A new night, but everything was different. The ghost was thinking back on the events of the previous night. He remembered trying to save the woman from drowning, and he remembered her death. She had become a ghost like him, and then she had wandered off into the night. He hadn't seen any sign of her tonight. He didn't know if she was still here or if she had somehow moved on to Heaven. It didn't matter to him anyway.
There was something different about tonight. The ghost wasn't sure what that was. He thought back on those long nights, years, and centuries of his captivity in this horrible limbo. It had all been so bad for him. All of the frantic searching was for nothing. He wondered how he had kept it up for so many hundreds of years.
But now he was finished. There would be no more searching for a way to Heaven. It was obvious to him now that the searching was all for naught. If he were meant to leave here then he would have left long ago. After searching for so long, he had just been trying to escape to anywhere out of here, it didn't matter where. But that had all changed for him now.
The prolonged pain and suffering, he realized now, was partially self inflicted. Maybe he could have spent his time with different pursuits. He knew that wouldn't have been much better, but it would have been better. He knew his time hadn't been wasted, but maybe it could have been served better. He decided that it was all going to change now.
He thought again to the previous night. When that new carriage had arrived, he thought it was a beast coming to drag him down to Hell. He realized that not every place would be preferable to his home here. After all, this was his home. Was there really any other place in the world that he'd rather be? Not likely.
The death of the woman was such a shock to him. He hadn't realized that he could be shocked anymore. Maybe he had been meant to help her all along. He hadn't saved her life, but he had eased her into her death. She had certainly had an easier time than he did. He was sure that she had needed it. The ghost hoped that she had made it into Heaven alright. He wondered what it was like.
It was at that moment that a strange feeling came over him. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach, and it began to radiate out to the rest of his body. It was the best feeling that he had ever had! It was. It was his salvation! Tears began to flow from his eyes! He knew! He was going to leave this place now! He was finally going to Heaven! The gateway was waiting for him at the big rock in front of the castle!
The ghost looked up as he walked back toward the castle. The full Moon hung low in the night sky, and it was so bright that it illuminated everything to make it seem as if it were day. The stars shined so clear and bright that they looked as if he could reach out and grab them. It was all together the most beautiful night sky he had ever seen. That's when he thought to himself, "This is a good night."
Good Night
I'm happy the ghost finally found the way :-)
ReplyDeleteSometimes the way to your destination is right in front of you. So obvious that you don't see it.
ReplyDeleteThe ending was a surprise. Great tale Ratty!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the ending Ratty....seems all the guy had to do was stop and think about someone else....pity someone had to die for that to happen. Good ending.....but then I wonder......is it an ending?? After all we don't know exactly where the woman is.....maybe there will be a sequel?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny, I read this while listening to a Pandora Station I created from a few halloween songs. And what played was, "Village of the Doomed" by Chris Vrenna from American McGee's Alice (movie, maybe?).
ReplyDeleteMatched perfectly! Great story!
Thank you all for your comments. I'm sorry my reply had to come so late. I really hope everyone liked the ending to this tale. It may have been the hardest part of the story to write. Real ghost legends never really seem to have an ending. The stories and sightings of any legendary ghosts I've ever heard about just seem to go on forever with the ghost never finding peace.
ReplyDelete