Bartholomew "Barty" Butterfield was no ordinary ghost. He was a very bored ghost. He had been floating around for years with nothing to do, and today, he found himself drifting into "Guiseppe's Gents' Grooming Emporium," a fancy barbershop filled with the smell of aftershave and hair tonic.
Barty wasn't sure why he was there. He didn’t have hair, and he definitely didn’t need a shave. But something about the place made him curious.
Inside, three old barbers stood behind their chairs, trimming and styling hair with great care. The boss, Guiseppe, was a serious-looking man with a strange comb-over. He polished a silver razor as if it were a treasure.
Barty floated near the entrance, his ghostly presence making the air a little chilly. A nearby plant shivered, but no one noticed him. He sighed loudly, a sound like the wind whistling through a tunnel. Still, no reaction.
“Next!” Guiseppe called, and a big man with a walrus mustache walked to the chair, completely unaware that Barty was floating just above him.
Barty wanted attention. He flicked the lights. No one cared. He knocked over a bottle of hair tonic. It crashed to the floor, spilling everywhere.
Finally, the walrus-mustached man noticed. “Did you feel that, Guiseppe? A sudden chill? And did something just fall?”
Guiseppe waved him off. “Probably just a draft. Or Luigi being clumsy again.”
Barty perked up. Luigi! Maybe this barber could sense ghosts! Barty floated in front of him, waving his translucent hands. “Help me…” he whispered.
Luigi blinked. He squinted at Barty. “I knew it! A ghost!” he gasped. “And it wants… a haircut!”
Guiseppe groaned. “Luigi, you need a break.”
But Luigi wasn’t listening. He grabbed his scissors and charged at Barty. “I’ll give you the best ghostly haircut ever!”
Barty yelped and zoomed around the shop, dodging wildly. Luigi chased him, snipping the air, shouting about "taming the ghostly mane."
The other barbers stared. Customers ducked for cover. Mr. Walrus Mustache, still covered in shaving cream, watched with wide eyes. The shop turned into chaos.
Finally, Barty escaped, rushing out of the barbershop and flying all the way back to the cemetery where he usually haunted. He hid behind a tombstone, catching his breath (or whatever ghosts do).
He had come looking for something exciting, and he had certainly found it! But now, he realized something important—he wasn’t just bored. He needed a purpose!
That’s when an idea struck him. He would become a paranormal investigator! He would help ghosts find peace and protect people from mischievous spirits.
Barty straightened up, full of determination. He finally had a mission.
But first, he needed to find a new barbershop. One without ghost-chasing barbers!
The afterlife was strange enough without worrying about a bad haircut.
