John Tiller saw a small dark coloured beetle walking across the dark green grass close to his feet. The beetle seemed like it was on a hurry to get somewhere, where to? he had no clue, but he did know the small town the beetle was leaving behind. In fact he knew it very well, for it was where he had grown up as a child. Tinsmouth was a small town in the middle of nowhere, With a population of around 117 people. it was basically a ghost town, there were some abandoned houses, a small church which no one went to, a small restaurant which no one ate at. There wasn't much to do in Tinsmouth and when tiller was growing up there was even less stuff to do there. When he was growing there was slightly more people living there, however almost anyone with a shred of common sense had realised that living there was a lost cause and moved far away to a big city, John tiller was one of these people.
As he walked around his former hometown, he realised that how little of it had actually changed since he had last been there 30 years ago. The same old farmhouse, the same old restaurant, the same old church, the same old houses. It was as if nothing had changed except for himself, he was the only one who seemed to have changed. " don't think about meaningless bullshit john, remember why your'e here " he thought to himself. He was only staying here for a few days, he had only come here to attend his grandmothers funeral. He's grandmother was the last living member of his family and now just like the town she once called home, her spirit was gone, like a candle flame to wind. So he stayed in his old family home for the night. The house had a large garden outside which had a rickety old swing he and his friends used to play with as kids. The swing had become old and rusted, as he turned around to walk away he saw a small black coloured rose near the swing. "thats weired " he thought, he could swear that the same rose was there since he was a child. It was once a beautiful rose as red as crimson diamond dipped in blood but now it was blacker than the inside of blackhole at night. " could roses even live that long?" he wondered.
The room he was staying in was the same room he had slept in as a child and it seemed like the room also hadn't been cleaned since he was a child, probably because no one had lived there since 1998. It was a small cramped room overlooking the garden, which gave you a claustrophobic sensation the moment you entered it. As it was now night time and since he had finished dinner he decided to go to sleep, but he just couldn't seem to fall a sleep. The hour's slowly ticked by at a snails pace, he looked at his watch only to realise that it was almost already midnight. Yet he slowly kept hearing this small sound, at first it was inaudible but very slowly got louder. It seemed to be coming from the garden. So John decided to investigate and got up, when he looked outside his balcony he saw someone swinging on the rickety old swing in the garden.
Despite it being night time the moon lit up everything brilliantly
John walked outside too see and when he approached the old swing, there was a small girl playing on it. At first he didn't recognise the little girl yet she seemed familiar, like he had met her in a previous life. It was only when he walked closer to the see saw that he realised that the girl playing on it was actually, a childhood friend he had not spoken to in ages. Her name was Adeline. The weirdest thing about this was that she seemed to have not aged a day sine he had last met her and what the fuck was she doing at midnight playing on a swing?
It was abnormally calm outside it was as if he was walking through a ocean of tranquillity
She was wearing a bright red dress almost like a rose, the actual rose she was next to had gone black.
" hi"
he was spooked when she opened her mouth to speak to him, however he decided to reply to her
" hello Adeline, i wonder what brings you here in the wee hours of the night?"
"what brings me here?, what am i doing in the middle of the night? just take a look at the rose that is next to my feet"
John looked at her confused, " what is she talking about ? Why is this girl he hadn't talked to in two decades suddenly here and spouting on about a random rose." he thought.
"what about this rose?" he asked
" well take a look at it"
"er..... its dead? well its black and whithered"
" it is dead ...... AND YOU KILLED IT!"
" what?" he was now felt more confused now than ever before
" this is no ordinary rose" she said.
" this rose was planted decades ago, it was a special rose youre grandfather bought from the far east and it was kept healthy and safe for over a hundred years. youre family kept it well, i remember when we were playing as kids this rose was as red as blood. Now this rose is like youre family and youre town : dead....... and you killed them"
"what the fuck are you talking about Adeline? its ridiculous to say such bullshit, i killed them? I thought you were my friend "
" yes you did, think, why are you here? why did you finally return to this place after years? its because youre grandmother died. She was suffering with a terribble disease and you did NOTHING!"
John was left speechless he wanted to speak out but deep down he knew what she had just said was true. It was like writing his autobiography with lightning and his only regret was that it was all so terribly true.
"The same is true for everyone in youre family" Adeline continued
"They all were dying yet you did nothing, the same is true for me, Adeline, youre former best friend, when youre mother, youre father, hell even me were suffering you did nothing. This rose was the spirit of youre family and now its dead"257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZxZGpMTJz
John stayed quiet, but that former sea of tranquillity that had surrounded him had disappeared , now his his mind was covered in toxic cloud as reality hit him with the unjustifiable horror of inability to help those closest to him.
nervous and stuttering he asked
"Are you real"
Adeline remained quiet, Very slowly the black rose started to shake, Then it suddenly exploded and ghostly abarations his family came out of it.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasF6WCCajy
"No" Adeline replied
"I am a ghost,and youre family has decided to join me"
John could not bare this any longer, he decided he just wanted to run away from everything, just like he had done before, just like what he had done when Adeline was suffering. He ran and ran and ran until he was out of the town and had found himself in The woods surrounding his hometown.
It was eerily quiet, Only hearing slight and faint sounds like owl cries and the flutter of insects. He couldn't see very well since the trees blocked the moonlight from reaching the ground so it was pitch black.
He reached around to see where he could be until he felt a small stinging sensation in his arm. He couldn't see it but He had just accidentally touched a rose, its spike penetrating his skin and stinging a nerve. Within minutes his body felt numb and he fell to the ground. soon he forever closed his eyes.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40wVRVlGFK
He had lived as he died, running away. Dying by getting stung by a rose.
Ironic, isn't it?
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