Spoopy Writing Challenge — Day 5

Doom has befallen this land! 

Oh wait, no, I mean it’s day 5 of my seven day writing challenge! 

It’s about this point that I start struggling a bit, if I’m being honest. Seven stories in only seven days is pretty intense! Still, despite the challenge, I am really enjoying myself. So far I’ve written stories about a cult, an unconventional granny, a tale of revenge, and a spirit on set – hopefully you’ve also been enjoying reading them! 

Oh! Exciting news! I’ve decided to attend Authorcon in March. I’ve never been but a lot of amazing and talented authors are going so I am excited to see everyone! 

And maybe you’re eagerly awaiting for me to get on with it so you can read the next one… well today’s prompt comes from my Hubs:

In a world where not even the dead can escape capitalism, a poltergeist can’t hold down a job. 

So, for my fifth story of my seven day chilling challenge, I bring you…

Overtime is an Understatement

Poltergeist designated M4TT0433 floated along the ruins of the road once known as Main Street. At least that’s what the rusting sign, lying on the heaped up concrete, said. Overhead, the eternally smog-strangled skies threatened another onslaught of acid rain. 

M4TT0433 drifted through a six legged dog, whose strange bulbous fifth and sixth legs twitched and trembled as it snacked on an unrecognizable pile of flesh. Sensing him, the dog looked up and around, snarling, before returning to its meal, content that it found itself alone. Along this road, only three houses stood relatively intact, faint lights flickering in their broken glass windows. The other houses were splintery graves of familial memories, mouldering sentinels of better days. Days before… before whatever had happened happened. M4TT0433 couldn’t remember what exactly.

He passed another poltergeist floating in the opposite direction. 

“Any work that way?” he asked.

The translucent woman just shook her head sadly, before breaking down into pearlescent tears. Uncomfortable, M4TT0433 moved on. At random, he turned down another road, slipping through abandoned cars and buses. 

When the Event had happened, whenever and whatever that had been, millions of people had died. It should have been a relief. M4TT0433 stopped and stared down at a teddy bear choked by moss in the dirt. 

It should have been a relief. M4TT0433 had vague memories of repetitive tasks, small talk, daily routines, annoyances, grievances, fatigue. 

But death was not the end. Limbo was an unemployment office guarding an eternity of bliss that could only be entered once applicants had made themselves whole again. 

Because at the moment of death, all M4TT0433’s memories and dreams and ambitions had died too, leaving him a lonely husk, a yearning hollow. Without even a name he could remember. 

He’d been told by a horrifying entity made entirely of eyes and glowing disdain that he’d need to earn these memories back through hard labour.

He needed to haunt. 

But jobs were scarce these days. The dead outnumbered the living. And the living were so worn down by the horror of life, death didn’t seem to scare them anymore. 

A black cat crossed M4TT0433’s path, startling him out of his thoughts. 

Cats, the only thing as yet untouched by the devastation of the world. It looked up at him, actually seeing him, with jade eyes. 

Straightening his ghostly shoulders, M4TT0433 wavered his misty appendages at the feline, uttering – what he thought was – a soul-piercing shriek. 

The cat blinked slowly at him, then turned, and continued on its way, unimpressed.

Poltergeist M4TT0433 sighed, dropping his arms. He went up a shattered front walk to a house whose roof had collapsed into its second floor. Tarps had been nailed across the gaps, a desperate attempt to protect against the acid rain that had just now begun to pour. 

M4TT0433 raised a fist to knock, then stared at his hand, numb. An old habit, a living habit. Floating through the door, he followed a faint trace of light to the living room. Aptly named for three people were huddled around a small fireplace. A can sat close to the flames, something cooking, something M4TT0433 couldn’t smell. 

Another poltergeist hovered in the corner, pounding his fists against the wall and throwing a light bulb to the floor. 

The three people glanced up briefly, then sunk back down, expressionless. 

M4TT0433 and the other poltergeist made eye contact. The other shrugged. “Good luck.”

Then he exited through the wall and out of sight. 

One of the living, a young woman with a shaved head and savage scar across her face, pulled the can away from the fire and began to serve the slop within. 

M4TT0433 sighed, a sound like dead leaves on the sidewalk, and began to moan and wail, throwing debris about. 

Afterall, he had a job to do. 

See you all tomorrow!

x PLM