Dances with Ghosts - Guest Blogger

Dances with Ghosts
by Guest Blogger Lisa Logan
http://lisalogan.net
http://myspace.com/authorlisalogan
Anyone seeking proof that the recently departed don’t always depart need look only as far as their local hospital. Night shift is even better. As someone who has walked–and worked–those darkened halls for sixteen years, I can tell you without hesitation that ghosts are real. While not all who reach the clearing at the end of their path in that place swirl around in a nether fog, some who suffer unexpected departures will, on occasion, take a while to find their beacon of light.

My most recent ghost stalked me for two days before finding his way onward. It was about a year ago, and I was jotting medication notes in the middle of a long hallway. As I bent over the notebook in front of me, my peripheral vision picked up the sight of someone moving up the hall. The "someone" stopped directly behind me, then leaned over my shoulder as if curious about what I was writing. The feeling was close and unmistakably male.

In little mood that day for breaches in space bubble protocol, I snapped my head around to confront whichever staff member had decided to be cute by playing Rubbernecker.

The hall was empty.

I shrugged it off and went about other tasks, though still having that "being watched" sensation. When dinner called, I wandered alone into the staff kitchen to warm up my food. I was making tea at the counter when I realized I’d left the sugar on the table behind me. Without warning I spun around, preparing to make a quick lunge for it....

...then never got there, as I smacked into someone hard. The automatic apology tumbled out. "Oh! Sorry."

But I was alone. The only reply was a disturbing cold stab of somethingness, which pushed its way through my midsection and out the kitchen door.

It was later that evening when I overheard the drama that had unfolded in the Intensive Care Unit next door. Something went wrong during what should have been a simple surgical procedure, and the man was rushed to the ICU in dire distress. Doctors worked feverishly to save his life...and failed.

A sudden and unexpected death, maybe fifty feet away from the hallway where I’d encountered Mr. Rubbernecker...right around the time of the surgical patient’s death.

Nodding, I figured I had an answer to my ghostly stalker. Then my shift was over, and it was time to put another work day behind. While it might seem this was a tale that would follow me home, it wasn’t the first time I–nor anyone else on the critical floor–had encountered such things.

By the time I returned the next day, I’d forgotten all about it...until I ventured alone to the back supply room. I entered the code and pushed open the heavy, self-closing door. I wandered to the supply cart, half-awaiting the sound of the door clicking shut behind me. Instead, the door was nearing ground zero when it swung open again, carrying a whoosh of frigid air. Frowning, I peeked outside. No one was present.

It was then that I remembered my ghost stalker from the day before. Hadn’t the poor man found his way yet? Probably because I’ve watched one movie too many, I turned to humor.

"Um," I said to the supply room, "I’m flattered that you keep following me, but as you can see my job really isn’t all that interesting. Besides, I think there’s somewhere else you’re supposed to be now. It’s okay. It’s okay for you to go."

I stood and waited. Nothing. No swinging doors, rubbernecking, or bumps against my middle. After a long moment I grabbed my supplies and left. He never followed. I hope he found his way.
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Lisa Logan is the author of VISIONS, a psychic romance/mystery available from Amazon, Borders, and other sellers. She is also an award-winning short story author, and her piece THE GREAT WHITE SKY TREE is now available on Amazon.com. In addition, Lisa is the editor of MysteryAuthors.com, an author promotion site and quarterly flash webzine. Visit Lisa’s website, Writing in My Wildest Dreams at http://lisalogan.net.

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Thank you Lisa! Makes you think about what houses public places!