They Don\u2019t know
\nBy Donna J. W. Munro<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the thing. They don\u2019t know they are dead.\u201d
\n\u201cGhosts?\u201d
\n\u201cYeah, they\u2019re clueless. Reenacting the motions of their minutes days, trying to find the groove of their life only to slide with a shriek along the ridges of reality.\u201d
\n\u201cThey know something\u2019s wrong though, right?\u201d
\n\u201cMaybe. Or Maybe they just keep trying because it\u2019s all they know. Not who they were or what things might have been, just what cost them their lives. They don\u2019t know it\u2019s all over, the fat lady sang, and the ushers are sweeping the aisles.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s too dark in here. Turn on your headlamp will you? The ghosts never find out? They keep going around in circles, until what? Doomsday?\u201d
\n\u201cI thought that maybe we\u2019d let them know. Like if we found a way to tell them that they were gone, then maybe we\u2019d be heroes, right. Ghost busting heroes. Oops, watch it. I almost ran into the door. It\u2019s like this place eats the light.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere do we find them? If they don\u2019t know that they are dead, then they aren\u2019t like\u2026 seeking out help, you know. They just are wherever. We gotta tell them, but to figure it out, we gotta find them. Stay close, there\u2019s no windows in this hallway. No moon, no light, broken up mansion on hill\u2014it\u2019s perfect for finding ghosts.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I thought when I saw it. But I still don\u2019t get how we\u2019re going to do this. We\u2019re going to help them by telling them they\u2019re dead. If they just keep going on and on, living the last few minutes of their lives, over and over, how are they going to tell us who they are if they don\u2019t remember?\u201d
\n\u201cThey\u2019ll be doing the same thing over and over. Maybe that\u2019s where we start. Watch them\u2026 you know\u2026 die again. Then we can research about them, figure out who they are, and tell them. Maybe they can move on then.\u201d
\n\u201cDo they always show the way they die?\u201d
\n\u201cI dunno, do I? I\u2019ve never done this before. We just watch and wait.\u201d
\n\u201cMaybe if I check the cellar? Seems like a good place for ghosts.\u201d
\n\u201cThese stairs, don\u2019t they seem rickety to you?\u201d
\n\u201cThey\u2019re fine. Go look in that corner, will you?\u201d
\n\u201cI am. Don\u2019t get worked up. So, if they don\u2019t know they are dead and they just keep repeating their lives\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cTheir deaths, you mean.\u201d
\n\u201cRight. How do we know that anything is real? Know what I mean? Like us even?\u201d
\n\u201cI think there\u2019s something back here. I feel air or something. Help me pull this shelf away from the wall.\u201d
\n\u201cOkay\u2026 how do we know? Damn! That\u2019s heavy. Put your back into it\u2026 What\u2019s your name again?\u201d
\n\u201cHuh\u2026I don\u2019t\u2026 Push, there\u2019s something\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cWatch it\u2026 the shelf is falling!\u201d
\n\u201cThe shelf was\u2026 not solid? Went right through me!\u201d
\n\u201cHow can a shelf be a ghost?\u201d
\n\u201cOr maybe\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cWhat?\u201d
\n\u201cWhy can\u2019t I remember my name? Or yours?\u201d
\n\u201cHmmm. But\u2026 I can\u2019t\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cI can\u2019t remember anything.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s ok. They can\u2019t either.\u201d
\n\u201cThey?\u201d
\n\u201cThe ghosts don\u2019t know they are dead.\u201d
\n\u201cSo, they\u2019re just clueless?\u201d
\n\u201cClueless. We\u2019ll just tell them then?\u201d
\n\u201cThat they\u2019re dead.\u201d
\n\u201cDead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They Don\u2019t know By Donna J. W. Munro \u201cThat\u2019s the thing. They don\u2019t know they are dead.\u201d \u201cGhosts?\u201d \u201cYeah, they\u2019re clueless. Reenacting the motions of their minutes days, trying to find the groove of their life only to slide with a shriek along the ridges of reality.\u201d \u201cThey know something\u2019s wrong though, right?\u201d \u201cMaybe. Or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[38,42,46,48,49],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","category-ghosts-ghouls-and-grave-robbers","tag-ghost","tag-ghouls","tag-haunting","tag-horror","tag-horror-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astoundingoutpost.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}