Topic
Parapsychology
Fortunetellers, precogs, future knowers. In science fiction, time travelers mostly go back. In fantasy, they see forward.
The Airbnb (g)Host
I'm a reasonable ghost, I think, but the Airbnb was the final straw. I've put up with quite a bit, in my time here. I'm not quite as old as the house, of course--I know the Wikipedia page says I'm the first owner's wife, but that's actually not true, you'd be surprised how often…
Don't Call Us--We'll Call You
I was waiting for the bus on the way to work when I saw the ad for Madame Grimaldi's Psychic Hotline. It was illegally pasted to the glass of the bus shelter, and as a marketing account manager, I had to admire the sheer amateurishness: the two different styles of clip art for a…
Haunted
"Your infestation report, ma'am." The pimply young technician extended a manilla envelope. Phil, declared the embroidered name tag on his Supernatural Pest Control shirt. Mabel tossed her hair--a shade of red found nowhere in nature--and accepted it with a brittle laugh. "Please…
Prognostiqueso
Callie's grandmother had made a practice of reading the future in tea leaves. Callie did the same in leftover crumbs of cheese. Her careworn store, The Once and Future Cheese Shop, was intimate, with space for a few tables before broad windows that looked onto Main Street. That…
In Pictures of Gunmetal Gray
*********Editor's Note: Disturbing, adult story follows********* Willa always told me that to get realistic sketches, you have to draw what you see, rather than what you think you see. Nowhere is that truer than in the courtroom. I'm shoved in the third row of the gallery, my…
A Song for Looking Back, a Song for Looking Forward
Luis hid from the piano for nearly three weeks after Abuela's funeral. It was easy enough, at first. It was in her bedroom, and nobody had any reason to go in there--least of all him. Without her reminders, neither Mami nor Papi would notice if he didn't practice. But as the…
I Mean, It's No Extra Parked Vehicle
Melanie is a ghost detective. She works for the HOA to catch undetectable violations of the rules. Today, for instance: the table rattles. The lights blast out. Who is it? It seems to be someone you lost? Maybe somebody whose name begins with J? They will tell you whose cat has…
Leaf Piles
At dusk, Anna went outside and grabbed a rake. The leaves weren't going to rake themselves. It was Halloween. She dreaded the annual influx of goblins and witches and ghosts demanding tribute. Maybe if she mounded the leaves up in a barrier wall, the monsters would skip her…
Safe as Houses
Our bed isn't ours tonight. Two people who are not us occupy it. When they reach out, their touch sinks right into us. They might as well have run us through with a sword as we gasp and howl to rival the wind. The couple in our bed sit bolt upright. "Honey, did you hear that?"…
The Telepath's Reading Material
As a skill, reading is interesting. It takes a while to learn, and at the beginning it requires focus, repetition, and preferably a teacher. Once you do get the basics down, it's hard to forget--so long as you practice now and then, you can read just about anything. But with…
Echoes in Otherwhere
There is magic in the world. Some of it is subtle: coincidences, dreamers, the shock of what a strong will and capable hands can accomplish. This is not a story about subtle magic. Lorianne pushed through the doors of the apothecary, closing out the busy honking and oppressive…
Cookies for Ghost
Clara faces the attic door, armed with a picnic basket and shielded with blankets. She drags a stool into the hallway so her eight-year-old arms can ease the folding-ladder out inch by inch without squeaking. The clock on the wall says 1 am, far past her bedtime, but this is the…
Inevitable
It's meeting new people that's the hardest. Of course, what could I expect, when before I even know someone's name, before I even shake their hand, I know exactly when and how they'll die? I'd always known about my own death, of course. Trouble was, I thought everyone knew. When…
Dearly Departed
The house was old, a 1920s Victorian-styled red-bricked beauty surrounded by lean metal fencing and thick spring grass. I easily imagined a playground on it. It was the perfect home for a young couple like us. "Do you think it's haunted?" I asked. "Nah," Dante said. "I asked the…
Location, Location, Location
SCENE: Imagine a cozy sitting room with two overstuffed chairs. The walls are lined with saint candles and figurines of mythic figures, and we'll further imagine that mandalas line the walls. We imagine a window stage left, drawing in a faint reddish glow, or maybe, if we're…
On Discovering a Ghost in the Five Star
At first, I considered changing laundromats. I mean, sure, the Five Star was just two blocks from my apartment, but there's something 'bout the presence of a ghost girl by the dryers that kinda takes the thrill out of throwing your wet laundry in and settling into an ugly…
Ghost of the Ashwydds
