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Prologue
Autumn. A season of beauty and cheer, as many go about preparing for the long winter ahead, whilst admiring the trees and their rich colors. Winters in Central Michigan are particularly harsh, especially whenever a blizzard takes out the highway, causing motorists to question where the edge of the road ends, and fields begin. But I digress. This story takes place in autumn, and not the middle of winter.
It’s the story of a group of people whose lives seemed somewhat ordinary, but in fact, for most of them, their lives were about to become anything but ordinary. As we begin our story, picture in your mind’s eye a small town surrounded by fields, where there isn’t that much to do for young adults, except for hanging around the corner coffee shop where one of them worked.. They often did this, unsure of what they might plan to do on any given day.
As the coffee shop opened its doors for another seemingly normal day of business, Pink Panda Passion began reading the local paper, taking note of an article regarding a nearby cemetery which had been founded over 150 years earlier, and the rich history it held. “Weird! I didn’t know Dartmoor Cemetery housed so many graves of Natives from long ago. I always thought they were buried in Native Burial Grounds, most of which are under our houses.”
Then, just as clockwork, in came almost all of her friends at once. The only one not present was CaptRichard, who was busy finishing a practical for his Commercial Multi-Engine Pilot License. Her boyfriend Stein led the pack and smiled as he leaned over the counter to kiss her before taking a red rose he’d bought, and slid it in her hair by her left ear. “Hi.” Stein was somewhat flustered as he said this, not because he wasn’t used to being Panda’s boyfriend, but because everything about her always caused his heart to sing in gratitude over having her in his life.
“Knock it off!” MHHornfreak interrupted with a mischievous grin on his face. “We all know you’d rather be with Panda than anyone else, but you don’t have to try and swoon her every time you see her, at work or elsewhere.”
Panda seemed to ignore Horn’s comment, getting a cup of crushed ice and a cup of roast iced coffee, of which she handed mocha kitty the ice and Djinii the coffee. “Would you both be so kind?” They both looked at each other before giving a nod of understanding to Panda. So with Horn facing the other way, mocha kitty quietly crept up behind him and after a mental count to three, she proceeded to tug on the back of his shirt collar, and pour the crushed ice down, before giving Horn a hug.
Hornfreak howled as the small fragments of frozen water slid down his back, some of which went into his boxers before starting to slowly melt. A moment later, mocha kitty let go as Djinii began pouring the coffee down the back of Horn’s shirt, which resulted in more yelps from him as he ran for the restroom with a huge wet backside visible to everyone. Panda smiled and mouthed “Thank You” to both of her accomplices.
“Okay, so now that Horn is out of the room for a little while, what do you all want to do tonight?” Stein asked. “After all, it’s Halloween and I don’t want to just sit around doing nothing.”
At that moment, Panda got an idea. “Well, we could go visit Dartmoor Cemetery and spend some time up there. Since it’s over 90 acres, we could go explore the area.” Her suggestion fell upon a quiet group, who all apparently were mentally pondering the recommendation. She then handed the news article she’d been reading to mocha kitty. “It’s even reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of those who’ve perished, which is a nice ambience for Halloween.”
“It seems like it could be a lot of fun” added mocha kitty.
“Are you kidding?!” Djinii replied. “There’s no way I’m spending time in a graveyard at night. Especially on this night of the year!” It wasn’t that Djinii was scared, just that it would be disrespectful to those who rest there.
“Scared Djinii?” mocha kitty asked. She knew how to push Djinii's buttons.
Djinii shot back with an icy reply. “No! I just don’t think it’s right for us to do this! And I for one wish to respect the dead and let those who are in their final resting place, continue to be at rest! Ghosts, or no ghosts!”
“Alright, we’ll decide this by democratic vote!” Tamako suggested. “All those in favor, say Aye!”
“AYE!” came everyone save Djinii.
“And against?” Tamako added.
Djinii just gave a shake of the head in disbelief, refusing to even vote.
“All right, fine! But if anything happens, I’m blaming you mocha kitty!” Djinii said, resigning to the fate that seemingly had been thrown upon the group.
“GREAT!” Panda exclaimed. “Then we’ll all meet up at the entrance to the cemetery around 9 o’clock tonight! Until then, I suggest you all get planning and get some sleep.” She paused for a moment to hand Stein his drink. “I have a feeling we’re going to have one heck of a fun time tonight!”
At that moment, Horn came back out from the restroom. “Hey Horn! Good news buddy!” Stein announced. “We’re going to be at the Dartmoor Cemetery tonight to see if we can find some ghosts of those who reside in that old place!”
Horn looked at Stein like he was nuts. “You can’t be serious! There’s no such thing as ghosts!”
“Well then, there’s no harm in going to find out, is there?”
Little did anyone in the group know, but what they would discover would make an encounter or two with ghosts seem like child’s play. And it would make them wish they had seen ghosts at the cemetery.
End of Prologue...
 Pink Panda Passion · Fri Jun 22, 2012 @ 09:50am · 0 Comments |
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