At G. Host Residential and Commercial Real Estate Agents, Mandy languidly listened to the ghostly sound of a telephone ringing and ringing whilst meticulously filing her fingernails.
After it had rung for a suitably irritating length of time, she lifted the telephone handset.
“Hello … You are through to G. Host Residential and Commercial, mellow Mandy speaking, how can I help You?”
“It’s Harry here – I say I tried that place. You were absolutely right it was lovely and quiet. It was in a wonderful country location. There was a beautiful garden outside with all sorts of wild flowers and a little pond. There were oak beams and open log fire places. Completely ideal for a new ghost seeking tranquillity”.
“I get the feeling that there is a but coming,” said Mandy.
“It’s boring,” said Harry. “I sat there for hours with nothing to do. I’ve spent my whole life being busy and the thought of doing nothing for day after day is an absolute nightmare.”
“I can see that this is going to be one of those days,” sighed Mandy. “Couldn’t you commune with the butterflies or something.”
“Well there was an earwig passing. I tried being friendly but talking about the joys of watching wood rot just made me fidget – quite a lot.”
“Harry, I’ve just put on my thinking cap for you and come up with a brilliant idea. This Harry, believe me, will be absolutely ideal.”
“You mean it?”
“Definitely. You would make an absolutely perfect temporary dramatic ghost.”
“Well I did help put on an amateur play once – I had to bang a drum at the tense bits. But what exactly is a temporary dramatic ghost?”
“Well ghosts that have a regular dramatic haunting – you know, tragedies, re-enacted murders, blood oozing from floorboards – just like everybody occasionally need a rest. Sort of respite if you like. Sometimes they appreciate having somebody standing in for them. You know, somebody to keep the show going on while they are away. All situations are short term so you’ll never get bored. You’ll be provided with a script to work to so you won’t have to make any decisions – it’s perfect for a novice ghost that’s prone to boredom. And it’ll give you a good opportunity to try your hand at a variety of situations.”
“Sounds great – I’ll go for it!”
Mandy:”And here’s an ideal first accommodation. In return for bed and board, you occupy a tumble down house for a week. It’s quite a light tragedy. The present occupant is a nice young boy who got trapped there and died in agony. He doesn’t appear for everybody. Just other small boys – sort of as a public service warning.”
“But I don’t look like a little boy”.
“Use your imagination and you’ll have no problem”.
“OK! I understand I must be positive. It’s a long time since I wore short trousers – I’ll take it!”
“Bye bye,” said Mandy.
“Bye bye,” said Harry.
To be continued
(Rob Hopcott – online author – fiction – news)
Note from the author. I hope you are enjoying this series of free serialized short ghost stories by Rob Hopcott. Check back often to read the ongoing ghostly story as it unfolds in regular free ghostly episodes.
Copyright Rob Hopcott 2007, all rights reserved. All characters in this humorous serialized ghost long short story flash fiction and other free on-line humor, short stories, flash fictions, micro-fictions, sudden fictions, post card fictions or very short stories on this site are fictitious and no reference is intended to any person living or otherwise.
