ONE STEP BEYOND

 

This  is my contribution to Sunday Photo Fiction for January 25, 2015. Every Sunday a new picture prompt is given by Alastair Forbes, the host. The weekly challenge is to write an original story with no more than 200 words. It’s supposed to have a beginning, middle, end, and follow the picture prompt for the week. Be sure to click on the little blue frog in the blue box to read all the other stories.

The link for all other stories is as follows:

http://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/sunday-photo-fiction-january-25th-2015/

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Word Count: 200 Words

ONE STEP BEYOND  P.S. Joshi

John had worked in the old book shop for years.

He thought to himself, “I know it’s closed, but I feel I have a duty to still dust and shelve.”

Day after day he came–alone, all alone. He lovingly wiped the shelves and checked the order of the books. He swept the floor.

This was a second home to him. He’d never married and had children.

He never found the woman who could fill his life as completely as his work. His parents never got along. They fought constantly. Mr. Wilson, the shop owner, was always so kind to him. Life became a set pattern. Change became too difficult.

One day he heard a voice, “John, its time to move on.”

Unafraid, just startled, he felt real love for the first time in his solitary life. He was understood and no longer isolated.

A light appeared, and he felt drawn toward it.

A man and his friend were passing the shop one day. Looking at it boarded up, he said, “You know, I once heard that place was haunted.”

His friend said, “Oh, get real. You don’t believe in ghosts, do you?”