Pirates

Death shook his head and laughed—it was a sight that I had come to love to see what with the constant threat of Lee, the pressure from Maurielle, and the constant worry that I would make one wrong move and keel over dead.

I joined him in his laughter and for a moment we both forgot why it was we now found ourselves in the middle of the Badlands, journeying through the Betwixt.

The reprieve was short lived and soon our laughter died back down.

He cleared his throat before saying softly, “It would be wise if we keep our voices down over the next few days as we make our way through the Badlands.” I wanted to question him on his use of the word ‘days’ but he continued, “We don't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

“What exactly is in the Badlands?” I ask him, curiously, as we climbed back up onto our horses.

“The Forsaken,” he started with the obvious answer; the thought of the Forsaken's sharp teeth and lifeless eyes still made me shiver. “Anyone who has been banished through the years…” He stopped to think before he added, “Oh, and pirates.”

“Pirates?” I felt like I was quickly becoming a parrot constantly echoing his words. “You mean like Captain Jack and Yo-Ho-Ho?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” He sighed.

“But how is that possible? This is practically a desert! How can there be pirates with no water?”

He scoffed at the sound of my disbelief. Looking over at me from the corner of his eye, he laughed, “I take it you have never met a land pirate before?”

“A land pirate?” This place was getting stranger with each passing day and each new revelation.

“Don't laugh,” he warned me. “They are far more vicious than their sea faring brothers.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Because a story is incomplete without pirates.

 

I'm at 43K words in my NaNo novel and less than 48 hours left here in Russia. Needless to say, I have many things to be excited for!

 

a.r.w.

Haze

The world was quiet. It had never bothered me, the silence of these dreams until this very moment as I wandered through the darkness and the mist, not even my footsteps made a sound. As I continued to wander, my nervous creeping footsteps grew into a panicked run and my breathing was silenced by the mysterious mist.

If the haze made me feel nervous and claustrophobic, the silence of this dark, life ess place made me feel trapped. I stumbled, searching for a way out, an exit of some kind—a way to escape from the dream.

As I turned around, suddenly feeling disoriented and unsure of which way I had come from, something bright crossed in front of my face, making me scream… though no sound came from me. In the brightness of the light, I saw Lee’s face, staring directly into my eyes.

I stood there for a moment, frozen in fear. Up until this moment in my dreams, I had watched him scour the haze, searching for me but he was never able to find me… until now.

Without a sound or any sign of what he was thinking, he leapt forward, his hands reaching out to grab a hold of me—he finally found me.

I screamed once more and this time it erupted from my throat.

I leapt up from the bed, my heart pounding and my scream still echoing through the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Dun! Dun! Dun!

 

It looks like the doorway between the Betwixt and the realm of the angels has opened just a bit more. Lee, Becks' guardian angel, has finally spotted her. I suppose it's only  matter of time before he finally gets a hold of her...

 

a.r.w.

Your Book

“Can I ask you why?” I finally ventured to ask him the question I had always wanted to ask him but I suppose I just never found the time to do so between feeding his killer dogs, avoiding murder multiple times, and reuniting with loved ones who had died before me.

“Why what?”

“Why is it that reading my book is such a dangerous thing for me to do?”

It really didn't make any sense to me. It was a book filled with my story—my life. Half of it I had already experienced and lived myself, it held no surprises, no new knowledge for me so there was no danger in that aspect of the story. It was the future—what was yet to come—that I knew Lord Death referred to. Events and moments that I did not yet know were about to happen; I did not know how my story would end, where it would lead and I suppose the danger that Lord Death spoke of lied within that. But Maurielle also spoke of fate and destiny as something that you cannot change and cannot run away from. Even if I read my book, didn't like what I saw and tried to do things a bit differently, there would be no escape, because you cannot run from your destiny… or at least that is what Lord Death whispered to me my first day here in the Betwixt. The thought still made me uneasy even though I had no idea what it was I wanted to run from.

He sighed and closed his eyes as if I exhausted him—not just my questions but my presence here in the Betwixt. Making sure that I was not getting into any trouble and that I was safe and sound was enough of a full time job for him on top of being the ruler of the Betwixt.

“No human has ever been permitted to read their life story until after it has completely ended and they have arrived safely here in the Betwixt. Then and only then are they permitted to open the book and read it. Most humans have no idea that a book about their entire lives even exist so that should be a treat enough for you to even know that one day you will be able to sit down and look at your entire life and see what you were able to accomplish.”

