Welcome to my offering for The A to Z Blogging Challenge 2018.
My theme this year is Ghostly Inspirations:
a collection of spirits that have been prompted by my encounters with places and times. Some are spooky, some more about atmosphere. I'll be describing each inspiration and the phantom that came to my mind, and then I will share a drabble, which I hope will entertain. :)
Disclaimer: The places and experienced I have used for my inspiration are real, but my ghosts and drabbles are complete fiction, linked to nothing and no-one, alive or dead. When writing about my inspirations, I may have changed names and obfuscated specific details to 'protect the innocent' :).
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M is for Moon
Inspiration:
I was sponsored through university by British Aerospace Space Systems, and so after I left school, but before I went to uni, I had a year out with the company as a student apprentice. There were a large body of apprentices at BAe Space, and almost as soon as we got there, the company sent us all on an outward bound course in Wales.
My inspiration today comes from an event during that fun week, when we went orienteering. For those who don’t know what orienteering is, it involves maps and navigating with a compass from point to point. What made this particularly exciting, though, was that we undertook this activity in the absolute darkness of a midnight pine forest.
The experience was scary and fun, with senses limited and distorted by the nighttime environment. We had to find letters on trees, but in the pitch black, they were totally invisible until you were on top of them. Some of us had torches, some of us didn’t, and, as someone who didn’t have a torch, I can testify to how black the night was in that wood.
The only relief was the odd sighting of the moon overhead between the dense branches and in the occasional open space.
Ghost:
I was sponsored through university by British Aerospace Space Systems, and so after I left school, but before I went to uni, I had a year out with the company as a student apprentice. There were a large body of apprentices at BAe Space, and almost as soon as we got there, the company sent us all on an outward bound course in Wales.
My inspiration today comes from an event during that fun week, when we went orienteering. For those who don’t know what orienteering is, it involves maps and navigating with a compass from point to point. What made this particularly exciting, though, was that we undertook this activity in the absolute darkness of a midnight pine forest.
The experience was scary and fun, with senses limited and distorted by the nighttime environment. We had to find letters on trees, but in the pitch black, they were totally invisible until you were on top of them. Some of us had torches, some of us didn’t, and, as someone who didn’t have a torch, I can testify to how black the night was in that wood.
The only relief was the odd sighting of the moon overhead between the dense branches and in the occasional open space.
Abel Jones had loved the countryside all his life, and he was one of the lucky ones, after studying environmental science at uni, he got his dream job as a park ranger with the Welsh National Parks Service. The pay was crap, but he spent his time out on the hills and in the forests, his trusty land rover giving him the freedom he had never had in his town upbringing in Swansea.
Abel would be out, rain or shine, assisting farmers, monitoring wildlife, rescuing trapped or injured animals, both wild and domestic. He became a trusted friend in the area and everyone knew that they could always rely on Abel, no matter when, no matter where. However, loving his job the way he did, Abel didn’t always know when to stop, and one late night, on his way back from rescuing a sheep that had trapped its leg between two large boulders, Abel fell asleep at the wheel of his 4x4 and crashed off the winding road through the forest.
Abel loved his job too much to leave it, though, and many a ranger has reported seeing a colleague leading them to a place where someone, or something was in trouble. A colleague who disappears as soon as they deliver their aid.
Abel would be out, rain or shine, assisting farmers, monitoring wildlife, rescuing trapped or injured animals, both wild and domestic. He became a trusted friend in the area and everyone knew that they could always rely on Abel, no matter when, no matter where. However, loving his job the way he did, Abel didn’t always know when to stop, and one late night, on his way back from rescuing a sheep that had trapped its leg between two large boulders, Abel fell asleep at the wheel of his 4x4 and crashed off the winding road through the forest.
Abel loved his job too much to leave it, though, and many a ranger has reported seeing a colleague leading them to a place where someone, or something was in trouble. A colleague who disappears as soon as they deliver their aid.
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Guide
Angel was lost. A bright afternoon had turned into a dull evening and a rainy night as she lost all her bearings in the forest, panic slowly creeping in.
Angel looked back up the thin track. Moonlight lit a crossing she had passed. There she saw him waving. Desperate, excited, she called out, heading that way. He waited awhile, but before she could reach him, the silvery outline went left. Angel followed. He walked fast, Angel could not catch up, but he beckoned and she followed. Finally, she stumbled into a car park - her saviour was not there to thank.
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Angel looked back up the thin track. Moonlight lit a crossing she had passed. There she saw him waving. Desperate, excited, she called out, heading that way. He waited awhile, but before she could reach him, the silvery outline went left. Angel followed. He walked fast, Angel could not catch up, but he beckoned and she followed. Finally, she stumbled into a car park - her saviour was not there to thank.
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Other paranormal and spooky stories by Sophie Duncan.
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Hi Sophie = what an amazing experience that must have been ... but love the story attached to it ... clever - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt was great to be exploring caves and orienteering in the dark with all my new friends - it was by far the best thing about being an apprentice at BAe. :)
DeleteIt would be spookier if I didn't believe this sort of stuff happens. Wonderful fun stories.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteSpooky-sad. Convincing story. Not a fun place to be in without bearings.
ReplyDeleteThank you. And no, it's not a pleasant place to be alone without directions.
DeleteSpooky Welsh landscape.
ReplyDeleteLots of trees and darkness.
DeleteA NICE ghost story. Pity about the poor man who died, though.
ReplyDeleteAussie Children’s Wroters - M is for Elyne Mitchell
https://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/a-to-z-blogging-challenge-m-is-for.html
Yes, it is sad, but he still wants to help and enjoy his job.
DeleteAbel is the kind of ghost we all want :)
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings - Movie Monsters