Open Features: Laying The Ghost
Elizabeth Harper tells a brief and memorable ghost story.
She had to go back, to lay the ghost of her last tragic visit. The house was in darkness, the only sound, water lapping the lake shore, visible in the bright moonlight.
She pushed open the door. Moonlight flooded the room and she saw the furniture covered with sheets. The air was musty. A shiver ran down her spine. As she walked around the house, she could hear Lucy’s giggling laughter, always one step ahead. Remembering her previous visit, she shivered again and pulled her coat tighter. “I shouldn’t have come! Tom, he husband, had advised against it. The laughter continued to echo down the hall.
Stepping out into the moonlight, she looked across the dark water, fearful of its depth, and this time she heard Lucy’s desperate screams. No longer her happy laughter.
“Wait, Lucy my darling, I’m coming,” she called out. Tearful, she ran down to the water’s edge. She didn’t stop. She continued running into the water, her long coat impeding her progress.
“Hold on Lucy, I’m coming.”Frantic, she carried on. Her child was calling, needing her help. Floundering in the deep water, she pushed forward relentlessly until the voice was silenced and the surface was calm again.