It was as if he expected me to be content with that. As if that would be enough to make me be the perfect little ward and follow all the rules despite the fact that this was still eating away at me—gnawing at my very soul.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

I had a pretty good day of writing today with almost 6,000 words written. Compared to other years that is nothing to be too proud of but the way this year has been going (and will continue to go I realize as I look at my ridiculous work schedule for next week...) it has been my strongest day yet!

 

I always liked the idea of all of your accomplishments, failures, dreams, and relationships being recorded down in a book for you to flip through and read after you've died. You can see what an incredible life you had and the number of lives you managed to touch...

 

But Becks better watch out! We all know what curiosity did to that poor cat...

 

a.r.w.

Rip

A peculiar sound boomed all around us at that very moment—our moment of contact. It almost sounded like something was ripping through the sky above us.

The two of us stood in silence for a moment, both of us trying to figure out what in the world we were listening to when something caught our eye.

Above our heads was a blinding white light.

I let out a scream as I quickly realized the light was getting bigger as the sound was getting louder—whatever this thing was, it was headed right for us.

My hand still in his, Death jumped into action, leading me running down the narrow alleyway for my life. My free hand clung to the pearls around my neck suddenly feeling I might use them all up in one fell swoop. My legs struggled to keep up with Death’s long stride—I had never been the best athlete and the long skirt I was wearing did little to help me any further.

The gloom and darkness of the alley quickly disappeared as it was bathed in the light of the monstrous ball still rushing toward us at a deadly speed. Rats and spiders fled from the light as we continued to run, the noise becoming so deafening that I truly believed my ears might start to bleed.

The impact was cataclysmic.

The ball of white light crashed, a clap of thunder with a wave of power sent both Death and I flying through the air as if we were nothing more than rag dolls.

I hit my head on something that caused my world to go black for just a moment. Desperately blinking the stars from my eyes, I felt Death crawl to me and lay on top of me, his hand covering the back of my head that was already sticky with my blood.

We remained like that—both of us lying on the filthy ground, him on top of me, our clothes scorched from the explosion, and our faces covered in dirt, blood, and soot—until the world around us returned to silence. We could hear the sound of people screaming and crying out in the distance but the alleyway remained as silent as a tomb.

I shifted beneath Death and he quickly crawled off of me, both of us suddenly uncomfortable with the closeness of the other.

“Are you hurt?” he asked the obvious question. I could see him roll his eyes at himself as his fingers explored the cut on the back of my head. He clicked his tongue but assured me, “It's not too bad. Head wounds always look worse than they really are.”

“Well it must have been pretty bad,” I pointed out as I glanced down at the pearls still hanging from my neck. For the first time, I had witnessed the power that Lord Death’s pearls—one had vanished from sight telling me that the head wound could have been and should have been a lot worse.

We stayed still for a moment, both of us clearly shaken by what had just happened—what we had just survived.

Looking back down the alley from the  way we had come running, I gasped in horror, covering my mouth to try to stop myself from crying out.

The ball of light—or whatever the monstrous thing had been—had found its target.

“Kira’s tea shop,” I found my voice and made no effort to try and stop my voice from shaking in horror as my eyes took in the sight of the wreckage.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

And just as soon as I made a character that I loved, I killed her off... I managed to do a fair share of writing today but I'm still not at my goal. Hopefully I'll hit the halfway mark tomorrow!

 

a.r.w.

Tea

“I had a feeling you’d be coming sometime after tea.” The woman with black eyes standing in the doorway looked from Lord Death to me, winking.

“I was hoping to have a little chat with you—if you have the time.”

“My lord, I am dead,” she declared with a flourish of her hands, ushering us into her home. “I have nothing but time!”

Lord Death ducked down as he stepped inside the dark house after the young woman.

I remained out in the alleyway for a moment, staring into the darkness after them. If I thought the alleyway had been dark and creepy, it paled in comparison to the darkness of the house of the Empath. Death vanished from my sight and for a moment I felt safer out in the openness of the alley than I would in the darkness of the home.

Something moving before me caught my eye, making me look up again, wondering what this world would throw at me now.

It was just Lord Death, leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked like a shadow hiding in the darkness as he stared down the steps to where I continued to just stand.

“Rebecca?”

I must have jumped at the sound of his voice because I watched his face change from slightly annoyed at my inability to follow him to slightly humored…

There was still something in me that warned me to stay away--surely a living thing constantly being so close to death could not be healthy. There was something about him--something powerful and perhaps even dangerous--that made me nervous. But I had to trust him—at least for now.

