Krista

Snow on Steven's wee head, you love to see it. We've already gotten snow down here, which was way too early for my liking and likely the work of voodoo, don't trust a certain Canadian. His delinquency knows no bounds. Dreadful really, the sacrifices I have made to shield you all from the cheeky little heathen. In all honesty, the weather here has been awful. Windy, bitterly cold. Then windy and hot. It needs to make up its mind and I wouldn't mind some rain, we need it. Just not snow. It needs to be where it belongs and that's melting on the rosy cold wind burned cheeks of you Canadians.

The next morning, I rolled out of bed, sending the pillow that was pulled over my head flying off the other side. Looking around, blinking the heaviness from my eyes. Not seeing Elias, I looked down at the ring on my nightstand. I wasn’t a morning person, I didn’t rise out of bed easily but I couldn’t help thinking I felt something just before my eyes shot open. Like someone had touched the cover draped on my shoulder. I expected to see Mom hovering over me, but the room was empty. Shaking my he

LOL! I've not watched that film I honestly think Casper is the only ghost movie I have ever watched... ever. Not even Ghost Busters... To be honest, privacy laws and census are probably somewhat concerning me the more I think about it. I'm wondering, aside from personal artifacts and period pieces of art, photography, etc, a museum shouldn't have personal records of common people. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but the small town designating the section of the historical part of the founding town, a historical destination, maybe they were all fine with what old relics and information could be found there, and maybe even personally donated items as they found them, or as older generations died. As far as names and addresses that could lead to living descendants, a museum won't have those. Old graveyard records, they may as well. And, I think the website being thin, is more or less an advertising scheme for people to actually come and visit the place. I've seen it done before when I was researching something specific. It was behind a paywall, but they really wanted you to come and visit the place physically. It was a bit off putting, so I did neither.. it wasn't all that important. lol I mean, I didn't have a ghost freezing the back of my neck off as he hovered beside me at the time. Not a whole lot, but to be honest, if I lost my name, getting it back - or at least finding a name that I feel drawn to, would ease my mind a lot. I would want more, but there isn't really anything more important than a Name. So I wanted that to be a bit of a special scene and I wanted the ghost to find it. Maybe it was never meant to be on a finger... *whistles innocently* For the most part, I wanted his loneliness to be fringe, I know it was front and center when the ghost begged not to placed back at the stone. The reason was pretty obvious, he couldn't stand being in the same place and alone there any longer. The talking to birds comment was also a hint, but a lot lighter in tone, spoken by Elias with a smile. But I wanted the reader to know or at least think about, him talking to animals that couldn't talk back. More or less talking 'at' them and how lonely that could be as well, without viscerally showing it in writing. Thank you, the story is complete, I'm just attempting to get it edited and posted around every Tuesday. I am glad you're liking story, and I had fun writing Elias, even if I'm worried about the story as a whole and the reception it will get when finished. It will definitely depend on the definition of help, I think... on what they find there. The first one, I am glad you caught on, I wanted there to be a gradual switch in Asher about his comfort level. I didn't want him to feel resigned or bothered by the prospect of having a ghost following him around, based solely on his own conscience after having met him. (Not leaving him trapped in one area forever, again), even if that meant forcing him to stay in his house, however far Elias can go without the ring, and how long he could stay there. I haven't really explained that part yet, but still, being stuck and knowing your stuck would be hell really. So I'm glad to see that you saw the change and that maybe there is a bond forming. I think I explained this earlier in this comment, for the second part. Some of it is just to drum up curiosity and get physical visitors to the museum itself. You learn more about the museum in upcoming parts, and you get a feel about the significance of the place within the dynamics of the town as well. I honestly don't think his death will be shocking. We already know Elias died and he died whilst at the Stone. We just don't know why/how, so the museum may have those answers.

--- I'll let most of the rest of these comments age with the chapter a little bit, before I go into details. But I just want to say, I am liking the discussion on privacy laws. It is definitely something I didn't consider when I wrote the story... and I ended up learning something. I'll come back to these comments later on and reply to them in full.

