#ghostly encounter

[alettertothesea]

Once Upon A Time

It was the first time he was coming back here in years. He never thought he would set foot here again. In this city. In this street. In front of this door. The last time he had closed it behind him, he had sworn to himself that he would never come back. Yet here he was, one hand gripping the handle and weighing up the pros and cons of whether to lower it. Because this house wasn’t just any building and the pale imitation of the others forming the residential precinct. It was the only place he could call home. And he didn’t really know what he was doing here today. Why he had bought a train ticket at the last minute. Why he had spend hours sitting on an uncomfortable seat last night to be standing in front of this door.

Sighing and wiping away with an invisible hand any thought that could make him turn and run away from this place, Hinata opened the door and stepped inside. He might have been surprised at the atmosphere that suddenly wrapped him or the odor that covered the walls of his nostrils. But a draft hit him violently like a gust of wind in a storm. The humidity and mold of the time didn’t fill the place. The mixture of floral perfume and chemicals from fresh paint wasn’t floating in the air. After so many years, the house still had that same smell of fresh laundry with a hit of citrus. Hinata smiled when he recognized the subtlety of the fruit. Tangerine.

“Why did you buy tangerines? You don’t even like them!”

“But you do. Moreover, just because I don’t eat them doesn’t mean I hate their fragrance! Besides, I fell in love with a big, sweet and at times sour tangerine. So how can I hate them?”

A snort crossed his sealed lips when the last bits of memory evaporated from his mind and from before his eyes; jumping at the same time at the sound he had just made. How long had it been since he laughed with such innocence? With such fondness? With so much love? How long had it been since he actually laughed?

It had taken him years to start over after that day. Yet a few seconds in this house seemed to cure all his sorrows and heal all the scars left open within him.

Hinata went further into the house. Nothing had moved or changed. He didn’t know why this fact surprised him, because, technically, it was normal for everything to stay as its righteous place if nobody lived here. If no human presence animated this skeleton of concrete, wood and plaster. Still, he couldn’t prevent his heart from squeezing painfully in his chest. He couldn’t help sliding his forefinger along the edge of a piece of furniture to collect a thin layer  of dust. Or his eyes to fall on one of the photos placed here and there throughout the house. The picture painted an immeasurable happiness. An unconditional love. A loving home.

With a trembling hand, Hinata took the frame. His already tight throat constricted even more. He gulped past the lump in the middle of it. His eyes glazed from the tears that had created an opaque curtain over them. He gently stroked the cheek of the second man who was frozen on the glossy paper. In the halo of sunlight, the man with ebony hair and midnight blue eyes (which no one could see because he had closed them), so dark that Hinata had always had the sensation of drowning in the depths of the ocean, was smiling like Hinata had never seen him smile. His lips were stretched to his ears and his straight white teeth were visible.

“Why did you develop it? And why did you put it here on display?”

“Because people need to know you can smile!”

“I look stupid!”

“No, you look beautiful!”

The photo pressed against his chest, right on his heart, Hinata found himself on the engawa. Sliding slowly down the beam, his gaze lost in the vastness of the garden, which didn’t look like a wilderness, as if someone came to maintain it regularly, Hinata wondered how things had turned out that way. How the light could have given way to darkness so quickly. How the sun, the cloudless azure sky could have been chased away so that an eternal night settles over his head.

“I came back. You begged me to and I told you I would. But where are you?”

[thatnerduknow98]

“See, I told you the doctor would get it right this time!”

“Whatever. Take your $5.”

Two ghosts were hovering above me as I still sat up on the operating chair. My eyes went from slowly opening to shooting open wide. I blinked and they were still there.

“There’s another brain surgery going on at 3 in OR 5. Let’s check that out!” The first ghost paroosied on toward the wall, disappearing through it.

“Fine, but I’m not making any bets on whether or not the doctor puts them in a vegetative state this time.” The second ghost crossed his arms - of which I could see through both - and flicked his tail-like lower half in annoyance.