Picking up my skirts that I was quickly coming to despise with each step I took, I let Lord Death take my hand and lead me away from the outside world and into the stuffy darkness that was the Empath's home.

I felt like I had just stepped foot inside a haunted house with lamps covered in old scarves, their tassels swaying back and forth as we wandered across the old, lop sided creaky floor. Tables filled the main room we stood in, covered with tea sets, the tea cups on their saucers rattling softly. I tried to ignore the layers upon layers of spider and cob webs billowing in the breeze over my head.

“This is the tea house,” the woman with hair as black as night explained lazily. She was dressed head to toe in white—a simple cotton dress, a scarf around her head, and a billowing shawl hanging from her arms—it was a stark contrast to her dark hair and even darker eyes. “If you’d like,” she turned her head just enough to look back at me with a smile on her face, “I can read your tea leaves after this.”

The idea of fortune telling and reading tea leaves, numerology, and tarot cards was almost laughable to me. Why did the dead need to know their future? What was there left to see? But I realized that humans always long for more—we need more, want to know more, want to see more… it makes us feel as though we have a bit more power over our lives. Of course, we never have and we most likely never will have any power or control... but it's still nice to pretend every so often, I guess.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

I'm still super behind on NaNoWriMo... I just passed 15,000 words when by now I'm usually around the halfway mark. But today was a pretty decent writing day for this year so here is a snippet.

 

Enter our new character--Kira--the tea witch and Empath that brings Becks and Death a bit of unwanted news. She's named after my favorite student here in Russia and I absolutely adore her.

 

I'm hoping to get a big day of writing in tomorrow! Only 11 more days here in Russia and there is still a lot of writing to do, packing to do, and (of course) work.

 

a.r.w.

Fulfill

step into the light

guide my hands and be my voice

fulfill your own dreams

2006, 2009, 2012

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

So it's been made official--Adam and I are leaving Russia two weeks from tomorrow and returning to the US of A for a few months. I admit, my soul is a bit relieved to be returning to my family for our first Christmas season without Jed here. But there is another reason why I am anxious to get home...

 



I find myself returning to the stage once more and not under the best circumstances. There is a precious and beautiful show that the Ghostlight Theatre puts on every three years at this time called All Through the Night. Jed had been a part of it for the last nine years--first as the little boy, Wally, and then twice as the older boy, John. But his dream, ever since he played Wally, was to get to play the college kid, Neil. This year was going to be his year. His goal after surgery was to be strong enough to finally take the stage as Neil.

We all know that he never got his wish... so it's been decided that I will be filling in his place as his understudy. It will be hard... but it will be good. I hope to make Jed proud and hope that he helps me (and the rest of the cast) through this because it will definitely be a tough, emotional ride.

a.r.w.

Humanity

“This isn’t at all what I expected the afterlife to be like.” I continued to look into the shop windows and watch as people—each one of them looking young and healthy and strong—laugh with one another, hug each other in greeting, and bow their heads ever so slightly each time their eyes fell upon the face of the man walking beside me.

“Well what did you expect?” The corner of his mouth was turned up ever so slightly in an attempted hidden smile as he looked over at me curiously.

“I don’t know…” I tried to think back to Sunday school. “Golden palaces, endless feasts, flowers everywhere.”

“Are you disappointed?”

It didn’t even take me a moment to answer truthfully. “No. I definitely prefer this.”

“Why?” Clearly that was not the answer he had been expecting from me.

“It’s familiar.” I shrugged my shoulders. “It feels nice and safe. It’s not perfect and so I don’t feel like I have to be either.” I smiled as I looked out at the little shops surrounding us. “Bakeries and fruit sellers. Mundane things like food and friends that I thought only belonged to the living.” I smiled as I felt a sense of relief wash over me. “It’s just nice to know we don’t lose our humanity when we die.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from you humans after watching you for the last few million years,” Death declared, his eyes looking around at his world and trying to see it as I was, “it’s that you love to cling to what specifically makes you human. You are a proud bunch,” he looked pointedly at me. “There’s no denying that. But if you weren’t,” he continued, “I think the Betwixt would be a much different place… and not for the better.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Today in my NaNo story, Becks got to journey beyond the gates of Styx Manor for the very first time. Lord Death is joining her as she explores the nearby village and she's quickly learning that life after death is not at all what she had imagined... and in a good way.

 

I'm halfway through Day 3 and I'm hoping to reach the big 10K mark by tonight.

 

a.r.w.

