Wednesday, October 30, 2013

HAUNTINGS FROM THE BEYOND …..

Autumn leaves stir with a gentle rustle. A figure appears. Booted feet glide across the fallen leaves, yet all is silent. Moonlight dapples through the hollow as the unshadowed figure awaits.

A lace cuffed hand reaches into glowing silk breeches and pulls out a time piece. The figure shakes his head. He turns, freezing a stare through the towering maple and oak trees. He steps down the glenn toward the rushing water. The Hudson River gleams, reflecting shimmers of moon beams. 

Hooves crunch the fallen leaves, and a chestnut horse snorts as it appears in front of the figure. Its rider, headless, turns his shoulders from side-to-side.

The figure's head jerks. The faint call of his name pricks his ear. It beckons louder, but it's not coming from the headless horseman.

"Appear to us," chants a female voice.

"Washington. We call to you. Make yourself known." The misty words carry on the winds into the hollow.

Washington raises a transparent brow. He turns toward the horseman, bows, and vanishes.

He reappears in a dimly lit room. Faces the medium, Tara, and speaks. "Why have you summoned me from the great beyond?"

"A Twenty-first century writer wishes to speak with you." She glances toward a gentleman to her right. "Michael. You requested a chat with our esteemed guest?" She lock's her eyes on the ghost. "Washington Irving this is Michael Di Gesu'.

Washington bows his head. "A pleasure, sir. What is it you ask of me?

Michael swallows hard, The gulp magnifies through the silent room. "The pleasure's all mine. I, too, hail from NYC, and was raised not far from Tarrytown, NY. So I feel a special bond with you. Your two famous tales hold deep in my heart."

Washington bows his head again. "It pleasures me to know that my tales are still well received young, sir. However, I must bid you farewell. I have an urgent meeting with the Headless Horseman." He waves and elegant hand. "Farewell ye authors of the future. May you never compromise your writings for gold."

And with that parting message, he dissolves into a fine mist. It lingers for a moment and as last dissipates. Tara's eyes flash open.

"What happened?"

"You just contacted Washington Irving! IT was so awesome!" Angela pipes.

Tara shivers. "I did?" She snaps her head toward Gwen. "You do the next one. I feel almost violated."

HAPPY Pre-HALLOWS EVE, Everyone. Today is a DOUBLE blog hop! Thankfully my entry matches BOTH criteria ... For the FROM the GREAT BEYOND BLOG HOP hosted by Angela Brown, Roland Yeoman, Gwen Gardener and Tara Tyler,

AND …

HAUNTING …..


WRITE … EDIT … PUBLISH …
HOSTED BY DENISE COVEY






I hope you all enjoyed my 401 word entry. If you haven't figured out by now, today's From the Great Beyond hop is about bringing back the ghost of a favored author or celebrity. Lots of fun prizes too! SO HOP around and COMMENT on everyone's blog!

AND,  HAUNTING…

Write a chilling, scary, fun Halloweens story of your choice. Denise is offering a $10.00 gift card for best entry. SWEET!

SO PLEASE drop by BOTH hops and join in the FUN….  Could you ask for ANYTHING MORE!

Have a HAUNTING DAY!!!!! Insert GHOSLY LAUGH…. 



39 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post Michael hope you get lots of response.

Yvonne.

dolorah said...

Ohhh, I've got goosebumps Michael. Way cool.

.......dhole

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Great stuff, Michael! I love the Fall feeling I got while reading. Awesome descriptions.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Very clever! And he was quite the gentleman.

Unknown said...

Creepy!

Crystal Collier said...

Awesome. The headless horseman... LOL. I want to know what that meeting is about. =)

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Great entry. And the others are right: Autumn was an actual character in this. :-)

Johanna Garth said...

What a perfect ghost to connect with right before All Hallow's Eve.

Carrie-Anne said...

Great moody scene!

Gwen Gardner said...

This was awesome, Michael! I was right there in the room - AND I get to do the next one. Eeeep! Who should I contact? *walks away planning next year's séance*

Carol Kilgore said...

This was great! I loved it!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Awesome Michael! You make creepy poetic :)

Chrys Fey said...

Such a vivid piece! I especially loved this part: "A Twenty-first century writer wishes to speak with you." ;)

I wish I knew what was so urgent about Washington's meeting with the Headless Horseman. lol

Yolanda Renée said...

Michael! Perfection! How well you filled both blog hops with one dazzling piece! Congratulations!

Trick of Treat and Happy Halloween!

Lisa said...

This was fun! And good job doing it for two blog hops!

Bevimus said...

What fun! I was just in Sleepy Hollow a couple of weeks ago, listening to an actor perfom that very tale in its entirety in the Old Dutch Church! What a great after-dinner cocktail to that weekend this was, thanks Michael!

Raquel Byrnes said...

I loved that. The being summoned scene was such a unique twist. Great job. :)

Kelly Steel said...

I loved it! This was great!

Nicole Zoltack said...

Very creepy. Great job!

Michelle Wallace said...

Very atmospheric!
A great message for the authors of the future!

Suze said...

Okay, can I just say I love:

"You just contacted Washington Irving! IT was so awesome!"

I can see why you and Nicki Elson are such good friends. :)

M Pax said...

He did write a haunting tale. The whole idea of a headless horseman is frightening. I wouldn't want to run into one.

Unknown said...

What a fun entry for the Great Beyond blog hop, Michael! Irving was an excellent choice. And I agree with Mary. A headless horseman would be the last thing I'd like to meet on a dark road. O_O

Charmaine Clancy said...

Very entertaining Michael, looks like you had a lot of fun with this haunting :)
CharmaineClancy.com

~Sia McKye~ said...

Quite the gentleman, isn't he? Fits quite timely with the season as well. :-)

Sia McKye Over Coffee

Denise Covey said...

Michael, you must be in Columbia by now. Well done to get this pre-scheduled! What an imaginative read. Loved it. Shades of the Fourth Horseman of the Apocolypse.

Great idea to combine 2 spookyfests, as I did.

Have a great holiday!

Denise

Tara Tyler said...

wow! i didnt know i had it in me! excellent setting! i could picture it vividly! cool!

Angela Brown said...

This was such an engaging and haunting piece, Micheal. I love your choice for the seance and the way you went about executing the tale.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I love the part about not compromising for gold. This was haunting in a couple ways.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Shah Wharton said...

Beyond awesome! Loved this. :)

http://shahwharton.com

Unknown said...

Very nice Bro! Been a bit occupied but I do miss halloween!

Li said...

Nice choice of subject. I hope the Headless Horseman wasn't going to demand any edits from Washington. ;-)

Sally said...

As always great writing, I look forward to reading your eloquence every time you post. Have a great time in Columbia.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Saturday November 2nd, 2013

Dear Michael,

What fun! A visit from the beyond from Washington Irving! So appropriate! Brings back childhood memories for me.

Hope you are well and have a great trip.

I'm not doing NaNo this year. I'm student-teaching until Christmas.

Best wishes,
Anna
ox

Anna's WEP-Challenge for October: Haunting

N. R. Williams said...

Great post. I was thinking the other Washington at first. To add the headless horseman was a fun idea.
Nancy

The Armchair Squid said...

Cool! I don't know which famous author I'd wish to meet for a beyond the grave encounter. I'll have to think about that one.

Scheherazade said...

very clever and wonderful descriptions.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Loved the descriptions of autumn and the lace cuffs. Effortless capture of the "period feel".