Author’s Note: To kick us off with the theme of Haunting Memory for the Monthly Evermore Theme, we have this piece which was written during a Creative Writing Club meeting at community college using a list of prompts. I ended up combining one about a whispered conversation and a ghost.
Read while listening for maximum immersion:
With a blurred vision from another sleepless night of study, Mr. Crawley entered his dimly lit parlor. The exhausted fire crackled into the musty air as a sudden feeling overwhelmed him, its foreboding presence raising his hairs on end.
“How cruel you are, my love…” A whisper invaded his senses.
Mr. Crawley rubbed his stinging eyes, dreading the voice which was haunting him again. How many years had it been since he had last known peace? He could not say. His imaginings had strengthened from prolonged, neglected rest.
“Who are you, and why must you torture me so?” Mr. Crawley muttered, not daring to raise his own voice above a whisper.
A single, low note from the open piano was his only response.
“Stop this! Tell me who you are. Whether you be spirit of health or goblin damned.”
As the pale moonlight crept through the window, a lovely woman’s form appeared. Mr. Crawley could not help but admire its beauty.
Transfixed, he stood silent as the lady began her melancholy song. An unearthly wailing reverberated in tune with her music.
“How cruel you are, my love…” she said, nearly drowned out by the piano.
Mr. Crawley continued as he was, heartbroken with no explanation. Their tears merged together, as they once were in life, mourning what could not be properly remembered.
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If you liked this gothic story, check out some of my other ones:
This feels like a glimpse into the marrow of a gothic ghost tale: short, atmospheric, and lingering just on the edge of dream. You appeal to the dream-like or transitory quality of experience quite often, and I adore this. The imagery works beautifully: the single piano note, the musty air, the moonlight taking shape as a woman. Each detail feeds the sense that Crawley isn’t sure whether he’s haunted by a spirit or by his own exhausted memory of love.
A moving vignette, Coral - melancholic and elegiac.
GOD! I just love your writing style so much, it's so subtle and delicate and impactful all at the same time!❤️ The grief and longing comes through this piece very naturally without forcing sentiment on the reader. The gothic weight in this piece is restrained and perfect and doesn't take away from the theme of the piece! ❤️ Haunting, tender, beautiful writing as always 🖤