Ghosts!
written by: Sharon P Wilson
It started as an ordinary day. Except, Buttons was missing.
‘He may be trying to get back to the old place in London,’ Dan said to Linda, ‘cats are like that! Buttons is certainly one of those felines who likes the familiar,’ he continued. He looked at Linda as they stood by the back door. Linda could see the concern etched on her husband’s face.
‘He’ll turn up when he’s hungry.’ Dan nodded, unconvinced. Since their only child, Vanessa, lived in Canada with her two children and her husband, John, Dan and Linda became very attached to their pet.
‘Tell you what, love,’ Dan said now, ‘this place is a bit strange.’ Yesterday, when I went to the high street, I swear I didn’t see a soul. Now that’s strange.’
‘It’s the middle of summer,’ Linda replied, ‘so lots of people are off on their annual holidays. That would have been us going to see Vanessa, if it wasn’t for the move.’
‘You could be right,’ Dan agreed uncertainly.
‘Look,’ Linda went on, ‘let’s get dinner and tomorrow we can go to the high street and get some shopping. The freezer is looking empty.’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ Dan agreed, consoled for the moment. ‘Do you regret the move?’ he said later on that evening in bed.
‘Not really,’ Linda admitted, ‘London is getting far too busy and the pollution is playing havoc with my sinuses. Besides, we always said we would downsize when you were coming up for retirement. We’ll get used to the slower pace in time.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ Dan murmured before drifting off into a restless sleep.
The following morning, when Dan woke up, he glanced at his wife’s sleeping form and then headed for the kitchen. He was certain Buttons would have returned and would be scratching at the back door. He swung the door open, but all he saw was a mature garden in need of a good weeding.
‘Any sign of him, love?’ Dan spun around, his heart pounding in his chest. ‘You gave me a fright. No, nothing! Buttons!’ he called loudly.
‘Hmm, it’s a bit of a mystery. Still, I’m sure he’ll show up soon enough. Any sign of the neighbours?’ Linda asked tiptoeing so she could peek over the fence. There, she saw a child’s plastic slide on the lawn, but no sign of any life.
‘Now, there’s a mystery,’ Dan said, ‘no sign of anyone! When we viewed the house, the estate agent told us there was a young family living next door.’
‘Maybe they have gone to a theme park or something, it is summer after all. Let’s get ready and head into town.’
‘Do you want to walk or drive?’ Dan shouted, heading for the stairs.
One hour later, having decided to walk, Dan and Linda encountered no one on their fifteen-minute journey. They noticed no cars or buses rolling by either. It was eerily quiet. Most of the shops were closed, with some even boarded up.
‘It’s not what you would expect,’ Dan said, obviously perturbed.
‘Something has got to be open,’ Linda exclaimed, ‘after all, it’s not the middle of nowhere or the middle of the night.’
They kept walking until they came across a general store. Its large glass doors stood invitingly open.
‘There you go,’ Linda pointed out brightly, ‘let’s go and have a look, it’s a supermarket after all.’ Dan kept his counsel as he walked alongside Linda through the doors.
‘Now then, we need a few bits for dinner tonight, maybe a steak and some stuff for the freezer,’ Linda said, heading off. Dan trailed behind, looking at the shelves and noticing how empty they were. He looked around, his eyes falling on an assistant in a bright orange jacket. Dan went up to him and opened his mouth to speak…the words died on his lips momentarily…
Dan spun around, looking frantically for his wife. He moved as fast as he could down each aisle, panic setting in. Something wasn’t right, he knew that now. He ran and then collided with another assistant, a young woman this time, in a similar bright orange jacket.
‘So sorry,’ he exclaimed, ‘have you seen my wife?’ But the assistant just carried on tidying the shelves like Dan wasn’t even there.
‘OMG!’ Dan shouted, alarmed, ‘Linda!’
Then he saw her by the self-service checkout. He moved as fast as he could.
‘Dan, you look as if you have just seen a ghost!’ she exclaimed.
Tugging his wife’s arm, Dan could barely contain his panic. ‘We have got to go! Now!’
‘What are you talking about? I’m about to pay for the stuff. It’s not much, though.’
Dan tugged Linda away from the checkout. It was only after they were safely outside did he explain what had happened.
‘No one can disappear like that, love, you must be mistaken,’ Linda said lightly as they made their way home.
‘I’m telling you, I went up to the guy and was about to ask him something, I blinked and he was gone.’
‘When we get home, I’m phoning your doctor to get him to check your blood pressure meds, they may be giving you hallucinations or something.’
‘I’m not hallucinating, I know what I saw!’
‘Maybe we should ring the opticians too!’
The remainder of the journey unfolded in complete silence.
‘Look, love, Brintown is not like London, it’s going to take getting used to,’ Linda said over a tasteless frozen pizza later that evening. And then the thought struck her. It was the middle of August, and it was actually quite chilly. She also noticed there was no one else at the checkout, unusual even for a late afternoon.
‘This place isn’t right, I’m telling you, Linda. First, Buttons goes missing, and then the incident at the supermarket. Furthermore, who have we seen in the two weeks since then?’
‘No one,’ Linda replied quietly.
It was late evening, and the Henshaws were finishing another bland meal. They were running out of food again, but nowhere was open. Linda was pondering on her husband’s misgivings when there was a loud hammering at the front door. Knives and forks clattered on the table as Dan and Linda exchanged anxious glances.
This was the first time in the six months since they had moved to Brintown that they had a visitor. Cautiously, they made their way down the narrow hallway to the front door.
Dan pulled it open with shaky hands. There stood an old man whose face was a mass of wrinkles, his faded blue eyes and masses of white hair added to a look of some bygone era.
‘Are you the gentleman of the house?’ His voice was croaky and thin. He wore a shabby black jacket and black trousers that hung loosely around his legs.
‘Yes I am,’ Dan replied. Linda stood in the background with a curious expression on her face.
‘Well, I’m sorry to bother you like this, but I have a message for you.’
‘Oh!’ Linda said, moving herself closer to the door!
‘Brintown is not what it seems,’ he went on.
‘Oh, I gathered that much! But who are you and what’s this really about?’ Dan’s voice brooked no argument.
‘I used to live in Brintown, many years ago,’ the old man continued, ‘and I died in this house!’
Dan and Linda packed furiously the moment they closed the door on the old man. He had explained that there had been a massacre in Brintown killing the family next door, and most of the small town. He had survived for a short while until he himself had died. He had also informed them that it was going to be the twentieth anniversary of the massacre the following week. He advised them to get away if they didn’t want to suffer the same fate.
‘Heck!’ Dan said, squeezing his suitcase shut, ‘so this is like a ghost town! That explains everything.’
‘And did you notice the way he vanished from the door the moment we finished talking,’ Linda added.
‘Yep, like what happened at the supermarket that time! Now, do you believe me? Did you get your sister on the phone?’
‘Yes, she says we can stay as long as we want.’
‘Good!’ With that, they scrambled around the house packing all they could fit into their car. That was when they heard a familiar meow coming from the back of the house. They rushed to the kitchen and swung open the door.
Dan bundled a bedraggled-looking Buttons into his carrier and placed him lovingly onto the back seat of the car. He was purring contentedly.
‘Funny that,’ Dan said as they locked the door to a house he never liked, ‘animals can always sense when something isn’t right.’
‘Especially cats,’ Linda added. Hastily, they fastened their seatbelts and sped off in the direction of London without a backward glance.
NOTE:
Based on the Prompt – Echoes of a Silent City
- A Scream for Halloween! - October 25, 2025
- Ghosts! - September 27, 2025
- Rainy Godmother - August 7, 2025