The house was dark, spider webs covering the chandeliers where gaslight used to dance. "Here," said the no longer quite-so-young girl, "is the hall of the murder." The audience oohed and aahed and sighed, and when her lover flowed through the wall in his faded finery they…
Ghost Night
***Editor's Note: Issues of Self-Harm in the Adult Story that Follows*** It's a Ghost Night tonight. The weather reports all agreed for a change, and nobody really needed the warning. The birds aren't flying. They're perched low on fence posts and bushes, grumpy and silent,…
Faith
"Why don't they move?" "They're paralyzed." "Oh, that's awful." "No, I mean they're afraid. Paralyzed with fear. And besides they move. Just not all that often. When the consequences are easy to foresee." She reached out to touch the glass. Just before her nail clicked against…
And Now, Fill Her In
As the plane rose steadily into the sky, water vapor streaked up the glass like tears in reverse. Kiya, her head resting on the cool plastic near the pane swore she heard the movement of the rivulet, a dry slither like a snake through dry summer grass. A trick of her…
Little More than Shadows
On the worst days, just the knowledge that you're dreaming is enough to set you shivering in the cot, neck stiff from the cables. Eventually one of your wardens will come, so you wait. They are little more than shadows, these days: features you can't quite bring into focus; skin…
Always
Molly wasn't certain at what point she sensed someone hovering over her in the bus aisle. Initially she'd ignored it as some sort of mind trick, thoughts crowding to fill the morning. But when a clearing of the throat shifted Molly's hair across her face, she reluctantly cracked…
The Most Elusive Game
The target was short, dumpy, and kinda cute, in a squashed-face way. We sat around a conference table deep in the heart of the Pentagon and watched the clip. She was shopping. At a flea market. She appeared to be very interested in textiles. "Seriously?" I said. "You can't catch…
Simon Says
***Editor's Note: Adult story.*** I don't know how many of us are in this head. I just got here, and I'm ready to leave. We have to take turns using the eyes, face, and mouth. Simon the repeater has been telling me the rules. The core personality gets to hog the eye time,…
My Daughter's Smile
I carefully prepare her plate. She can be finicky, sometimes. The peas are the tricky part, they can't touch anything. None of her food can touch. "Thanks, Dad," she says, as I set her dinner in front of her. "Hey, I thought we had talked about this." I point to the fork beside…
The Turn
***Editor's Note:Adult Language, Mature Themes*** Miles is an empath. "Gets it from his father," says his mother. "Always all about him." I tell her she can trust me. My references are excellent. I speak French. I know the Vineyard. I spent two years looking after little Stuart…
The Rift Cell
Cavanaugh reached up the rock face and felt smooth concrete. At last. It stung his raw fingers under the afternoon sun, but he held on and savored the dry, gritty texture. He pulled himself up and sat on the lip of a broken sidewalk to gaze back into the rift. It roared at him.…
Unrealized Potential
Mom and I had arranged to meet Dad at the town museum. The special exhibit, "Unrealized Potential," only showed once each year from midnight until six AM on the summer solstice. The season's young heat hung in the humid air after the warm June day, and the first bold insects…
Memories of Forgetting
I'm in the bookstore's coffee shop--by the windows, reading--when I suddenly must look up. She is there. Her hair is braided and put into a bun. Her lips press firmly together. She stares directly at me. I can't speak to her, though, even if I'm seeing our children. Today, she's…
The Girl in the Next Room is Crying Again
It's Morley's hotel. I didn't know that when I checked in, when I told the night clerk my name was Mister Cassidy and asked for a room on the top floor. The knowledge came slowly. Slower than it should have, considering. It's Morley's hotel and Morley's on his way and I no…
Persistence
The figure emerged inside the three-dimensional matrix. My brother, the mathematician, looked on as if he had never had a doubt the algorithm he devised would work. Using our own energy signatures as an identifying marker was pure genius, even if the probability of success was…
Standing Next to Heaven
Heaven is perfect. Her golden ringlets fall into her face to curl over golden eyebrows and golden lashes. Her eyes are an electric, neon blue; her cheeks are plump, like ripe peaches; and her mouth curves softly, like rose petals. She never frowns. She is small and fine-boned,…
A Day Like No Other
I stepped out into the rain, my flat cap shielding my mat of gray hair. As I walked with my hands in my trench coat pockets, I noted each imperfection on the concrete. Each hand- and footprint a kid made when it was still wet; every discarded wad of gum. Over the years, I had…