Have you ever seen a ghost?
Welcome to Tuesday Tales, a weekly blog featuring diverse authors who post excerpts from their works in progress based on word and picture prompts. We’re a book hungry troop that enjoys reading as much as you do. Today our word prompt is number. My excerpt is from one of my books in progress, Hannah’s Haint, a vintage paranormal romance set in a small town in the 1950s. Please visit the other fabulous authors at Tuesday Tales.
Hannah cringed at the disbelief on Meg’s face and the eyebrows that were about to take flight. Protest would only fuel the fire. Might as well sing a different number. She pretended to brush grains of sand from her thighs. “To tell the truth, Nate has been on my mind today, but only because of what happened last night.”
Meg lurched up, her eyes wide. “What happened?”
“My resident haint made an appearance.”
“You mean you and Nate actually saw the ghost?”
She shrugged. “No so much saw as saw the effects of.”
The teaser was met with a flurry of arm flailing. “Tell me this minute.”
“I had gone up to the attic to look around and straighten…”
“The fortune teller warned you not to go up there.”
“I have to take an inventory for the bank. You know how shoddy the sale papers were.”
“Then you should have waited for Nate to go with you.”
“He was late coming to work. Do you want to know what happened or not?”
At the sight of Meg’s vehement nodding, Hannah continued. “To make a long story short, I hadn’t been up there five minutes when the music started again and the air suddenly smelled like jasmine, and then…” Her playful mood sobered at the memory. She stopped to swallow. “Something, someone touched my arm.”
“Oh, my ever lovin’ God. Old Sarah was right. The ghost is dangerous. What did you do?”
“I ran out to the landing and smack dab into Nate.”
A beatific smile hovered on Meg’s lips, and her voice turned soft. “And Nate comforted you.”
Hannah’s forehead crinkled. “How’d you know?”
“That’s what he would do. Did he investigate?”
“No, I wouldn’t let him. We went downstairs. But he heard the tinkling and smelled the jasmine.”
“Good. I’m glad it’s not just you.”
“You might clear me of hallucinating, but I don’t even want to think about his take on it.”
“You didn’t talk it out?”
Hannah shook her head. “I was a smidge upset, and then Buster came, so no.” She stood up. “Let’s go for another swim before Bryan gets back.”
A few minutes later the fickle ocean had them both laughing. Good natured fun heated her cheeks. The waves stroked her lotion into coconut scented beads. She didn’t care. The beach always took away her troubles, if only for a little while.
I hope you enjoyed the snippet based on the word prompt number. Thanks for stopping by. Please visit the other fabulous authors at Tuesday Tales.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance
Excellent post. Hearing her tell of it was just as eerie as having it happen.
I thought it would be interesting to see how it was from another perspective. Writer’s play!
Without the intent of being nosy, I would dares say I recognize you in the last sentence =
The beach always took away her troubles, if only for a little while.
Great teaser…….
You could never be too nosy, Carmen. Yes, all that blueness.
The beach does that for me, too. I love the beach. I’d freak out if something like that touched me, too. Brrrr. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Love this piece!
It won’t be long now until beach time, Jean. Thanks for stopping by.
Another great post. I am loving this story!
I’m so glad you like the story, Cathy!
great story. Love the title, too. Not many people use the word haint any longer. It’s always been a fav of mine. This snippet was great. I can always “see” what you write.
I know– the word haint in the title may not fly, but for now that’s what it is to me. I love the word, too. I’m glad you could see the scene, Jillian. Thanks for stopping by!
Great scene in a wonderful story. It was if I were standing there watching the conversation. I got so wrapped up in reading I totally forgot to keep an eye out for the prompt. Great job!
I’m glad you enjoyed the scene, Trisha. Thank you for stopping by and commenting!