A warped holiday tale (5)

[Cath Barton]

Graham drained the last drop from his glass, dragged himself to his feet and staggered over to the television. He poked at the switch and it burst into colour and song. The shadows of dead wives and lovers and other assorted Christmas nightmares retreated as the dancers swirled across the screen. But not for long. The spirits were up now and nothing was going to keep them from that benighted house. Doors flew open front and back and in they all marched, all the disappointments of the past sixty years, dragging one on another.

[Daniel]

aw crap, I just noticed Sal had already followed this thread...

[Daniel]

The floor boards beneath Graham's feet began to buckle, the walls to shimmer and even worse. His bottle of cold respite dropped and shattered. Spirits charged each other in a maelstrom of muted colors, and their shrieks reached a feverish pitch. Graham followed the tabby and ran like hell. Outside in the misery of white-out conditions he watched as his house was consumed in ghostly apocalypse. Clara, his beloved Clara appeared beside him. "Graham" her voice sounding thin, distant, "remember our last night together?"

[Salvatore Buttaci]

It wasn't new to Graham. He'd read enough Scrooge stories and seen enough Scrooge films to convince himself crap happens. Still, it didn't seem fair. He had sown good seeds throughout his life, been kind, stuck out his neck for friends, got up each time misfortune knocked him down, but the seeds fell on fallow ground. Nothing of beauty grew there, and now in the harsh winter of his life, the woman he had loved and lost, the child they had both watched die of cancer, the battalion of wine bottles...all the ghosts he tried so desperately to pretend had vanished, were back again to haunt him. In one hand he held his old war gun; in his right enough pills to bring down a stallion...or he could change the channel and watch something light and easy.

[Bill Floyd]

Enter the ghosts of Christmas past...

[Jeanette Cheezum]

Great write, Cath. And the beat goes on....

[Sandra Davies]

And giving anyone who follows a load of directional possibilities to take - nice one Cath!