just the thing, isn’t it?” Charlotte continued. “You don’t know what it is.”
“Well of course I…” his voice trailed off. “Actually, I can’t remember why I came here.” He peered at her. “How did you know that?”
“Because you’re a ghost, silly. You’re not going to suddenly show up at somebody’s house without a reason. But if you already knew the reason, you wouldn’t need to be here in the first place.”
Everybody was staring at her. Charlotte’s dad broke the silence.
“That’s my daughter!” he said proudly.
“When did you learn so much about ghosts?” Charlotte’s mom asked.
“Reading ghost stories, of course.” Charlotte looked at Sheldon sympathetically. “We should help you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. But help me with what? Even I don’t know why I’m here.”
The cat, who had been watching silently through all this, finally spoke up. “I know somebody who does.”
They all turned to look at her. “Who’s that?” said Sheldon.
“The author.”
Aha! 🙂
Aren’t you forgetting something?
Probably. Can’t wait to find out what!
Just looked up Count Gonzago. Intriguing.
What you might be forgetting is that you can’t be entirely sure who the author is.
Count Gonzago lives! 🙂
True. On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog. 🙂
But perhaps you mean a book within the book, a la “The Murder of Gonzago”.