Entry 1
They always laughed at me for having two middle names - two middle first names are what they called it. And although the teasing relentlessly kept on, they would never make me feel embarrassed about it. Both names were the names of my grandmothers. I knew very little about them and remember only brief accounts of my mother's mother as she died when I was very young. My father's mother died before I was born. He always tells me how she fought to stay alive until my birth - that was her only wish was to see me. And each and every time I get said when he recalls this memory - he simply reminds me that she did see me. She got her wish in the end. He always imagined her standing in the delivery room when I was born and staying with me in the nursery. Even though I never saw her I always felt her there somehow - a presence. I didn't know why but I just knew it was her. I drove out to that place tonight. The one I always swore I would never go to. The one I had fought many times before to drive to. Tonight, I did not feel as strong as all the other nights before this one. The Bridge of Gloriatha. Still to this day I never understood why anyone was afraid to go there. It was well past midnight when I arrived. The fog had gotten so thick I was forced to turn my high beams off just to see the smidgen that I did. Pulling off to the side of the bridge's entrance, I faced my car towards the broken fence that had tried its best to keep intruders out. The bridge had been shut down years ago. Father always told me it was like even when he was a child. Not that long ago the announcement had come that the bridge would be condemned. What a way to end a life. You spend years existing only to one day reach your end and someone else decides your purpose here is done. The weather looked cold from inside the car but upon exiting I found it was quite the opposite. There was a warmth in the air. Like receiving an invitation to a birthday party and it gives you that feeling. I don't even know what that feeling is because I've never been invited to one. I only know what I've heard others speak of during their experiences. It didn't sound like I missed out on much though. Rotten wood creaked and cracked on every footstep. But still I continued - not even feeling the slightest bit of uneasy. Reaching the center, I hung over the barely existent railing to look down at the water below. It was black, muddy, nasty. There seemed to be no signs of life anywhere. Off to the side were decaying water lilies that had gotten caught in the overgrown banks. And straight down in the very front was a perfect line of cat tails. They seemed to be the only thing thriving here. Not wanting to waste any more time I climbed up onto the rickety ledge to prepare for my best performance. I bent my knees like my instructor has always told me and positioned my arms. Closing my eyes, I took one deep breath before the jump. "I think you should climb down from there little lady," a man's raspy voice whispered nearby, startling the soul out of me. "HUH? I thought no one came out here?" I said in a stutter. "Well," he chuckled. "Only those that leave around here." He smiled at me with a grin that held no teeth and black gums. On his hands he wore dirty gloves that the fingertips had been cut off of. He wore a flat cap that matched the color of his fingernails and his jacket had been sewn several times. A single piece of straw bounced up and down in his mouth as he spoke. "You LIVE here?" I asked astonished. "Somebody has to! Who else do you think is going to scare them pesky law breakers?" Stepping down carefully from the ledge I began to think twice about ending my life off of the eighty-five-foot bridge...tonight. I wanted to be alone. Completely alone. In total silence. With no one watching. Just alone. Tonight, would not be the night. It didn't bother me to think that again I would have to make the long drive out here a different night after sneaking out of the house. Some things just had to wait. "Changed your mind huh?" he said with a sideways smile as he pulled the straw out of his mouth to examine it. "I beg your pardon?" I said as if to act like I didn't hear his stupid comment. "About off-ting yourself...tonight is not the night Betsey..." He had his head cocked to the side as if I wasn't fooling him. I could feel my pupils grow to fill my eyeball. "How do you know my..." "I believe the word you are looking for is name. And your grandma told me DUH! Not Sue though - it was Ellen...or wait maybe it was Sue and NOT Ellen. AW HELL! I can't keep them all straight kid!" He threw the piece of straw back into his mouth. I tried to keep my voice from sounding like I was frantic, but this man was either nuts or nuts! "Keep who all straight? And you knew my grandmothers?" "The voices. I can't keep them all straight. They cloud my mind that they do! Theres not enough space in here for all of them," he said as he knocked on the side of his head. "And I didn't knew your grandmothers - I KNOW them!" "That doesn't make any sense..." I slowly began taking small steps to back away from him. "Yeah, well maybe not! I never was good in English class. It never was my cup o'tea!" I watched as he scratched his temple under his hat before returning it to its original position. Swinging my arms through the air I said, "No, I mean because they are DEAD!" They have been for years!" "Well, that's a bunch of rubbish! I was just talking to them last night - we had dinner together the three of us...and Alphie of course - can't forget about him!" With every step I took back he took forward - being sure to maintain the same distance between us. "WHO is Alphie?" I asked to keep his distracted and in good spirits. I would play around with his little charades for now until I could get the car and grab ahold of my pepper spray. "He just had a crush on her that's all! It's harmless! He's harmless!" He shrugged it off to assure me it was nothing. "Who...what?" I asked confused about this whole situation. For a brief moment I had even forgotten why I came here in the first place. "Hey...I uh think you should take a seat sweetie. You're turning a little white on me if you know what I mean." He reached out to grab my hand but his went right through mine. "You're a GHOST?" I partly screamed into the night air. To this he busted out laughing. "Of course, I am! How do you think I know your grandmothers so well, silly!" Running towards the car I did not attempt to look back to see if he was following. When I got inside I locked the doors out of habit while quietly laughing to myself that he could probably just walk right in and enter the car if he wanted. Who would stop him? But to my surprise he was still standing where I left him. Yelling that it was nice to meet me and to have a safe trip home. "I'm Jeffrey Jack Jones by the way! But they call me JJ - that's two J's because three wouldn't make sense." He continued to crack himself up as I tried several times to start the car. "And I'll tell your grandmas you said hi. OH! By the way they told me to tell you great job on that calc exam! Very impressive!" As I drove away, I watched JJ in the mirror until he suddenly dissolved into air - disappearing from my sight forever. Arriving home, I was thankful. I practically ran to my room and dove under the covers fully clothed. But something glowing caught my eye beneath the covers. My mirror - it was glowing a soft turquoise color. I cautiously approached it in amazement at its glow. And when I became within a foot of it, the mirror began to ripple like water. Putting my hand to the moving glass it disappeared inside but I felt nothing. Not a warm temperature or a cold one, it just felt normal. Before I could pull it back out something grabbed me by the hand yanking me as hard as it could to try to get me the whole way through. I fought as hard as I could. Pushing against the mirrors frame to hold myself from getting sucked in. I squeezed until my fingertips hurt from being dug into the wood surrounding the mirror. I could feel my cuticles bleeding, my nails bending - a tear rolled down my face as I wished the pain would just end. And then all of a sudden it ended... What do you think happened readers? Do you think Betsey got sucked in or do you think whatever it was let her go? Hmm... :) Stay safe out there && as always, I appreciate ya! Comments are closed.
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January 2025
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