Ghost House
photo prompt
The sun set for the last time on the condemned farm house. I stand at a distance where I can see the golden horizon reflected in the glass windows.
I never knew this house when it was inhabited by anyone but ghosts. Those specters are why its windows are still intact. No one has dared to break the glass for fear of opening the floodgates for spirits and ghouls.
Ghosts of the murdered…
…and murderers alike.
Something unholy, something unspeakable, occurred here. Something no one talks about. Those old enough to remember claim they don’t. The local newspaper archives were lost to a mysterious fire. Vague references to the murders exist only in faded, yellowed journals, dismissed as the rantings of paranoid farm-wives. No one questions. They’re afraid of the answers. Nothing grows here. The trees stay dormant year ‘round, yet never die. Perhaps too much blood soaked into the soil. Perhaps they saw too much.
Now the bulldozers come at first light. The powers that be in the county seat have ordered razing of all derelict and abandoned structures, for the “safety of the community.”
I’m worried for the safety of the operators. The ghosts may want freedom, but this house has been home to them for seventy-four years.
They won’t take kindly to its destruction. Before they take flight, they’ll take revenge.
I back away to my packed car, to drive as far as the night will take me.
©2020 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved
Wow Lisa, this story of captivating prose gave me chills! I love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I had fun with the prompt!
DeleteWhat a perfect ghost story! That ending...just brrrrr. *shudders*
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you think so! Thanks so much!
DeleteIt never occurred to me that his ram-shackled cabin had ghosts running around inside. Of course, I can't stop thinking about it. Keep them inside where they belong is my suggestion. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteYes, keep them trapped. I suppose an old house would rot away on its own in time anyway.
Delete"Before they take flight, they’ll take revenge. " - awesome.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteAn awesome read. Ghosts definitely do not take kindly to being disturbed. I lived with one once. She wanted us gone and she won.
ReplyDeleteI would guess they usually do win. I'm glad you like my little story.
DeleteLisa, im so glad I came. I was here earlier but decided to come back to read it all later. Sorry, but even so late I am really glad I am here.
ReplyDeleteI love old abandoned houses. Even before I was a teen I would play and explore a very large one sitting on the next hill towards the river, east, of us. I still have a small 'souveneer'.
A couple of thoughts:
First,
"The trees stay dormant year ‘round, yet never die. "
When I come across one of these "vampire trees" I take its picture. A few I've found an excuse to use on my other blog. They arent labeled but they are about the only thing that shows with a "vampire' search. I t was late in my life when Iearned that name for them. They are dead but don't die.
Secondly, about the house that I was born in.
When my parents moved to town, they just left our house sit. A few wanted to rent the farmstead but my dad declined. Kept it private. The last time I was in it I could tell that a racoon family had moved in. They had made themselves a nice bed from a box of old quilts the folks had left.
After they had dued my sister and I sold the little farm. The new owners bulldozed it down, by our next visit they had burned the pile.
I sooo loved reading your story, it sounded true to me.
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I hadn't heard the term "vampire trees" before, thanks for that. Thank you for sharing your memories with me.
DeleteA link to my blog search, "farm".
ReplyDeletehttps://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/search?q=Farm&m=1
It had our four room house, after my sister was old enough for the second bedroom I was relegated to sleeping on the enclosed front porch and had no room to call mine. After being abandoned a large
tree fell onto the porch.
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Thank you! I enjoyed that peek into your past! A lot of work, a family farm. Even today with more machinery, it isn't for the weak or lazy! I live in a valley with family farms, large scale agriculture, and one of the largest cities in Oregon. I worked for a farm and ranch store where we sold straight run chicks. The sex-link breeds were popular of course!
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