Wednesday, November 27, 2019

"Edwin and the ghost" a short story by Craig Zimmerman

Edwin the crow was munching on a discarded burrito in the Walmart parking lot that was his home when a strange creature approached. The being looked human but it was almost transparent.

"What the heck are you|?" Edwin asked. "I am Harry the ghost" the creature replied.  Edwin laughed. "I've never heard of a Walmart ghost" he said. "Technically, I'm not a Walmart ghost. I was haunting the house that was here before the store was built, but when that was torn down I had nowhere to go, so I stayed" the creature explained.

"What kind of ghostly things do you do?" Edwin asked Harry. "I like to play tricks on people. The other day, I took this old lady's purse. She was looking for it for hours." the ghost replied laughing. "That's kinda mean" Edwin commented. The creature frowned "I'm a ghost that's what I do."

"You don't have to do mean things." Edwin argued. "Playing tricks on people is more fun then being nice" Harry  responded. Just then Edwin spotted a car speeding through the parking lot narrowly missing a mother and her children. 

Edwin pointed a wing at the speeding car. "I'll bet it would be fun to try and slow that guy down"  The ghost smiled and transported himself to the passenger side of the speeding car. "Could you please slow down" he told the young driver. The teen boy looked at Harry and took his foot off the gas.

In an instant, the ghost transported himself back to the sidewalk where Edwin continued eating his burrito. "I have to admit that was kind of fun" Harry commented. "Does this mean you are going to stop doing mean things?" Edwin asked. The ghost smiled "I'll have to think about that"