The first ghost poked his head back through the wall. “Listen, I’m sorry you died that way, but you have to find some satisfaction in knowing that doctor learned from his mistake.” He disappeared again.

The second ghost followed him. “The worst part was waiting for my family to pull the plug. They were in denial forever!”

I couldn’t move my head yet so I glanced around the room further with my eyes. Then I heard a screwing sound and realized the doctor was screwing my skull back together. He was trying to talk to me.

“Hey bud! Can you hear me?”

“Dr. Leedle?”

“Hi Jaxon, how are you feeling?”

“I think I died. Some ghosts were taking bets on whether or not I’d survive the surgery.”

“I can assure you, you didn’t die. You were alive and well this whole time. You should be able to have complete function of your left arm again. Can you try it for me?”

I’d been losing muscle function for a long time due to a degenerative brain disease that had no name and no cure. The doctors figured out how to stop it’s progression, but I’d already lost control of my arm before they figured out which drug to administer. Dr. Leedle created a new type of brain surgery to try and help my brain be able to regain control of my arm. He explained it to me further, but he used a lot of doctoral jargon I didn’t understand so I just use this explanation.

The nurse in front of me held her hand out an inch away from my left hand, which was laid on an arm rest on the operating chair. I couldn’t remember how to move my arm, so I looked to my right side, moved my right arm first and clenched my right hand. Then I looked to my left.

This was way more complicated than it should’ve been. I never lost feeling in that arm, so if someone touched me or if something was too cold, I could feel that. I just couldn’t flinch or move it under a blanket. I focused on my shoulder, trying to see if I could move that up and down. It budged ever so slightly.

When it did, I got a shooting pain through my arm as blood rushed through it. It had been numb from being still too long. The pins and needles hit and it felt like I’d banged my funny bone.

Then I started flexing muscles. I could flex my biceps so I kept doing that. The nurse’s face lit up.

“You’ve got function!” she shouted. I laughed nervously.

“I’m not sure I can do more than that,” I said.

“Honestly kid, I didn’t think you’d be able to move it at all,” the doctor said. “This was an experimental procedure and I wasn’t 100 percent it would work. But even if all you can do is flex your left bicep, that still means my surgery worked. So thank you, I guess, for letting me try this on you.”

“WALTER! Leedle’s surgery worked for once!” A third ghost tumbled through the ceiling above me. The two ghosts returned though the walls from the next operating room,

“That crackpot doctor’s experimental surgery actually worked this time?!” said the first ghost, apparently Walter.

“Yeah, this dude can flex again,” the third ghost said.

I looked the third ghost dead in the eyes — literally, as he was deceased. “I can see you too.”

All three ghosts just stared at me.

“What do you see?” Dr. Leedle asked. He’d finished bandaging my skull and walked around the chair to look me in the eyes.

I raised my left arm and pointed at the three ghosts. “There’s three ghosts in front of me. One of them is named Walter. Another one apparently died in one of your surgeries.”

Then I realized I’d moved my left arm entirely and pointed my finger. “Holy shit!” I said as I pulled my arm back into my chest.

Everyone seemed to disregard the fact I was seeing things and also accused my doctor of killing someone. Pain medication, they presumed, was at fault.

“Wow! Get him to PT guys!” Dr. Leedle removed his glove, bloodied with my brain juice, patted my knee and then went to scrub out.

The ghosts did not ignore me.

“Walter, this guy is kidding right,” said the second ghost, which was the one who died and also who lost the bet.

“So like, is money even worth anything to you guys?” I asked.

“Walter, should we answer him?” the third ghost tried to ask quietly, failing.

“Umm,” was all Walter said. He approached me and waved his transparent hand in front of my face.

The nurses were speaking to me but I was so focused on Walter that I didn’t hear them. Walter realized how focused I was and pointed at the nurse. I turned my gaze toward her.

