Short Stories

Dorothy Dunn

"We'll, we're here!" his father said, putting the car in park.

"Ok," Jason said, the disinterest heavy in his voice.

"Ah, lighten up! I thought you always wanted to come here and explore?"

"Yeah, when I was like five maybe. I can't see why though, looking at old buildings can't be exciting."

"It is!" his father exclaimed. "There's so much to see. And there's no one here, we have the whole town to yourself for the day! So brighten up, and put away the phone. You won't need it except for photos."

"Whatever," Jason sighed, shoving his phone in his pocket. He opened the car door and stepped out into the bright glare of the winter sun. He had pale skin and brown hair. He wore a light black hoodie. He shivered realizing he should have packed a heavier jacket.

"Where do you want to go first?" his father asked enthusiastically.

"I've never been here," Jason said shoving his hand in his pockets to warm them. "You've been here a hundred times, why don't you lead the way?"

"Alrighty!" Snow covered the ground, crunching underfoot as his father led the way from the empty parking lot to the deserted main street of the ghost town. The sun shone overhead, reflecting off the blinding white snow and warming the temperature to little above freezing. Things were strangely quiet. He shivered in the stillness of everything.

"Why did you drag me here again?" Jason sighed.

"So we could spend some time together, now quit complaining. Let's start here!" They crossed over the old wooden sidewalk and stepped inside small abandoned cabin. "I bet a miner and his family used to live here," his father said quietly. There was only one room and there was no furniture. Four glass windows let in a minimal amount of light. The floor was dirt and the house had no foundation. It was undoubtedly thrown up when the miner had a spare moment, when he wasn't panning for gold.

The tour continued on like this for sometime. They spent at least five minutes exploring each building. Not all of the buildings were small cabins like the first. Some were made of stone, but most were of wood. Some were two tall.

"I remember this," Jason's father said as they stood in front of a two story building with an old wooden merry go round outside. "This is the old school house. Well, the top is, the ground floor was a club or something I think." He led them up a flight of rickety wooden stairs on the side of the building. He opened a door whose hinges were almost frozen shut. There were rows of desks inside. Chalkboards lined the walls.

"Well this is exciting," said Jason, sarcastically. "Reminds me of where I have to go back to in a few days. Can we maybe check out that big building on the other side of the street?"

"Oh, you mean the old hotel? Sure, if you want to!" They made their way back down the stairs.

"What is up with that?" Jason asked, gesturing toward the merry go round. When they had entered the school it had been still as a stone. Now it was spinning wildly. There wasn't even a light breeze.

"I don't know," his father said with a frown. "It looks like we are the only ones here, there certainly aren't any other footprints in the snow." He stopped the merry go round and then gave it a shove. It barely moved. "You didn't spin it before we went in, did you?"

"No I didn't even touch it."

"Strange," mused his father. He led the way to wide and tall brick building across the street. Meade Hotel was painted in large black letters above the second story windows. "Here, let me show you something cool," said his father leading him into a large vault. He slowly closed the heavy vault door, leaving it open just a crack so they didn't get shut in.

"I don't get it," said Jason. "What's so cool about you closing the door?"

"Look," his father said pointing to a small peephole in the center of the door. A small amount of light was let in through the large windows. Jason turned around and gasped. On the back wall of the vault was a perfect, lifesize projection of the window. His father grinned. "Pretty cool eh?"

"I guess it's okay," Jason said, trying to sound uninterested.

"Let me show you the kitchen." They exited the vault and his father made his way to the kitchen. Jason followed and then stopped. He turned and slowly made his was up the graceful curving stairwell that led up to the second floor. With each step he took, it seemed harder and harder for him to catch his breath. It was like he was drowning. Finally at the top of the stairs the feeling passed and he stopped to catch his breath before continuing down the long hallway of the second floor.

The hall was lined with rooms on either side and he peered into each room. Some rooms had beds in them. It made sense since the building used to be a hotel. Some had desks, and he couldn't figure out why. One even had a doll house and other old fashioned children's toys fenced off by a piece of clear plastic.

He finally came to the last room and stopped. Inside the room stood a girl, laughing like she had just pulled some elaborate joke on him. She was pretty with long brown hair and a long blue dress. Jason smiled realizing there was nothing to be afraid of. Then he froze realizing what he was looking at. The girl's hair floated about her like she was under water and she didn't appear to be quite solid.

Jason ran down the hall, down the stairs, out of the Meade Hotel, and back to the car as fast as he could, without once looking back.

From the window of the hotel, a pretty looking girl stood, watching him and laughing.

My home state of Montana has many ghost stories and legends so I thought it was about time I did something on one of my favorite legends, 'Dorothy Dunn'. She had intrigued me for years and I have always wanted to meet her spirit. Alas Bannack, the ghost town that I used for inspiration in this story and the place her spirit resides, I have only visited once. The town is real and has a very rich and exciting history as the first capital of the Montana Territory. You should visit it someday if you get the chance, you won't regret it! If you would like to hear the tale of Dorothy I could do something on it, or you might be able to Google it. Either way, she haunts the Meade Hotel in Bannack, if you ever go, well, you have been warned....