Teaser: Giving Up the Ghost
Haha! I'm sort of on a roll. Two short stories in two days, not bad I say. Of course, I meant to write the next in the Firestarter series, but oh well. I got a little stuck and decided I'd rather just start on one of the other storyline than be stuck forever.
So, new teaser. The actual story should be posted tomorrow.
Jace sat on his knees, looking over the back of the booth to the next table. It was a father and son eating lunch. They both had mashed potatoes. Jace loved mashed potatoes; they were easy to sculpt. While the boy was distracted Jace leaned over and drew a smiley face in the potatoes. At one time he’d considered being scarier or more brooding but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He really just wanted to make the boy smile.
Jace imagined the kid going home and telling all his friends about the haunted diner. When he got older he would talk about his brush with the supernatural at parties. He would keep it safe because it would be a fond memory. It would stand apart from other ghost stories because there were no bleeding walls or wailing corpses. Just smiley faces in dinner.
“Daddy! My potatoes are smiling at me!”
“Michael, eat your food.”
The boy pouted. Jace was about to go do the same to the father’s food, but something skittered through the dining room. There were two of them. They came through the door (but Jace didn’t see it open) and ran towards the kitchen. They were halfway there before Jace got a good look at them.
They each had the face and thick hide of an armadillo but the body of a small kangaroo. No one else seemed to notice the creatures. Jace didn’t feel like he was hallucinating. In fact, even on his worst days the only visions he had were of that day. The things vanished through a wall and no one cared. Jace looked around, hoping that he was wrong, that someone else had seen it.
He almost followed them but then thought better of it. No one else cared. Why should he? He snorted and stretched over the back of the booth and across the table to draw a face in the father’s food.
So, new teaser. The actual story should be posted tomorrow.
Jace sat on his knees, looking over the back of the booth to the next table. It was a father and son eating lunch. They both had mashed potatoes. Jace loved mashed potatoes; they were easy to sculpt. While the boy was distracted Jace leaned over and drew a smiley face in the potatoes. At one time he’d considered being scarier or more brooding but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He really just wanted to make the boy smile.
Jace imagined the kid going home and telling all his friends about the haunted diner. When he got older he would talk about his brush with the supernatural at parties. He would keep it safe because it would be a fond memory. It would stand apart from other ghost stories because there were no bleeding walls or wailing corpses. Just smiley faces in dinner.
“Daddy! My potatoes are smiling at me!”
“Michael, eat your food.”
The boy pouted. Jace was about to go do the same to the father’s food, but something skittered through the dining room. There were two of them. They came through the door (but Jace didn’t see it open) and ran towards the kitchen. They were halfway there before Jace got a good look at them.
They each had the face and thick hide of an armadillo but the body of a small kangaroo. No one else seemed to notice the creatures. Jace didn’t feel like he was hallucinating. In fact, even on his worst days the only visions he had were of that day. The things vanished through a wall and no one cared. Jace looked around, hoping that he was wrong, that someone else had seen it.
He almost followed them but then thought better of it. No one else cared. Why should he? He snorted and stretched over the back of the booth and across the table to draw a face in the father’s food.