Touch

All Hallow's Eve. Samhain. Halloween.

Call it what you like but once you cross over from Here to There, it's the biggest day of the year--the one you look forward to the most. The day when the World of the Living and the World of the Dead--Here and There--touch for just a few short hours. It's the day when the veil is thin; the door is wide open.

Don't get me wrong! I journey back and forth all the time... usually when you're asleep though. I like to check in, see that everything's okay... see that you're okay. But it's hard to get your attention. A puff of smoke in the corner of your eye or a yellow bird. You hear me calling to you but then tell yourself that you were just imagining it. You dream of me... but your memory is foggy. But tonight--Halloween night--you're thinking of me, all of us... the dead. Your eyes are on me, waiting, wondering if you'll see me or hear me. It's easy to reach out to you when you're looking for me.

I've got to go! The door between Here and There has been open for a few hours now and I have a long list of people I want to get to see today...

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

A very Happy Halloween to you all! At last! The greatest day of the year has arrived and I hope you all manage to have a magical, spooky time today with family and friends and a few monsters too...

 

I was originally going to try to write a scary story for today, but then I got thinking about what Halloween is all about, how it all started. This is the day that the veil between the world of the living and the dead is at it's thinnest. You don't know who--or what--you are passing down the street on this day. Those amazing costumes you see? They might be a bit more real than you imagined. Here and There is touching today, the door is wide open, and there's no knowing who you'll bump into today!

 

I was wondering what There does to celebrate this day (imagine all of the different customs and cultures collected from all the diverse people over There!) and I imagined that it is one of the busiest days of the year for them. They don't have to sneak into your dreams to visit you. They can come to you head on, because that is what Halloween is all about. You all know who I'm waiting for... May you all be visited by someone you love today, get a little spooked, and eat your weight in candy.

 

Happy Halloween!!

 

a.r.w.

Yellow Bird

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

There is this joke in my family that goes back eight years now to my Uncle Tony's 50th and my cousin Ashley's 16th birthday cruise in the Caribbean--a joke about a yellow bird. When someone gets easily distracted by something, you shout, "Hey look! A yellow bird!" This joke started with one of the comedians on the ship and (like most things in my family), it just took on a life of it's own over the years.

 

There are two kinds of birds in Novosibirsk that I have seen in the last month and a half--crows and pigeons (such is city life)... That is, until today. Today I've been seeing little yellow finches everywhere!

 

I woke up this morning to see one sitting on my window ledge. Later, one almost flew in through my open window. Walking to the post office I saw five more! And as I sat down to start writing this post, another one landed on my window ledge and just stared in at me. I actually like to think that it's just one finch and that he's followed me around like a little familiar.

 

And of course, I always think back to that message Jed gave to us through my mom's friend, Nadine: Look for me in feathers. Of course the first thing that popped into my mind was that Jed was following me, helping me pick up mom's package. Whether it's a "sign" from Jed or not--who knows? But I do know that I love seeing and being distracted by these colorful little birdies.

 

Hey look! A yellow bird!

 

a.r.w.

Sow

*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Six months. It seems impossible, but somehow I have managed to continue living six months after my baby brother breathed his last breath. There were moments and even days when I didn't want to... Why would I want to live another 50 years with this pain and grief--this massive hole in my heart that could never possible begin to be filled? But somehow, I've managed... Because I know Jed wants me to.

 

Again, I use the present tense for a very special reason--because Jed is still with me, trying to help me, guide me, and comfort me even though I can't see him. And he shows himself to me in signs (you can scoff if you want... But those who have gone through any kind of deep, painful loss will know that our loved ones never leave us alone and are always reaching out to us in little ways that prick our hearts).

 

When people think of Jed, they might think of the color red (Red for Jed) or balloons or even feathers. When I think of him, I instantly think of acorns.

 

When he was a little boy, we gave Jed an acorn to help him overcome his fear of going to school. Again, we gave him an acorn the night before his surgery to give him courage--because mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow. It gave him the courage to walk into surgery and it gave him courage through the next two days where he fought frantically for his life... and he died with that damned acorn clutched tightly in his hand... I still have it.

 

So for me, it's an acorn.

 

I've permanently put an acorn on my body, hidden behind my ear. My early love for Peter Pan and the "kiss" he gives to Wendy soon became painfully ironic when I got my own hidden kiss the day Jed and I were supposed to go and get tattoos together.

 

 

Wherever I go, I search for acorns. Is it a sign from Jed? Not necessarily. But the minute I see one, I think of him and in my thoughts, he is there with me and sometimes that is enough.

