No Ghosts

Young Ruth, has recently experienced a great loss. She has the burn marks that show it but her other wounds run deeper. Her father, ravaged by guilt and helpless in dealing with his daughter, takes her to a birthday party where he submits his thoughts to an adult while Ruth does the opposite in company of her own peers. Ruth does not speak a word to the other children and only stares at the ghostly balloons adorning the room and when the birthday-boy asks her if she'll play the seeker in a game of hide and seek, she doesn't respond. The boy takes her silence as consent and all the kids go hide. When Ruth finally decides to seek she isn’t interested in the other kids, so instead of looking for them, she grabs a ghostly balloon, sneaks out of the house and goes in search of her dead brother. Ruth's father eventually realises she´s gone and after a reversed game of hide and seek, finds her at the origin of their mutual loss; their burnt down home where Ruth now deals with a ghost of her own making.