Lantern Ghosts by Aaron Polson

Author:Aaron Polson [Polson, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Skull Salad Press
Published: 2012-01-27T04:30:00+00:00

“I don’t understand why I have to climb up there. Why can’t you do it?” Flaco kicked a clump of dry, packed dirt. “Why do we have to do it at all?”

Graciela chewed her lip. Man of the family. Nonsense. “The voices, Flaco. I heard them again last night.”

“Are you going to stop talking about that silly stuff? I don’t believe in ghosts.” The waver in his voice said he did, a little at least. She’d pry him open then.

“There’s a lantern up top. The voices—the ghosts told me so. If you go up there and find it, well, then we’d know, wouldn’t we?”

His eyes narrowed. “But if I went up and nothing…then you’d admit you were wrong? Would you do that?”

Graciela offered a smile. The bait worked. Her little brother wriggled toward the trapdoor at the top. She held the rails of the ladder. Vibrations shook through the rough, splintery wood into her hands, wrists and arms, but she wouldn’t look up. A moan sounded from the next room; the old man—Nunez—reminding her of his presence.

“G—?”

She leaned against a rung, allowing the coarse wood to press her forehead. Flaco’s tiny voice had dropped from above like rain, but she still couldn’t look up.

“It’s here…an oil lantern. A big square one. It’s pretty clean, too.”

Another moan from the chapel.

“Come down,” she said. Her stomach sank. “Come down, Flaco.”

The ladder shook again, first with tiny, distant steps, but as he came closer, she could feel it. She would not look until he was near the bottom.

“I couldn’t bring the lantern,” he said as he jumped the last few feet. “I got it off the hook, but it was too big to carry while I came down.”

“What was too…big?”

They faced the specter of the old man, a pale, sweating mass of flesh, as he leaned against the door frame.

“Senor…” Graciela moved to steady him.

He waved her away. “I’m better…a little weak. Food perhaps.” He turned and staggered into the chapel.

Before she followed him, Graciela caught her brother’s arm and whispered, “Not a word to him.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.