 

On my honeymoon and in Russia

 

But sometimes, I do think it is a sign... like today.

 

After a rough day (the 8th will always be hard), and just ten minutes after I had painted these three acorns in memory of Jed, I was walking back to work. As I was walking, something orange caught my eye. It was a plastic acorn lying on the sidewalk. I stopped, turned around, and went back to pick it up. To me, THAT was a message from Jed. I've walked back and forth along that path for almost a month and a half now and never have I seen anything other than broken bottles and cigarette butts. Here, six months (almost to the minute) after Jed's passing from Here to There, and just a few minutes after I painted these acorns, I happen to walk directly over this plastic orange (Jed's favorite color) acorn.

 

I'm not a real believer in "You reap what you sow." Jed sowed so much good and got screwed over in my not so humble opinion. But it got me thinking today...

An acorn is a seed that can be sowed to make a mighty oak. Jed was that acorn. He never did become that mighty oak (Life never even gave him the chance). But he sowed and sowed and sowed GOOD into people. And if you sow enough, soon you can bring in a bountiful harvest. I think the good that Jed sowed in his laughter, his kindness, his goofiness, and his epic determination and stamina will be the greatest harvest any of us will ever have the privilege to see. For years--as long as people think of Jed, say his name, and remember how he made them feel--that harvest will continue to come in and the forest of mighty oaks that he planted in each of our hearts will continue to spread and grow.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."  Jed was that little acorn. And we are his forest.

a.r.w.

 

 



Drunken Dreams

drunken dreams have i

just to see your face again,

is that what it takes?

*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Last night I had my first dream about Jed since I got married. Before then, I didn't have them too often but often enough to help me through the days, weeks, and months that passed after April 8th. I could tell the difference between regular dreams and visits where I know Jed sought me out to talk to me and spend time with me. But after I got married, not once did I see, hear, or feel Jed in any of my dreams.

 

Until last night.

 

It was short and he was there for only a moment. Piff the Magic Dragon (yes, from America's Got Talent) was doing a show for us and Jed was sitting in a chair beside me, his bald head covered in his blue knit cap I bought him (that's almost always how I see him). All I did was look over at him and ask him, "You really liked him, didn't you?" It was short and sweet and all I needed.

 

I started thinking why it was that I dreamt of Jed last night after all these weeks. What changed? What happened? I don't think it was a visit, just a regular dream where I got to see his face once more. After I thought about it, I came to the realization that I went to bed a bit tipsy last night (it was our teacher's day celebration at work and we had wine, laser tag, Georgian food, and more wine).

 

After Jed's death, I spent the next four months in a drunken haze. Not a day went by that I didn't drink alcohol at one point and many times I would polish off a bottle or two a night by myself. I'm not proud of that fact, but it helped to numb the pain a bit and at that point I didn't care what would be considered right or wrong... all I cared about was getting myself through the day. And in those drunken days, I dreamt of my brother so much more than my sober moments.

 

I'm not saying I'll return to my days of drinking heavily (at least not on a regular basis) but I do miss my dreams with my baby bro bro... so it was nice to have a quick chance to see his face again... even if it was just in my dreams...

 

a.r.w.

Bewilder

"Hello?" A voice called out through the house, shattering the silence of the night. "Is there anyone here?"

Verona's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. It had been years since her parents left her all alone in this house and she had not seen or heard a soul since. The voices did not frighten her as they might have when she was a child--voices meant visitors and visitors meant that she would not spend the night alone again.

Leaping up from where she was laying on her bed, Verona ran down the hall and peered down into the darkness.

There were three young men, all dressed in black, wandering around the house, calling out... calling out to her.

"Verona, we know you're here!" the one standing in the middle--clearly the leader of the group--called out, his voice booming off the old walls.

"Who are you?" Verona asked curiously as she made her way down the stairs.

"Shh!" one of them hissed. "Did you hear something?"

"No," the other two shook their heads.

Verona let out a confused laugh as she paused in her march down the stairs.

She continued to watch the men; they seemed to be unaware of her presence.

"Hello?" she tried again.

"Okay, now I know I heard something!" the one who had heard her before shouted again as they pointed something her way. She had never seen such a contraption before.

"Verona," the leader turned towards the stairs again, his hands clasped together as if he was begging her to do something, "is that you on the stairs?"

"Yes," she grumbled; she was starting to get frustrated with these men.

"If you are here, show yourself to us."