“Jaxon? Honey we need to put you on this bed now and roll you to recovery. Dr. Leedle was joking about PT. You need to heal first before we start working on rebuilding your muscle function. It looks a little too weak right now to do anything practical.”

“You’re left arm looks like a twig compared to your right!” shouted the third ghost in a mocking tone.

“So does yours asshat!” I shouted back. The nurse scoffed and put her hand on her chest. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t talking to you. The third ghost was insulting my physique so I was retorting.”

She looked at me puzzled. “We should probably order than MRI sooner than normal,” she said to another nurse.

Walter finally decided to talk to me. “Dude, you should probably stop talking about us. They’re gonna think you have schizophrenia and put you on meds you don’t need.”

“So you are real!” I asked him back. The nurses kept staring at me. “Can’t you do something to make them know you’re here?”

The third ghost piped in: “I would love to fuck up their tool table.” The second ghost nodded.

“I mean we could but I’m not sure it would help the situation,” Walter said with annoyance at the other ghosts. “Look, the nurses really want to get you out of here so we’ll find you in your room after your MRI. You’re probably going to see some other things in this hospital - supernatural things - but I promise you’re ok and they can’t hurt you. Just keep quiet until you see us again, ok?”

The nurses had me on the bed at this point and were rolling me away. The ghosts stayed behind.

“Good luck with your twig arm Jaxon!” the third ghost shouted. The second ghost slapped his arm with the back of his hand.

I fell asleep before I got to the room.

The human brain has evolved to see the world as it expects to see it, not as it really is. Supernatural creatures have hidden in humanity’s blindspots for millennia. You have just woken up from a first-of-its-kind brain surgery and can see what’s really in your hospital room.

[demaparbat-hp]

Zuko looked up and locked eyes with his cousin, who was struck speechless. Then, ever so slowly, Lu Ten's lips twitched upwards. And then he smiled. And then he beamed. And then he nodded proudly once, just once, and vanished.

Lu Ten comes back in For the Spirits Chapter VII: Take Me South, only to leave Zuko with more questions than answers. Just how much is he truly aware of? When will he return? What is Zuko going to do now?

(What will the South bring?)

[lulu2992]

Faith Seed ❈ The Siren

Monarch of the Bliss

[thatsbelievable]

[the-forest-library]

My fiancé received a new ouija board for the holidays, and we inaugurated it tonight with a discussion with a ghost named Jo (short for Josephine, born 1826 in Michigan), who said she knew me because I read her book. She wouldn’t disclose the name of the book, but said it was about rabbits and that someone else had published it in their name. She said that her favorite book was “AMB,” but it’s no longer in print.

She said that she met Mary Shelley on the other side, and Mary is very nice and gay (I cannot stress how quickly and emphatically that was spelled out).

So, not too bad as far as ouija sessions go, I guess. 😂

[basementofthebizarre]

The Mysteries of the Bridgewater Triangle: Exploring New England's Paranormal Hotspot

Nestled in southeastern Massachusetts, the Bridgewater Triangle is an area shrouded in mystery, folklore, and paranormal phenomena. Spanning approximately 200 square miles, this region has garnered a reputation as one of the world’s most active paranormal hotspots, drawing in researchers, thrill-seekers, and curious visitors alike. From ghostly encounters to UFO sightings and cryptid sightings,…

[yharnamcrow]

I walked into the entirely wrong building, I think. Considering I encountered what seems to be a ghost...

Hm. I will book this under "strangeness of this world" and move out. I have to take Maria for a walk, or she will go and get antsy. All these minor disasters in the area give her anxiety.

