With that said, so goes the story of Evangeline Ghastly. She was born on April 24, 1924 in Ipswich, England. To be exact, she was born in the attic of Barkley Manor (the place where she still lives today - alone). Barkley Manor is the ancestral home of the Ghastly family; an ancient family whose family tree dates back to the early 1500’s. She collects rocks, spiders and dust. Now that you know this part of the story, I’ll have Evangeline tell you the rest.
 “It’s true I do live alone in the attic of Barkley Manor. The attic is filled with all kinds of furniture mostly dressers and armoires. It seems that all of the furniture was left here by one family member or another, although I have no idea who. You’re probably wondering who took care of me when I was a child. I have a very foggy memory of someone feeding me, dressing me and generally taking care of me until I was about eight years old - after that I never saw them again. It was about that time I started finding food and other things on the staircase that leads into the attic where I live. This also stopped when I was about eighteen years old.”
“By now you must be asking yourself ‘How does she get in and out of the attic without ever seeing anyone’? Well, I have my own entrance from the outside of the manor house that leads into the attic directly. Whenever I go out all of the windows are drawn and the doors are locked to the main part of the house. I do hear voices through the floorboards on occasion but have never seen anyone. “
“Getting back to the dressers and armoires, they’re all filled with old clothes, hats and accessories. Some fit and look good on me, but most don’t. I found an old sewing machine under a sheet, which I taught myself to use. I now either alter or create new clothes from the pieces I find in the attic. I like to think of myself as a born designer. Sometimes walking through town I notice people staring at me. They must like the clothes I make. It’s funny but no one ever talks to me. I think it’s because they’re so in awe of my talents.”
 “Ok, so now you’re asking yourself ‘Why doesn’t anyone talk to her’? I can’t answer that but I do know that I have one good friend in town and that’s Mr. Mort.” [Show sketch of Mr. Mort here – sketch coming]“So many questions! ‘Who’s Mr. Mort’? Well, he’s the owner of Mort’s Mortuary. We met when I went in to apply for a position. I won’t get into that story now, but you can read my diary entry and find out the whole story. Let me put it this way, the position I ended up in is not what I had in mind. And it’s not what you’re thinking!”
“Ok, you asking yourself ‘Does she at least have a pet’? Why yes I do! Her name is Mouette and she’s a black and white skunk. “I found her sitting on my parents’ grave in the Ipswich Cemetery. It was love at first sight. Truth be told I did think she was a cat until Mr. Mort set me straight. I don’t care, I love her anyway.”
“As for the diary I spoke about, I found it in the drawer of one of the dressers when I was eight. There were only two entries in it. The first one was on the date of my birth, and the other on April 24, 1928. It read: “Happy Birthday Evangeline, We will never forget you! Love Mumsie and Dadums.” I still haven’t figured out who wrote them.”
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