Across the table, Cora shrugged at me and I shrugged back.

Cora was easily the most normal of the bunch, and she probably thought the same thing about me, which only begged the question of what was really wrong with her. Before the week was out, I’d have my answer.

Thursday night we had a bonfire. There were marshmallows to be turned to dripping torches and dropped into the dirt; and two of the male counselors broke out guitars to compel a sing-along. I’m a fairly good singer so I joined in on the songs I knew even though I felt a little silly and didn’t understand who Michael was, or why he needed to row the boat ashore.

Later, they wanted to tell ghost stories. Mr. Joe told the first two or three, but they sounded more like jokes than real events. Cora thought so too. She leaned over on the splintery log and said as much in my ear, but she wasn’t any good at whispering and Mr. Joe overheard just enough to feign offense. “Cora.” He found her on the far side of the fire and made sure everyone else saw her, too. “What do you mean they’re not real ghost stories?”

She shifted on the log and tried to make herself look smaller. It didn’t work, and all eyes were on her, so she had to answer. “I mean they’re not, that’s all. Real ghost stories don’t have punch lines, Mr. Joe.”

“They don’t? Well, how should they go, then? Why don’t you tell us, since you’re the expert.”

I was thankful for the dimly bright fire, because it camouflaged the flush that was creeping up my neck. I knew everyone was looking at Cora, but she was sitting next to me, and there was a chance someone would later remember me when presented with the mental prompt of “ghosts.” I held my breath and waited for my new friend’s answer.

“Real ghost stories . . . they’re not whole stories,” she said slowly. “You can’t tell them like a joke, because you never know the whole thing. There’s too much left out, and if you know the whole thing, it would take you longer than a couple of minutes to tell.”

I found myself nodding along to her words, then I stopped myself, lest I be singled out as a fellow “expert” and asked to testify. But she was right, and I knew that better than anybody. It made me wonder how she knew it so well.