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Abandoned

24 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by lexilogical in Stories

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Tags

abandoned, fantasy, farmhouse, ghosts, Story

Jillian sat at the kitchen table, math homework in front of her, watching the bright green tractor riding up and down the fields. The dark ground behind the tractor stood out in sharp contrast against the winter grey soil of the field, slowly preparing the whole field for the new corn seeds. Half the field was already black as the tractor worked its way back and forth like a typewriter on the field. It wasn’t until the tractor momentarily vanished behind a dilapidated house in the middle of the field that Jillian broke out of her out of her trance. She turned to stare down at the math paper, only to be confronted by swimming numbers and symbols. She sighed deeply, turning her gaze back to the abandoned old house.

“Mom, why do we have that house in the middle of the field anyways?” She turned to the other woman in the kitchen, her hands covered in flour up to the elbows as she kneaded a loaf of bread. Her mother looked up at her startled, broken out of her own trance.

“What was that, Jilly? The old house?” She quickly glanced out the window herself.

“Yeah, why’s it there? None of the other farms have broken down old homes in the field.”

Her mother gave her a sharp glance. “Don’t you have homework to be doing?” she asked. Jillian covered the offensive numbers with her sleeve, hoping to look casual.

“I’m almost done.” she lied. “Come on, there has to be a story here.”

Her mother fixed her with a steely gaze as she shaped the dough into loaves, covering them with a dish towel. “I suppose you have been working hard. You see, that house used to belong to your great grandmother, Jilly, your dad’s Nona. His Poppa made the house for her when they were married, as a wedding gift, but he died when your dad was still young. He was in a terrible car accident, with his daughter and her husband in the back seat. It left Nona to take care of their children and farm herself. And she did it too, though the farm was much smaller back then. She used to pick the corn herself with your Dad strapped to her back, and Uncle Todd and Auntie Eda following behind her with wagons full of corn.”

Jillian looked out at the house with it’s dirty white siding in the field. “So why don’t we still live out there then?” she asked. Her mother shrugged.

“Well, when I married your father, your aunt surprised us both by buying this half of the farm and your uncle built us a home over here. That house was a little small for us all. Nona insisted on staying over there though, said she had no place in a new couple’s home. She stayed out there until one night, a fire started. It didn’t get a chance to do much damage, but Nona was old… She had that cough the rest of her life…”

Jilly’s mom trailed off to silence as she looked out the window. After a few seconds, she seemed to shake it off and continued her story. “Anyway, we talked about just tearing it down a few times, but it’s just hard. It still feels like her when you go inside. So we left it.” Her mother leaned over the counter, tapping the math papers with her finger. “Now back to work. Nona didn’t raise any slackers, and I don’t plan on it either.”


Jillian cut across the cornfields on her way home, backpack weighed down with heavily with books. The tiny corn plants were sprouting all through the field by now, but Jillian had eyes only for home as she trudged along. She passed by the ancient farmhouse, just in time to hear the old structure let out a loud creak. It sent a chill down her spine as she stopped in her tracks, turning to give the old building another look. It let out a second creak under her gaze, with the faint song of chimes in the wind.

A bush had sprouted up in the door well, but the doorknob turned easily as Jillian slipped into inside. Sunlight streamed in through the broken windows, illuminating the small wind chimes that hung from scorched frames. The chill ran back up her back and out her arms as she took in the blackened walls and dusty rugs. Jillian licked her lips nervously, before forcing a smile onto her face.

“Hello Nona,” she said into the empty space, pulling a notebook out of her backpack. “My dad said you used to be pretty good at math. I was wondering if you could help me out.”

A breeze blew through and sent the windchimes dancing again. Feeling a little foolish, Jillian sat down with her notebook on the floor. The numbers were still there, still teasing her with their silly notation. But she almost thought she could see a pattern forming. Maybe with a few tweaks and nudges…

As she worked through the math problems in her notebook, Jillian barely noticed the faint sound of a cough.

One Last Flower

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by lexilogical in Stories, Will & Dia

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Tags

Dia, fiction, funeral, ghosts, Story, Will, Will & Dia

“Do you want to come to the funeral?” Dia asked quietly. Will bit the inside of his lip. He and Dia had only been dating a few weeks now, but he could see her silently begging behind her brown eyes. He hadn’t even met her grandma, but he’d be a monster to say no to her pain.

“Of course I’ll come.” He responded quickly.

The next day, he waited outside her house beside his car as Dia came out in a black dress covered in red roses. She was still putting in a teardrop shaped earring as she got in beside him.

“Thanks for coming, I just hate going to family gatherings alone. And funerals give me the heebies.”

“I think funerals give everyone the heebies.” He said reassuringly, rubbing her knee through her nylons. “Where are we headed?”

