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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Write... Edit ... Publish for October: Haunting

It's time for another edition of Write... Edit... Publish hosted by the wonderful Denise Covey.  This month's theme is appropriate to my favorite holiday- HAUNTING.

I originally wrote this piece around Halloween-time a couple of years ago and I decided to use it for this because A) It's sort-of about a ghost and B) I just really liked it and would love for it to get a few more reads.  It's a dialogue-only piece which is semi-rare for me but I don't think that distracts from it at all.  It's also humorous rather than frightening but I figure you readers could use a break from all the spine-tingling stories you're reading today!  Clocking in at 469 words I present to you:

Highway 174

“His headlights cut through the fog like… like daggers cutting through… something.”

“What are you doing?”

“Shh! I’m narrating.”

“Uh… why?”

“Because it’s not scary if we’re just sitting here listening to Queen, we need a creepy voiceover.”

“And why is it supposed to be creepy? I thought we were just going to a Halloween party.”

“We are, but we’re on highway 174.”

“It looks like a country road.”

“It is- but it’s old highway 174. You know, like ye old highway 174. Like the place where that guy died on all Hallows eve- that highway 174!”

“I thought you said that was out at the edge of the county?”

“I did? No- I don’t- I don’t think we’re that far out. We’re just a little off the beaten path.”

“So… we’re lost.”

“We’re not lost, we’re just taking a slightly different route at the off chance that we happen to see him- his misty figure floating along the side of the road, ghostly thumb out in the hopes that someone will pick him up and finally put an end to his eternal wandering. Ooo- that’s good.”

“So we’re lost and you’re going to narrate it.”

“We are not lost we’re- ooo! What’s that?”

“What?”

“That shadowy figure over there- could that be…?”

“I think it’s a bush. Wait for it- yep, it’s a bush.”

{grumbling}

“But it was a very dark and shadowy bush, so I can see where you’d be confused.”

“Whatever, Scully!”

“Well, since we’re calling names- Mulder- might I point out that when we did do research we never found any news stories about a hit and run out here and that your urban legend of the ghostly hitchhiker was- you know- disproved.”

“Ok, first of all, it’s not an urban legend if it’s true and secondly the internet wasn’t around back in the 70’s when this guy got hit. Ghosts don’t need the validation of the internet in order to exist.”

“Sigh.”

“Hey, do you want to see this guy or not? Cause I will turn this car right around, young lady!”

“I don’t want to do anything other than to go to the party which is where you claimed we were going before you got lost and tried to cover it up by pretending that you meant to drive us out to the middle of nowhere so we could spend all night doing 25 on backwoods roads looking for ghosts.”

“You’re just no fun at all, are you?”

“I just want to go to the party- it’s getting late and we’re gonna miss the costume contest and-“

“Fine, fine, we’ll go to the party. Jeeze.”

“Thank you! That’s all I ask.”

“We just need to get back onto 202…”

“I’ll look at my phone.”

“We’re not lost!”

“Uh huh, I believe you.”

“Grrr…”


And now, hop along and enjoy all the other awesome entries!  Happy Halloween!

18 comments:

  1. Great setting Bev!
    The post has potential to develop into something really horrifying... that's if you choose to explore that possibility... humourous and spine-tingling all in one... almost like dark comedy...?
    Thanks for the light entertainment!
    Writer In Transit

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  2. Yup, they're lost! lol I liked this dialogue piece a lot! The humor was a perfect touch. My favorite line: "Ghosts don’t need the validation of the internet in order to exist.”

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  3. I love this, great use of dialogue as humour :)

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  4. Mulder and Scully - awesome exchange! All that and they didn't even see a ghost.

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  5. That was so cool! I always love reading your stories. They are so well written and thought out. Great!

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  6. Ghosts don't need the internet...that was a great line. :)

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  7. I loved this! Great witty dialogue!

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  8. Bev, this was super cute. Your dialogue has a zip of energy that perked me up as I was reading it!

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  9. This is great. And actually a touch creepy despite the humour. Just the mention of Highway 174 conjure up all sorts of dark possibilities.I love the internet ref too. I tell you what, I had some weird dreams last night (but I'm not scared).

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  10. I love the "narrator." ^_^ This was some great dialogue.

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  11. Shew, thank goodness for GPS! At least one of them would have enjoyed really seeing a ghost.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  12. Good save, thinking up the ghost story angle. I hope they find the party :)

    .......dhole

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  13. I like the humour in this piece, 'not lost, just taking a slightly different route,' I'll remember that line the next time I don't know which way I'm supposed to go. I love the narrating bit as well, great fun.

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  14. This reminds me of when I rented a car at Dulles airport and was trying to find my brother's without using a GPS.

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  15. Humorous and entertaining. I saw that you won Spooktoberfest so I read that as well. I loved it and this one. Well done on both counts.
    Nancy

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  16. Sunday, November 3rd, 2013

    Dear Beverly,

    Thank you so much for your kind words about my three-part Halloween story.

    I miss my father.

    Sometimes I can help letting him in when I write. It was his secret a but unfulfilled ambition to write or paint. If I ever succeed with these activities I owe him a debt of gratitude for his quiet encouragement and financial support.

    I asked him once when I was still a child how I was going to repay everything that they had done for me. He replied something like this: You can't. And no one will ever love you as much as your mother and father. Instead of trying to pay it back, give it to your children, let it continue on. Give others your love.

    I love your Halloween story, Beverly. It reminds of how I rented a car at Dulles Airport and tried to find my way home to my brother's house in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, in the dark, all alone, without a GPS. The car rental people offered me a GPS, and silly me, I thought I could remember the way! If I can just get to Harper's Ferry!

    I finally stopped the car at the side of a road in an unknown suburban development that looked the same as ten others that I had driven through. A couple of local people stopped their car and asked politely if everything was alright.

    'No, I'm lost! How do I get to Harper's Ferry?'

    These kind people informed me that I was actually on the right road and needed only to continued and then make the correct turn-off.

    Humour is a life-saver!

    Thank you for your cute story.
    Best wishes, again,
    Anna

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  17. Liked the humour, especially liked the line on ghosts don't need validation on the net. Indeed.

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Thank you for your comment! I will love it and hug it and pet it and call it George. Or, you know, just read and reply to it. But still- you rock!