Lonely Ghost at The End of Time

Virgil had always reflected on his life as a ghost from the moment the sun peeked over the horizon, and until the world was bathed in moonlight. He sometimes thought about nothing but this process and pondered how many more sunrises would he see until the world was engulfed by eternal darkness. Not that it affected him or anyone else. The sun was nothing more than a useless prop in the background of a painting once you were dead.

His ghostly apparition hovered over the brick edge of the building he called home as he continued to look up into the sky. The black holes of his eyes were unaffected by the gleaming light, the gentle to strong gusts of wind, and all the dust it brought with it.

For once, he closed his eyes, and he thought about something different for a change. What was it like before The End of Time?

His eyes opened. But he could not recall much of anything.

When he looked down towards the ruined streets of Fordswell, Virgil imagined the streets were full of people who ran through their usual routines. He pictured the black roads were not cracked, and there were no weeds that were clawing their way out of the earth. And the buildings were clean, and the windows were not as sharp as a creature’s teeth. What he contemplated most was seeing a family stroll down those streets together: A father carrying a little boy and another boy tugging at his mother’s dress as he pointed in the direction of a nearby ice cream shop.

Could this be a memory?

Virgil was unsure. But now, he and his brother Freddie wanted to find out more.

“Are you ready to go on that adventure we’ve been wanting to go on?” Freddie interrupted Virgil’s thoughts.

“Yes,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

Their journey out into the world would be full of perils, even for a ghost. Many ghosts lived in peace in Fordswell, but there were other ghosts like the Wraiths and Banshees that would hunt other ghosts for wandering into the wrong places. That was not going to deter the brothers. Either of them refused to be turned into a pile of ectoplasm.

Virgil did ponder one last thought before he and Freddie would leave off on the Main Road: What is the point of living when you’re already dead?

About the Author

Bobby Corpus won an honorable mention in our 2nd Annual Napkin Microfiction Contest (May 2022) with the award winning story Lonely Ghost at The End of Time. Bobby won a cash prize and will be published in Indie It Press’s 2nd COURAGEOUS CREATIVE Anthology: Volume II, to be published sometime in 2023.