The car ride passed quickly as Dia told him stories about her grandma. About the cookies they’d baked when she was supposed to be too sick to go to school, and playing dress-up in her closet with floppy hats and lipstick. As they pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home, Will saw an older woman come quickly walking up. The woman shared Dia’s curly hair and brown eyes, and as Dia rushed up to sweep her into a hug, he could see the resemblance in their round cheek bones.

“Mom, this is Will.” Dia introduced as he came out of the car. “He’s the one I’ve been telling you about.” The woman looked him up briefly before sweeping him up into an equally big hug.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Will. Come on Dianna, let’s go introduce him to everyone.”

After shaking what felt like an endless number of hands, Will collapsed onto a small bench in the hallway. He heaved a sigh of relief as he looked up at the ceiling.

“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced, young man.” Said a voice beside him. Will looked over to see an elderly woman sitting beside him. She smiled at him warmly, her pure white hair curling gently about her ears. He was struck by the smile that it seemed Dia’s whole family shared, a genuinely happy one to see. He quickly straightened himself out, holding out his hand to shake.

“I’m Will, Dianna’s new boyfriend.” He said, giving a gentle shake to the delicate hand beneath his. The woman’s brown eyes twinkled back at him.

“So Dia has herself a new lover. How lovely for her!” She leaned over and whispered in a conspiratal tone, “We were worried she might never find herself a nice man. But you seem positively charming!” Will blushed slightly.

“Well, I try to be. I never realized her family was so… big.” The woman laughed, leaning over to peek through the open door where the family had gathered.

“Yes, who would imagine so many people turning out for one crazy, old lady.”

“She must have done something right, at least, to have such a welcoming family.” Will retorted, defensive of the woman he’d never met.

“And yet you’re sitting out here! What, did they scare you off?” She said with a playful hint.

Will ran a hand through his hair, “No, it’s just very intense. My family’s funerals have never been quite as boisterous as this one, Mrs…” He trailed off hesitantly.

“Call me Primrose, please. I think that she would have liked this funeral. It’s loud, and full of life. Better to celebrate what she did than mourn that she’s gone, right?”

Will nodded thoughtfully, “A celebration of life then…”

“…And maybe some new beginnings. You treat Dia well, okay? She deserves the best.”

Will smiled back at the woman, “I think I can do that.”

Just then Dia and her mother came into the hallway. “There you are, Will!” Dia said, “Come in, they’re about to do the eulogy.”

“Oh, sorry.” Will said, getting up, “I was just talking to Primrose here.” He gestured to the seat beside him as he noticed Dia’s mother’s eyes begin to fill with tears.

“You’re such a sweet boy.” She choked out before heading back into the room. Dia smiled.

“I didn’t know you were religious.” She said quietly, pulling him towards the gathering room. Will glanced back in confusion, to see nothing but an empty bench in the hallway. As he was pulled into the room, he heard Dia’s uncle from the front of the room begin to talk.

“We’re gathered here today to celebrate the passing of a great woman, Primrose Barriet…”

Kingdom of the Blind

18 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by lexilogical in Odds and Ends, Stories

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Tags

blind, ghosts, imaginary friend, Story, teenager

June watched as her daughter walked past the living room, chattering away.

“Who are you talking to, Amy? You know you’re still grounded from last weekend.” She called out sternly.

“I’m talking to Nana, Mom.” Amy replied with typical teenaged attitude. June stopped folding the laundry in shock.

“Amy, Nana died last year.” She said quietly.

“Well duh. But she’s also standing right there!” She insisted, pointing at the air beside her. June tried her best to stay calm.

“Amy, there’s no one there.” The teen rolled her eyes in exasperation, turning to address the space beside her.

“See what I mean? She’s just blind as always.”

“AMY JENNIFER EVERIDGE!” June rose to her feet in anger. “Do you expect me to believe you are talking to the ghost of my mother?” Amy glowered back at her mother, her stance echoing her mother’s set hips.

“No, I don’t expect you to believe anything. You’ve never believed anything I said. Even when Theodore told me about Dad’s accident, you told me he was just ‘an imaginary friend’.” She turned on her heels and stomped off, leaving June still standing in shock as the bedroom door slammed.

June continued folding numbly. She thought back to that day, 7 years ago, when the company had called. She had been in shock that day as well, and far too panicked to consider what her daughter was saying about her imaginary friend as she’d loaded her into the car for the drive to the hospital. She’d never stopped to process it afterwards either, there was too much to worry about with Fred. But she as she tried to recall, the memory came up crystal clear, as if it had been stored away for later review and she was only just uncovering an old video in a forgotten box. There was Amy in the backseat of the car, telling her not to worry, that Theodore said Daddy had gotten his foot stuck in the machine, but they stopped it quickly and the doctors said it would be alright. She’d dismissed it as just a little girl’s rambling about an imaginary friend, not important at the moment. But she’d been right.

June walked quietly down the hall to the door proudly decorated in beads and stickers. She could hear quiet talking inside, but it stopped as she rapped on the door.

“Amy?” She hesitated. “What is Nana saying?”

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