Giles told his parents at lunch. “There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Mrs Barnes said with a smile. Mrs Barnes was a professor of mathematics at the university. She liked numbers, she liked long equations, she liked things you could solve on paper. She did not believe in ghosts. “Aunt Lillian believes in ghosts,” Giles pointed out. “Yes, well, Aunt Lillian believes in quite a few odd things,” said Mrs Barnes. Giles liked Aunt Lillian, no matter what his Mom said. Aunt Lillian dressed like a gypsy with scarves and headbands, and wore too much makeup. She always told ghost stories when she came. “Dad, do you believe in ghosts?” Giles asked. “Well, I’m not sure,” said his father. “I’ve certainly never seen a ghost.” “There you go,” said Mrs Barnes. “No one I know has ever seen a ghost. That’s because they’re not real.” “But there’s lots of things we haven’t seen which we know are real,” said Giles. “Like what?” Mrs Barnes asked. “Like…like atoms!”
