As Halloween 2014 drags its bloated, or soon-to-be-bloated, body nearer, of course I thought it appropriate for a love story of a different kind. I’m splitting the skull of this story into three pieces, for your (I hope) ease of reading and enjoyment. Comments and referrals are always appreciated. 🙂

Image from Ghost Study.
Undelivered Valentines: Part I
by Leigh Ward-Smith
An icepick of a shriek rocked me free from my tendrily bedsheets. As I bolted out, almost tripping on their thin cotton arms, I was just able to clap eyes on the garish red numbers: 2:59.
“Em, what’s wrong?” floated out of me before I even felt my toes scuff the frayed, but dense, carpet in the hallway outside her room. It was an inky Indiana night, sticky as a state fair cotton-candy funnel cake.
The hallway light I’d brushed on my way past threw an elongated white triangle onto the dark floor that slunk up the side of the bed.
“Th-th-there,” she pointed toward the closet, her arm board-stiff.