"I'm right here!" she called out as she ran down the stairs, ignoring their outbursts of, "Did you hear that?" "It sounded like someone was walking down the stairs!"

They continued to watch the place where she had just been standing on the stairs, the black boxes and contraptions in their hands.

"What's going on?" she whispered to herself, suddenly feeling panic rise up in her chest.

She looked around her, searching for something that made sense when her eyes fell upon the mirror hanging in the entryway of her home. She gasped as her eyes locked on the face of the mirror and saw nothing of her own reflection.

Looking down at her lacy, long white dress and brown boots, she spun around to look at the three men in their black pants and shirts with sleeves that showed their arms and strange shoes on their feet that didn't resemble the black boots the other men in her town would wear.

"What--?" she let out a scream as her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed to the floor.

Behind her closed eyes she could hear the sound of the men panicking and shouting to one another. Glancing up, she spotted another one of the strange boxes in their hands lighting up as it pointed towards her. After a moment, she realized that one of the men--the one who had continued to hear her--stood before her. He didn't exactly look down at her, but she knew deep down that he knew she was there.

"Verona?" his voice was soft and smooth as he said her name. It wasn't the harsh commanding tone his friend had; he spoke to her almost as if he knew her. "I know you must be confused," he continued as he moved to kneel before her, his hands outstretched just slightly.

"It's cold around you, Jake!" one of the men behind him said. "A twenty degree difference."

The man named Jake lifted his hand just slightly as he called out to his friend, "I can feel it." Lowering his voice once more, he turned to look back at Verona. "I know you've been here, alone, for a very long time."

Tears began to blur her vision of the man in front of her. She was scared and beginning to panic. Not thinking of manners or propriety, she reached out and grabbed the man's hand, clinging to it.

"Jake, what's going on?"

But he ignored his friend's shouts of panic as he felt the cold, tingling sensation of someone--Verona--taking his hand.

"Help me," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Please..."

"She's scared," he said, his eyes lowered as his grip tightened on hers.

As he lifted his gaze back up, he nearly jumped as the sight of a young girl with flowing blonde hair held back with a ribbon flickered before him before she vanished behind the veil once more.

"Verona?" he whispered her name.

"Yes!" she shouted, for that seemed to be the only way to get their attention. "Yes it's me! Verona Macintosh!"

"Dude, the EMF is going crazy right now!"

She ignored the other two men and looked directly into Jake's eyes. Somehow, he seemed to find her gaze though he could no longer see her. He continued to watch her as she begged one last time, "What's going on?"

A silence continued on through the house and she began to believe that he had not heard her when suddenly his voice called out in the darkness, "We want to help you, Verona. You've been trapped here for over a hundred years--you died 115 years ago..." His voice trailed off as if he could sense her confusion and terror. "You're dead... and we want to help you move on."

Verona shivered, her eyes jumping from one young man to another. DEAD. The word had not crossed her mind as she had sat alone in her house for so many years waiting for someone--anyone--to come walking through her door.

It was almost too much to bear. Throwing her head back, Verona let out a scream of anguish, fear, and confusion. The lights flickered in the house, the mirror shattered, and the three men jumped back in fear.

After a moment when the silence returned to the house, the three men exchanged a glance before the leader muttered, "This is going to be a long night."

Verona rubbed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. "You said it," she sighed as she looked back up at Jake... he was still looking down at her, a small smile on his face. Whether he heard her or not, she didn't know, but there was something about him that told her that he was not a liar--they were here to help her through this nightmare and she hoped that she would be able to make it through the night.

After a minute she paused and almost laughed at her thought. Of course she would survive the night. After all, she was a ghost.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

This is based off of a fun writing prompt called "a bewildering experience." To me, there is nothing more bewildering than the afterlife, ghosts, and the paranormal... especially if you are unknowingly caught in it!

 

I loved the idea of worlds colliding--modern day ghost hunters find a Victorian era ghost. I'm not sure if I'll continue this story... I am a sucker for ill-fated love stories so perhaps Jake and Verona will be able to see each other more throughout their night together and learn that love can cross barriers of time and existence.

 

October is only a few days away! That means two things:

 

1. Almost all of my posts will probably be spooky, Halloween related (what else is new?)

 

2. Work is about to get cuh-razy. They warned us that October is very busy and hectic where we'll be working most Sundays (that's one of my two days off and my other day off is usually taken up with teacher meetings... Boo....). It is my hope that I can still create and post something every day but if I miss a day here or there, please forgive me.

 

a.r.w.