A lot of them were bleached white by the sun and splotched with moss. No one still left flowers here. They weren’t allowed to as it messed up the aesthetic of the graveyard for tourists and everyone buried up here was generations too far in the past for people to remember them. The grass was as mowed and kept clean as the rest of the property, but you couldn’t stop natural decay and what the weather does to stone. Looking at the first one I came to, I could make out the name and the date, but th

Aww, yeah, I couldn't imagine being alone for as long as he has. Doing the same thing, tied to the same area and not knowing where the ring was. Then getting a chance at freedom only to have it hanging unknown over your head, because of who you are.. or what you are in this case. Powerless to stop Asher from just placing the ring back where it was and all that... Thank you for picking up the story and liking the characters so far.

It sounds interesting regardless, hope you come across it. If it is here, just feel free to link it in your comment, or the title/author. I don't do a lot of searching on here, I've not checked out the mechanics much.

Yeah, I would have put that ring into orbit, I think. Thank you! Nothing more tense than being awakened in just your underwear by a ghost... I wouldn't think. lol Is this a story on here or another place? If so, maybe PM me? If it isn't a ghost story-ghost story, I might enjoy the read. lol I guess the reason I backtracked on the ghost story, is that I'm not for sure if the lore surrounding ghosts are as important when writing paranormal fiction. Because I most definitely didn't look into the lore/establishment/stereotypes... whatever the best word for that is, before I sat down and wrote. I didn't have time, I'm bit of a last-minute kind of person when it comes to some things. I am far removed from being on time for anything these days... *whistles*

I can't remember exactly, but I do go into detail of the night that led to the beginning of the story, about his lack of planning. I don't know if it will end up being logically justified though. Thank you for leaving a comment. It is interesting that you bring up that he would only want Colleen speaking with his mother and to hang up otherwise. It is a bit of a distinction between the two, but it would be a debate really, between the Mother and Father in later chapters about why that might have been such a request in the first place. I just wish I remembered more of this story... lol. It is difficult to know what is fact or misremembered feelings/thoughts. I'm not going to pretend I know the answers to my own stories, just because I wrote them, I am very forgetful after time has passed and I've moved on to other projects. I would completely and very embarrassingly lose a trivia contest if someone were to make it spanning my entire 1M+ words I've written. It may have helped me a little if I didn't procrastinate so much and it taking 5+ years to write some of those stories. Lol. Sorry for rambling as well.

Thank you for your comments, I'm glad you're enjoying the characters. Like @wildonesaid below, I was really worried that the ghost wouldn't sound like he was from a different time. It is a very deep seeded pet peeve of mine when historical fictions/characters break from the times and have more modern thought/actions/dialog etc. If I was more strict with this story, it may bother me more. So the term Buggerist came from a bit of an attempt at being cheeky/comedic in that scene. The ghost didn't seem all that put off by it, true. There is also a feeling that long-lived/long-dead characters lose a bit of... social/moral ideas from their time as they've seen the world change around them as well. They're more grey area where the 'mortals' are more black/white in the now. If that makes sense. I like Kaelie, I feel she's similar to some of my more sassy female characters in other stories though. If I had more time, I would have fleshed her out a bit better so that she is more differentiated from those other characters like Olivia (The Best Year), Jenny (Standing in Shadows), and Cara (Ridley), who I would list as all similar, but had a little more time with me that they also stood out a bit. I personally feel like the ghost is actually the most fleshed out. I feel that Asher isn't as fleshed out of a character as I would like. Might just be me, but I do hope he finds some sort of connection while reading for y'all. It did a little. I'm sure I made tons more mistakes and such with his mannerisms in my attempt to differentiate him from a modern thinking/speaking character. Baby steps, I guess.. and you know I will keep my self-doubt, a little serving of it in every project isn't a bad thing... even though you do have to force feed me some confidence at times and put up with it when it gets a bit overwhelming... in other words, when I throw a big assed tantrum. (And yes, like all the times before, me saying something like this, doesn't give you permission to agree with me, in the best interest of self-preservation, you know what to do by now, hopefully).

