Ghosts | OYEAS Writing Competition

Hello again friends!

So today I have something a little different for y'all, and that is some creative writing. As you may know I absoultely love writing and do it a lot in my free time (which is sadly diminishing at the moment) so when I saw that Cindy was holding a writing competition, I couldn't resist entering, despite how much work I have at the moment. And you can find her lovely blog riiiight here - it really is one of my favourite blogs out there!

But without further ado, here is my entry for the OYEAS Writing Competition, along with a picture just to set the mood!

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Ghosts

When I open my eyes, everything is tilted to the side. 

It takes me a while to work out that this is because I'm lying on the ground. My brain doesn't seem to be working so well, my thoughts all running in to each other like watercolours on a canvas. And I can't remember anything. Not even my name. 

With great effort, I sit myself up, my head swimming as the world turns the right way up again. Everything around me is unfamiliar: the empty road, abandoned houses and derelict diners, all with a slightly edgy feel about them. Where are all the people? This place is like a ghost town. 

Where the hell am I?

I try to remember something, anything, but I can't. I frown and rub my temples, but nothing comes to my mind. It's quite unsettling, not knowing a single thing about myself, but strangely I don't feel at all panicked. Perhaps just curious. 

Suddenly a bell rings as the door of the diner across the road from me opens, and an old woman walks out. I stand up, smiling — finally someone who can tell me what on earth I'm doing here. But then my smile fades as I get a closer look as she comes towards me. I'm staring at the broad smile on her face, but I'm sure I can still see the door swinging on the diner behind her. And then I realise: her whole body is almost transparent. I can see right through her. 

She stops in front of me and continues to smile. Does she expect me to say something? I think I'm too flabbergasted to speak. 

Finally she says, "Welcome."

I gape at her, but she still just continues to smile at me. 

"My name is Deirdre," she continues. "I'm the mayor of this town."

Finally I manage to find my voice. "Why am I here?"

She smiles. "All in due time... what did you say your name was?"

I stare at her. "I don't know," I say. 

"Not to worry, dear, just pick a new one," Deirdre says cheerfully. I continue to stare at her, mind-boggled. This whole thing is just getting weirder and weirder by the minute. 

"Nina," I decide. I don't really care for the name, it was just the first one that sprung to mind. 

"Very well, Nina," Deirdre says. "Time for you to meet the rest of the town."

She puts her pinkies in her mouth and gives a long, loud whistle, and no sooner than she brings her hand back to her side, more doors start to open all the way down the street, people emerging cautiously, all eyes fixed on me. 

And I can see right through every single one of them. 

"Deirdre..." I mutter as they start to crowd around us. "Why is everyone... see-through?"

Deirdre chuckles. "Yes, I was wondering when you might ask," she says. "We're all ghosts here, Nina. All of us."

I look around at the people around me, about fifty of them, now. And all their faces the same: blank and expressionless as they watch my every move. 

Okay, now I'm panicking. 

"Nina...?" Deirdre reaches an arm out towards me, sensing my distress, and I take an involuntary step back from her eery translucent hands. Everything is just too overwhelming, and my throats constricts as I imagine fifty faces looming towards me, so I do the only thing I can think of. 

I run away. 

No one makes any immediate effort to stop me, so I run into the nearest diner, up the stairs, out a window and onto a roof. And then I'm jumping across the closely packed roofs like 007, and it's only when I find myself on the top of a church that I finally stop to catch my breath, and take in my surroundings. 

Around me, roofs stretch on as far as I can see, all the way to the horizon where they meet a hazy white mist. This town is never ending. There's no where I can go. 

A noise behind me makes me jump out of my skin, and I whip around to find a boy standing on the roof behind me. He looks at me kindly. 

"It's okay, Nina," he says. "You don't need to panic."

I stare at him. "Easy for you to say."

He smiles. "I've been where you are - we all have. Everyone got here the same way."

I frown at him. My mind still feels foggy round the edges, and I can't seem to make sense of what he is saying. I stare at the misty horizon, far far away. 

"I'm Alex, by the way," the boy adds. 

I turn to look at him. "What do you mean, everyone got here the same way?"

Alex stares at me, as if contemplating something, then says, "Everyone in this town woke up here, not knowing who they were before and how they got here. We all know how it feels, Nina, and we're here to help with your transition."

All these words sound like gibberish to my ears, and I repeat them over and over. Transition? Who they were before? 

"I want to go home."

The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them, and they are received with a sympathetic look from Alex, followed by a small smile. "This is your home now, Nina."

He reaches out his hand, as translucent as Deirdre's, and tentatively I take it. And as I look at our intertwined fingers, I do a double take and my stomach jolts. Because my hand is just as see-through as Alex's.

Suddenly something comes back to me: something Deirdre said to me earlier. And at the same time something inside me clicks, as if the world that was tilted on its axis has fallen back into place, and all the while Deirdre's words seem to ring in my ears. 

We're all ghosts here, Nina. All of us. 

Of course. It all makes sense now. 

I'm a ghost too. 

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So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed that, and let me know if you'd like to see more writing on my blog? Or you can find some of my other works on my wattpad if you so desire :)

But anyway, that's about all I have for you! So I hope you're having a nice day wherever you are, and don't forget to smile wherever you go.

Byeee!