- A SHADY PLOT -

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

                                                                        

So I sat down to write a ghost story.

Jenkins was responsible for this.

“Madison,” he said to me, “gives us another one on the supernatural this time. Something to give them the horror; that’s what the public wants and your ghosts are live proportions.”

Well, I was in position to contradict Jenkins, for, as yet, his magazine has been the only one to print my stuff. So I said “Precisely!” in the deepest voice I was capable of, and had gone out.

I hadn’t the shade of an idea, but at the time it didn’t worry me in the least. You see, I had often been like that before and in the end things had always come my way—I didn’t in the least know how or why.

It had all been mysterious.

You understand I didn’t specialize in ghost stories, but more or less they seemed to specialize me.

A ghost story had been the first fiction I had ever written. Curious how that idea for a plot had come to me out of nowhere after I had chased inspiration in vain for months!

Even now whenever Jenkins wanted a ghost story, he called on me. And I had never found it healthy to contradict Jenkins. He always seemed to have uncanny knowledge as to when the landlord or the grocer was pestering me, and he dunned me for a ghost. And somehow I would always been able to dig one up for him, so I’d begun to get a bit cocky as to my ability.

So I went home and sat down before my desk and sucked at the end of my pencil and waited, but nothing happened. Pretty soon my mind began to wander off on things, decidedly un-ghostly and material things, such as going to shopping and how on earth I became a writer. But, I realized that it would never get a place so, I stared at the ceiling.

“This writing business is delightful, isn’t it?” I sad sarcastically at last, out loud, too. You see, I had reached the stage of imbecility when I was talking to myself.

“YES,” said a voice at the other end of the room, “I should say this!”

I admit I jumped. Then I looked around.

It was twilight by this time and I had forgotten to turn the lamp on. The other end of the room was full of shadows and furniture. I kept staring at it and suddenly noticed something taking shape. It was exactly like watching an anime movie like, when the creature takes its shape back, it was quite similar.

First an arm came out, then a bit of sleeve of a stiff white shirtwaist, then a leg and a plaid skirt, at the last she was COMPLETE!

I had NO idea of who she was.

She was long and angular, with enormous fishy eyes behind her long eyelashes and her hair tied in a tight wad at the back of her head (yes, I seemed to have looked right through her head) and a jaw—well, it looked so solid that for a moment began to doubt my very own senses and believe she was real after all.

She came over a stood in front of me and glared—yes positively, glared down at me, I realized that I had never laid my eyes on this woman before, to say nothing of giving her cause to looke at me like that.

I sat still, feeling pretty helpless I can tell you, and at last she barked “what are you gaping at?”

I swallowed though I hadn’t been chewing anything.

“Nothing,” I said. “absolutely nothing. My dear lady, I was merely waiting for you to tell me why you had come. And excuse me, do you always come in sections like THIS? I should think your parts must get mixed up sometimes. I guess you might have fingers in the place of your nose someday.”

“Didn’t you send for me?” she crisped.

Imagine how I felt at that!

“Why, no. I—I don’t seem to remember---“

“Look here. Haven’t you been calling on heaven and earth all the afternoon to help you write a story?”

I nodded, and then a possible explanation occurred to me and my spine got cold. Suppose this was the ghost of a stenographer applying for a job! I had had an advertisement in the paper recently. I opened my mouth to explain that the position was filled, and permanently so, but she stopped me.

She said  “and then I got back to the office from my last case and was ready for you, didn’t you switch off to something else and sit there driveling so I couldn’t attract your attention until just now?”

“I—I’m really sorry.” I murmured.

“Well, you needn’t be, because I just came to tell you to stop bothering us for assistance; you aren’t going to get it. We’re going to strike,” she spoke normally.

“WHAT?!”

She raised her eyebrows and said “you don’t have to yell at me.”

 “I—I am sorry. I didn’t mean to yell,” I said humbly “but I am afraid I didn’t quite understand you. You said you were---“

“Going on strike. Don’t you know what a strike is? Not another plot you get from us!”

I stared at her and licked my lips.

“Is—is that where they have been coming from?” I said.

“Off course where else?” she replied.

I asked confused “but my ghosts aren’t a bit like YOU---“

* * * * * * * * * * *

A/N

i am quite excited about this story.... yupp i am.... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

okay... i need to stop.

keep voting and drop YOUR beautiful comments you beautiful people.

Aaaaaaaand i will upload my main story along with this .... as SOON a i can.

K BYEEEEEEEEEE.

~Meghna xoxo