The moment I finished Detained and Securing Secrets, I turned my attention to the final story for my patrons, a ghost story. While I’ve created some exciting characters who are capable of exploring this genre, I have a special place in my heart for the ghost stories that focus on a guiding note. As with anything that you develop, the core concept that I stumbled into with Journey of Thanks has grown and developed over the almost five and a half years.
In that foundational story, we follow a ghost who doesn’t remember dying and has been given a mission he can’t avoid. For those who have yet to read it, click here to enjoy Tully’s last journey before coming back to this newest rendition of my note tales. While I might begin recycling certain core details, I wanted to leverage the last story and explore the consequences of an act of kindness. Unlike the previous story, this one explores how an act is capable of influencing people far removed from the initial act.
Find a comfortable chair as we follow Saul’s last journey.
After his death, Saul wakes to find a note attached to his palm and no knowledge of whom it guides him to…
“I’m thinking this is a joke,” the ghost said as he thrust a finger through the sitting man’s head. As the ghost’s brow furrowed, he whipped his flittering hand out of the stranger and unleashed a silent howl as he arched backwards. Several seconds later, his shoulders slumped forward while his body rose off the floor. “I’ve never met this person before in my life.”
The ghost yanked his left hand to his chest as if it had brushed against an intense flame. Instantly, he massaged his palm while he wiped the pain from his eyes with a bent wrist. Once he’d dismissed the agony, he glanced at the note embedded into his skin.
Saul, you must develop patience. Everything will become clear only once the last piece has fallen into its position.
While the middle-aged man sat in front of his television watching the news, Saul hovered over him, searching for a hint of familiarity. As the seconds ticked by, he slowly circled the stranger, but after a subjective eternity, Saul unleashed another silent cry before staring at the note. “Why won’t you give me a straight answer? You keep telling me I need to linger here and watch a man whom I’ve never met in my life. There isn’t a reason for you to send me here.”
The ghost fell to the ground, hitting his knees as he gripped his trembling left hand. When the limb stopped quivering, he resumed circling the stranger, though he drifted through the flooring. After several revolutions, he glanced at his palm.
.
.
.
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