My first challenge is to write a short story that must be a type of ghost story and must include a baseball bat, a lantern, a penny and a bird cage.

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A loud crashing noise caused Kate to shoot up in her bed, eyes wide and heart beating wildly in her chest. Her gaze flickered around her room, searching for the source of the noise but found nothing. She hesitantly pulled back her bed covers and swung her legs out of the bed, reaching beside her bed and grasping her baseball bat tightly in her hand as she did.

She quickly grabbed her lucky penny from her bedside table and pocketed it, she took it everywhere with her for luck.

With her heart beating even louder and her baseball bat held in front of her warily, she slowly opened her bedroom door and walked down the stairs, carefully avoiding the creaky floorboards as she did.

"Hello? Is that you Brad?" She asked hoping that her brother would reply but there was no answer only the sound of something being knocked over.

Kate sighed nervously when she realised the noise had come from the basement. Shakily she grabbed her key and unlocked the basement door. She involuntarily shivered when a chilling draft flooded into the hallway when she opened the door.

She couldn't help but frown when she saw an orange glow coming from the basement. Without thinking she walked down the basement stairs, nearly tripping over an old bird cage that had been hazardously placed on the stairs. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she realised that the glow was coming from a lantern that was hanging from the ceiling.

"But who could've lit it?" She wondered out loud.

Suddenly a white, glowing object appeared in the centre of the room. She stared at it, her hands slightly trembling nervously. The pearly-white translucent object shimmered a hazy bright blue. Slowly, it came into focus like an object looked at through a telescope, but this ghost was close, very close. At first it's whisper was like the soft susurration of the wind in the trees, then as the ghost became more clear, more sharply focused, the whisper became a clearer masculine voice.

"Kate." The familiar voice said.

"Father?" Mumbled Kate as she gazed wide eyed at the ghost of her father that remained in front of her.