The challenge? Write a story in exactly 6 sentences based on Denise’s one word prompt: HAUNT. Visit, comment, and write & post your own on SIX SENTENCE STORIES. The Café is open. Come as you are!
Past midnight in a late winter thaw, Eddie stretched his limbs, smooth as ectoplasm and pale as the silver moon that shone in through the basement window. He’d grown tired of waiting, but why did he even care?
The usual noisy parties he commenced after her kids went to bed had always roused her enough to pad downstairs in her nightshirt and bare feet to talk to him (and various friends flitting through), to politely hush them so her children could sleep; that glimpse was enough to keep him going.
But lately, she was too exhausted from picking up the slack at her downsizing workplace, an extorting ex-husband threatening court again, her elderly parents’ health problems, and her youngsters feeling the tension and acting out; instead she would lie awake and not come downstairs to visit.
Knowing this, he chose soft jazz and comforting poetry, using furnace-blow to amplify his message to her bedroom alone, hoping she would be rested—no, renewed—enough to come back down to the basement and maybe sit with him for awhile, just to listen and get to know that he truly was there for her and worth getting to know better.
It seems they both were haunted.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2025)
Valley of the Trolls 
Delightful Liz, a ghost that truly cares.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Keith. We can use a little more of that!
LikeLike
i loved this love story. i need a basement ghost!
LikeLiked by 1 person
:-) Caution, tho’, Not all basement ghosts were created equal. ;-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope he can find a way to help her, it sounds like she needs it.
LikeLike
As do we all!
LikeLike
She seems to be aware and yet unconcerned that he is there. Good observation at the end that they are both haunted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Too tired to do more than ask for a little peace & quiet. 😉 Because yes, sometimes that’s all you can do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely ghost, isn’t he!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Likes to party, but respects the boundary…
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is just so darned sweet, Liz. Love it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A change in perspective was needed. 😄 Glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love it, Liz. Nicely done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Denise!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this! If he can’t attract her one way, he tries another. That’s a very thoughtful and enterprising ghost!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kind of a dreamboat, eh?
LikeLike
The haunted ghost – very good!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Marie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well then, I would say they make the perfect pair! Excellent six.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Modern-day Ghost and Mrs. Muir?
LikeLiked by 1 person