Here I've seen an uptick in vandalizing graveyards. Knocking over stones, stealing flowers/decorative items etc. Completely disrespectful.

Thanks for reading the second part. Yeah, for better or worst Asher has decided to be stuck with the ghost. I mean the ghost hasn't been too scary yet, so at least Asher lucked out on that. It isn't 'that' type of ghost story though. Although I think it might have been fun to add a bit more ghost/spirit/demon lore into the mix... but like I said, I'm not into the horror genre. I don't think I ever will me, it's just too scary. A good friend will believe you when you tell them that you've seen a ghost, I think. A friendship test in a half really. I also don't read a lot of ghost stories. Most that I have read, do involve ghosts being tied to a purpose they didn't get to fulfill.. or a sacred object, anger/emotion something that causes them some unrest and gives them their... foothold to stay between the living and the spirit world. I wanted to go into this story more focused on the three characters entirely. And I don't really mean Kaelie when I say that. Although, I did enjoy writing her too. A lot less freaked than I would be too. Kaelie can only be second-hand freaked out though, she can't sense him. Knowing his presence is there is one thing, actually seeing him would be another. But yeah, I wouldn't have ever found myself in that situation either. I don't go trespassing in graveyards at night. I'm actually hoping what little history lessons I gave myself whilst writing the next few parts, actually was correct and I kept the timeline of the ghost's life intact. The bulk of the writing is coming up and the bulk of the writing I did in the next few parts went rather quickly, because at the time I was attempting to squeak into a deadline. So needless to say, I'm nervous about the next few parts. I'm almost sure there are some plotholes that I've not wrapped my head around, because after a lot of reading and rereading your head begins to go on auto correct and fills them in.. I hope there aren't though and I do have more time to do more reading before I post the third part. But yeah, I do focus on what the world the ghost lived in.. would have been like.. on a very small scale in the next part. When things were invented, what wasn't... what I stretched a little to carry the story onward, etc. Well, you know.. I don't know if I used the right term. I didn't want to go biblical for it.. so I went with a different word. Lol. And no, don't stop. I want to see just how many jokes/puns you can come up with. ------ Woops, I can't believe I forgot to respond to everyone's comments. I thought I already had. My brain is on vacation sometimes. --------

Aww, yes. Myself, I would have hail mary'd that ring across a lake. But Asher didn't, so I guess we can applaud him for that one. Or maybe not, I don't know if it is a good idea to keep a ring chained to a ghost in your pocket. 😮 I almost wish I had a little bit more time with this story, writing it and fleshing it out a little bit more. These last-minute anthology entries that fly away with me need to come to an end. Although, those that have read Ridley may disagree... and then maybe change their mind. 😇 I do see where people have noted that Asher and the ghost have similar temperaments. I think they both just feel a little stuck. I don't know, the ghost is front and center for this part of the story. But, I do see it, which is nice, I wanted them to complement one another. Thank you for reading.

Thank you for reading so far. I actually 'don't' like ghost stories. Mostly because I don't like horror, I'm not the type of woman that can sit up and watch serial killer shows and the like either. So a ghost story, for me is very different. Although this one may not really even be considered that... aside from the ghost itself of course.

The next thing I heard, which caused me to sit straight up in bed and look around, was Mom calling down the stairs for me. Sliding out of the bed, I rubbed the lingering heaviness from my eyes as I made my way to the bathroom. After I finished peeing I washed my hands and sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and heavy, I looked hung over. I didn’t know what time it was or how long I slept, it surprised me that I fell asleep at all. Reaching up I tried to smooth down

It was crazy for me to write, it don't typically write fast paced, soap-opera-ish stories. I like my characters to have purer motives and not a lot of them did in this story. I'm glad you stuck with it. It was fun to write and I know not a lot of people like fast paced, motive driven, flip-floppy characters and story plots. This happens when I try to write an Anthology, this was supposed to be a short story and ended up massive.

