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The hollow thump of running on the stairs would have disturbed Arabella if she hadn’t previously decided to ignore Johnny’s outbursts. She kept her eyes deliberately on her book and continued reading until the door to the parlor crashed open.
Johnny came streaming in and stood in front of her awash in brilliant, pulsating light. “We have company again!”
“Do we indeed?” Arabella didn’t look up. “You’d better calm down or they’ll see you.”
Rupert rose from his chair and went over to peer out the window. “There seems to be more of them this time.”
Arabella sighed. “Don’t move the curtain, my love. It will only encourage them.”
“Very true, my dear, very true,” Rupert said apologetically. “I beg your pardon.”
Johnny looked out the window also. “Far out, man! They’ve got movie cameras.”
“I believe it’s the same group as the last time. They’re wearing the same shirts. N.E.S.S.: New England Spirit Seekers.”
Arabella gave the air a delicate sniff. “They have a medium with them. How droll.” She turned the page of her book.
“Far-freakin-out,” Johnny exclaimed. “Let’s push Hank out onto the landing and see what happens. He’s looking really bad today.”
They all turned to look at the spirit in the corner. Arabella lifted her lorgnette in that direction. Hank hovered, gray and semi-transparent even to their eyes, trapped in a haze of equally colorless miasma. His mouth hung open in a perpetually silent scream below the gaping hole of his nasal cavity. Only his agonized eyes seemed alive.
“Oh, no, let’s not,” Rupert said. He regarded Hank with embarrassed compassion. “A gentleman doesn’t want to be seen like that. His suit is in tatters.”
“His suit?” Johnny laughed. “Man, his skin is falling off. He doesn’t care about his clothes. Do you, Hank?”
Hank slowly turned to stare at Johnny. His lipless mouth worked silently.
Arabella closed the book and set her eyepiece on top of it. “I was reading Henry James. It’s one of the few pleasures Hank can still enjoy and you constantly interrupt us.”
“He’ll like this better,” Johnny assured her. “Are you ready, Hank? I’m going to hide behind you and moan real loud. Try to wave your arms or something. This is gonna be groovy, man.” He positioned himself behind the floating mass that was part-Hank, part-vapor and pushed it towards the door.
“Really, I must protest — ” Arabella began.
Rupert touched his wife’s arm. “Don’t upset yourself, my dear.”
“Just look at him,” she responded, gesturing at the light beaming in from the landing. “He’s all worked up into a glow. He’s making himself far too visible. One of these days, someone will return with a priest and Johnny will be the next one who finds himself forced through the portal. You would expect him to have better sense.”
“He’s young.” Rupert patted her hand gently.
“Oooooooooooo!” They could hear Johnny out on the landing. “OooooooooOOOOOOoooooo! Oooooooo — ” There was a pause, and then: “Uh, oh.”
The sound of living voices filtered up to the parlor, united in a chant.
“There,” Arabella said staunchly, “didn’t I tell you?”
There was another moan from Johnny; this time it was genuine. “I don’t want to cross over, man!”
The light from the landing flashed brilliantly just once before going dark.
Rupert brought his wife’s hand to his lips as she let out a long sigh. “No one can say you didn’t warn him, my dear.”
She motioned toward the door with her free hand. “Darling, would you please — ”
“Yes, of course.” Rupert went out onto the landing and returned, pushing Hank in front of him. He stationed the spirit in the far corner of the parlor once again.
Arabella picked up her lorgnette and opened the book. “Now,” she said, “where were we?”
Rupert went back to his chair to listen while Hank looked on with agonized eyes.
Deborah Winter-Blood is a writer, dog mom and displaced California Valley Girl. Her work has appeared in various print and online publications over the past 30 years. She’s recently completed her second novel.
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22 Responses to “LIVING AMONG US • by Deborah Winter-Blood”
Comments
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June 14th, 2010 at 1:21 am
What a great sense of fun in this story. And the different “ages” of the spirits comes across really well.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
(One teeny-weeny typo: “one of the few pleasure” should read “pleasures” – sorry for nitpicking!)
June 14th, 2010 at 1:23 am
I wasn’t quite held spellbound – the POV reminded me of stories written through the eyes of animals observing the ridiculous antics of humans.
However, a competent, well-written piece deserving of at least a 4.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:27 am
Agree with #2. Thanks for the read.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Hank hovered, gray and semi-transparent even to their eyes, trapped in a haze of equally colorless miasma. His mouth hung open in a perpetually silent scream below the gaping hole of his nasal cavity. Only his agonized eyes seemed alive.
Very nice description and I felt sorry for poor Hank. Fun read.
June 14th, 2010 at 1:48 am
I really loved this, and found it very fun until the end, when things took on a decidedly more sinister note. To me, considering the amount of pain Hank is clearly in, the kind thing to do would be to allow him to pass on – why don’t Arabella and Rupert allow this? Sad and chilling.
June 14th, 2010 at 3:53 am
Deb, I enjoyed the glimpse into the spirit world and loved the description of Hank. An A++ read!
June 14th, 2010 at 4:40 am
Wonderfully weird, Deborah.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:57 am
The idea of spirits entertaining each other on this plane amuses me. Thank you for another fun, freaky read.
June 14th, 2010 at 5:27 am
It is a wonderful example of a tightly written, fun and light-hearted read. Big 5 for me. Enjoyed every word.
June 14th, 2010 at 7:34 am
A 5 star fun read !!
June 14th, 2010 at 7:56 am
I love ghost stories of any kind. This is written with skill and a wit perfect for this piece.
5*
June 14th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I really liked this. Poor Hank!
June 14th, 2010 at 8:58 am
A good one, Debi. Takes me back to “Beetlejuice.” Wish my ghosthunter friends had a sense of humor like this.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:50 am
I’m listening to a podcast story very similar to this, but this one is still a very cute read. Thanks, Debi!
June 14th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Sheesh! You made me spew my coffee all over my computer!
5 stars!
June 14th, 2010 at 11:08 am
HA!
This was so much better than that stupid movie “Beatle Juice.” Loved it!
June 14th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Cute, creative piece. Nice job!
June 14th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Thank you, everyone, for the great comments! I don’t usually write “light” so I was worried about this one.
June 14th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Typo corrected; thanks for spotting it, Ian!
June 15th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Poor Hank. I feel so sorry for him. I really enjoyed this story.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Fun read. Poor Hank, and Johhny was the one who got to cross over. What an “injustice”. LOL
June 25th, 2010 at 8:32 am
I liked this one. Very lively, which is pretty darned ironic in retrospect. It would have helped me a little to see Hank early in the story, just a glimpse, to set up that she was reading for his benefit. Just a niggle though. I really enjoyed the experience.