[whoredmode]

oh what if…..what if there was a lin cameo in the LoP story. maybe at the end of the story. epilogue. imagining troy alone at a bar, reflecting on everything that’s happened. still reeling from anteros agreeing to eric’s deal. feeling as if he’s losing anteros, feeling him already beginning to slip away and fearful of what the future holds. he can’t bear to lose him, not after everything and everyone else he’s lost. he looks up, thinking maybe some bar people-watching will take his mind off things, when suddenly he swears he recognizes a face in the crowd. he straightens up, trying to get a better look at the figure as she moves away. his heart quickens, he scrambles out of his barstool and tries to follow her. it can’t be. he knows it’s crazy to believe but…..they never did let him see her body in the morgue. they never gave the saints a chance to bury her. it couldn’t be lin. but that figure. that face. he can’t forget the face of the first person he swore to protect. every piece of her is burned into his memory.

he pushes his way out of the bar, out of the sea of people and into the cold night air. no one is around. it’s just him on the street corner w nothing but the orange streetlamp shining on him like a searchlight. he’s all at once dizzy, disoriented. maybe the booze is starting to take effect, or maybe the thought of chasing ghosts is enough to turn his stomach.

[ghostly-overture-wally]

hey, do you mind if I add you to a "as many wally aus as I recall " sideshow? I'm going to torture my classmates with it at the end of the school year!

“Oh yes, I would very much like to be included in your ‘slideshow’.”

“But I have to ask, what is a ‘slideshow’, Neighbor?”

[buzz-killed]

i need to get tf outta my dad's house. i took this selfie in the living room a night ago and just look at the floor near the gray chair to the right.................i was drunk in this (bottle in hand) and was trying 2 find good lighting on my face

[myhauntedsalem]

Ghostly Biker Encounter

Some nights seem spooky when you are alone traveling down a long and windy road. These moments have been talked about over time. They are what is known as roadside ghosts. These entities seem to have been left behind in their lives. Biker ghosts and spirits are believed to be victims of horrific crashes. Their souls are trapped between the land of the living and the dead.

As strange as it may seem, people believe in these urban myths…perhaps it was nothing more than their mere imagination. The paranormal phenomenon apparently has happened in different spots throughout the world. Take for example the story of a lone motorbike rider who was out late, driving on a lone country back road by himself.

The rider was barely able to make out what appeared to be a woman who had long dark flowing hair standing along the side of the road. Her hair dangled covering her face from the nightly breeze. The woman beckoned silently to the rider to pull over, and fearing for the lady’s safety on such a bleak night, he promptly obliged.

As the moment passed the howling winds began to pick up. She climbed onto the rear of the motorcycle, the driver asked her where she was traveling to. This mysterious lady whispered into his ear “I need to get back home��. “Right” he replied. The lady didn’t seem to talk very much instead preferring to communicate with gestures pointing out the rest of the way. Her figure was draped by a long flowing dress which also appeared slightly torn.

As they drove further down the road, a word was spoken by her—but the motorcycle driver had trouble understanding her from the noise made by the blowing winds and motorbike. She duly wrapped her arms around the unsuspecting rider, he was in a moment of contentment. The woman’s grip became tighter and tighter. The rider could see off in the distance a town. Before reaching their destination, he looked back at her face with a shock of horror.

She appeared to be ghastly dead with flesh rotten and eyes unlike nothing he had ever seen. This sent him into a frightful slide crashing along the road just out of reach of the town. To his absolute amazement, the woman was gone as if she vanished into thin air. The only conclusion he could draw, was that he had been carrying a ghost behind him.

Later he found out from the local pub about a young woman who had been killed earlier along the same route he had been driving on. The description seemed to match her figure in size. How she died was a motorcycle accident involving a semi trailer truck which happened years ago.

[alexhillmystery]

Happy Halloween! Get your spooky fix with the game demo for Alex Hill at hannahontrek.itch.io/alexhill 👻👻

[dndsettingsinfo]

"No One's" Tavern [35×35] by LazuZizs

[mydearlybelovedghost]

i’ll hide you in every word I write

you’ll reside in every story i tell

peeking out from the ink to fill my readers with emotion

they’ll get to know you and your beautiful soul

and they’ll soon drown in your being the way i did

[phanta-friends]

kim kitsuragi and his week of various bad smells