Thank you, Scrubber. The first thought in my mind if I ever thought I saw a ghost would be... "Krista, you've finally done it, you've fallen completely off your rocker..." I may, or may not have been told to wait by @wildone, but patience isn't something that I think he would describe me being, if he were tasked with explaining me to other people. (Although if he knows what's good for him, it will be all flowers and rainbows) 😮 I think there are 5 parts, varying lengths. This was an Anthology story that went well beyond the word limit. For the most part, I saw that I hadn't posted anything since the end of May, so I wanted to get this out there. I also am rather worried about it and the reception it will receive. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a little... not too much, but just enough to make me second guess a lot of things. But yeah, the bulk of it will be posted in October, it probably won't make it to Halloween. It isn't long enough. I'm also just going to leave you with this: for the second part of your comment, cause... I can't say much about it yet. Thank you for reading my stories and leaving comments. Thank you! I hope the rest of it doesn't disappoint. I wouldn't call it artfully; mostly because I feel like I've nose-dived into this story a bit and you've not read the rest of it. Lol. I'm glad you've enjoyed the first part of the story. The real meat and potatoes of it is coming in the next two to three parts, and those are the parts I'm most worried about. I'm glad you still like the characters though, I like writing characters first, stories second. Thank you for reading. I am a little worried that classifying it as a Mystery will cause expectations that I don't think I delivered on. lol. I'm more or less a drama/comedy/romance sort of writer. Mysteries are very different and if I were honest, I didn't know what to categorize this story as specifically.

I'm not sure, some people hold power over their children a lot longer than that. Growing up in some places, particularly the south, parents are held with high respect and such. Although mostly earned, mind you. I still do not backtalk my mother, for example, and I still find myself doing what she suggests. I mean it isn't life changing things, mostly to bring things for cookouts or dinners. But, some switches just don't automatically switch off all at once. In this part of the story, he was weak, a little bit scared. He was angry with her, but he was also well aware that he wouldn't be able to make it on his own. He had cut himself off from the world, he was mugged, and he was penniless. He had no choice, but to unwillingly do as she says. At least to find his feet. That's how I saw it anyway. This story is a bit of a soap opera, it moves fast, and has some twists and turns that may or may not be logically driven.

Yes, for better or worse 32k more. Lol. Nice emoji game you have going on too.

“Did you hear that?” Kaelie asked as her flashlight darted around rapidly before she turned and blinded me with it. “No,” I groaned, “the only thing I hear is you asking me if I’ve heard anything every five minutes.” “Well, I wasn’t the one that wanted to come out here,” she countered, and I watched the beam from her flashlight dart to the ground as she placed her hands on her hips. I couldn’t see the glare in the darkness, but I knew it was there. “It’s probably just Brady and Ca

What else is there to do when your friends are having premarital sex in your car, then to visit the gravesite of a witch in an abandoned ghost town. What if ghost town wasn't actually a cliché?

keep up the good work. It is a true achievement to have survived in a fast paced ever changing environment such as the internet. It should be a true and fulfilling thing to feel, for sure.

😮 You tease!

I aim for between 5k - 6k. if I feel something is going on too long, I split it. Although, I have written variations a lot, some of my chapters hit the 10 - 20k range, but those are far between. Word count only really bothers me if I feel the chapter I'm writing isn't flowing, and I've dived in and I've written 5k words or my typical chapter length and I'm still trying to get my point across. I usually DNF the chapter and start over, I've learned that sometimes that's the best option, you can pull from the 'good' ideas, you may just have to set up or write the scene differently. I used to stand firmly by what I put to paper originally, now I'm like... "What the hell are you doing Krista..." and cringe then create a new document. I am the type of person that cannot write an Anthology on the lower end of the word count, I have to be around the 10 - 15k+ range for me to feel comfortable with what I'm writing. eehhh it's the 19th, I don't think I can pull it off, I've not started my idea yet.

Congratulations!