Welcome to The Spot Writers. The prompt for this month is to write a story that’s told through a camera. It can be any type of camera in any circumstance.
This week’s contribution comes from Chiara De Giorgi. Chiara is an
Italian author and currently lives in Berlin, Germany. She writes fiction, with
a focus on children’s literature and science fiction.
Elsa’s Paranormal Journal
by Chiara De Giorgi
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| Created with Canva |
I’ve decided to start this diary. Not out of nostalgia, nor for
posterity: just to keep track of my bizarre adventures in case they turn
dangerous. Ever since Mr. Khamose gave me the Sight, everything has changed.
That’s right. The Sight... A gift? A curse? In any case, an open door between
this world and the one that comes after. And apparently, I’m not the only one
who can see what lies on the other side...
Last week I set an assignment for my creative writing class: to
wander around the village, take photos, and weave a story from what they
captured. Most of them brought back sunsets, the graffiti in the underpass, the
goldfish in the fountain in the main square... the usual stuff, basically. But
Lydia, our quiet, gothic high schooler, silent yet sharp observer, came up with
something completely different.
Her photos were eerie and sometimes unsettling. Shadows that looked
wrong, as if they were too long, angles too sharp... as if she’d photographed a
glitch. One showed a blurred movement in the park, something crouching over a
bleeding rat. Another, a selfie of her dancing, with her arm wrapped around...
nothing. Just empty air.
She told a story about vampires. I praised her creativity, of
course. But then she looked at me, unflinching, and said: “You might see them
too, if only you looked.”
“Your books would certainly improve too,” she added under her breath.
My breath caught in my throat. What did that mean? What did she
know?
Today, we met up after school at the library café, a place that
smells of old books and burnt coffee. Lydia got straight to the point.
“I saw you with the Stranger,” she said. “That creature who changes
her appearance as the weather changes.”
I almost choked on my latte. The Stranger: a shapeshifter, a unique
and special creature who comes and goes as she pleases and each time turns my
life upside down, for better or worse. Anybody can see her, no matter how she
presents herself: a teapot or a gardener or a teddy bear… even a bus, once. But
nobody can tell what she is, as far as I know.
“How…”
“I see things,” she said with a shrug. “I always have. Ghosts,
mostly. But also those who pretend not to be there. Vampires. Werewolves. The
old spirits are rather boring.” She wrinkled her nose. “When I was thirteen, I
didn’t go with the others to the haunted house for the rite of passage typical
of this village. I knew I’d see things, and I didn’t want anything to do with
the gloomy souls in that abandoned house.”
I laughed. “The Squatters aren’t gloomy. Sister Elena is always
trying to convert Zinny, the Zen monk, but she never gets anywhere with him…
and you’d never believe who her best friend is: Olga, a retired KGB assassin!”
Lydia’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious? You mean they’re cool?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “But there’s another reason I wanted to see
you. Lydia, I need help. There’s a ghost who’s been… murdered. Or so it seems.
I’m trying to find out what happened and I think… I think you can help me.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I’m in,” she said.
Tomorrow, I’ll introduce her to the Squatters. If anyone can help me
solve this mystery, it’s a girl who dances with vampires.
And if things go wrong? Well. At least this journal will make for a
hell of a story.
Elsa
The Spot Writers:
Val Muller: http://www.valmuller.com/blog/
Catherine A. MacKenzie: https://writingwicket.wordpress.com
Phil Yeats: https://alankemisterauthor.wordpress.com/
Chiara De Giorgi:
https://chiaradegiorgi.blogspot.com/
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