Monday, October 21, 2013

The Haunting of Julia

Mass-produced colour photolithography on paper...
Mass-produced colour photolithography on paper for Toy Theatre; Romeo and Juliet (background and surroundings removed) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If Juliet survived, would Romeo have haunted her for the rest of her life?

I was eight and Robert was ten when his family moved next door. I loved to swim in their pool, and my dad’s fully stocked game room kept us busy in bad weather: dartboard, foosball table, big-screen TV with Wii, and a real pinball machine. Playmates, best friends, soulmates.

Texting caused the accident. Not ours; the other driver’s. Somehow I know this, though I don’t know how I know. I remember the screech of tearing metal, a rain of shattered glass, then, not pain, but intense... pressure. I can’t breathe, see only crimson, taste a vile sweet saltiness in my mouth. Sirens, darkness. Nausea, freezing cold. The blinding whiteness of the hospital, antiseptic smells and rhythmically throbbing machinery. I hear our weeping parents, snatches of conversation. “Will recover, but the other...” “So sorry.” Organ donation? WTF?

 I scream. Robert, I won’t lose you.

It’s okay, Jules.
I can hear Robert, even if it’s not with my ears. How? He chuckles. You really think death can keep us apart?

Everything seems unreal, fragmented. I wake up scared and lost, then...

Read the rest at Diana Cachey's What Happens in Venice Haunted-Palooza, and find lots of other spooky stories and giveaways there.

***

Because it's a month of ghostly hauntings and such, I decided to try my hand at this original short ghost story.

Like it? Hate it? Got suggestions to make it better?
Please leave a comment and let me know.
Thanks!
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