This short story is an entry in the 2002 Soc.Sexuality.Spanking Summer Short Story Contest and is copyright by the author and commercial use is prohibited without permission. Personal/private copies are permitted only if complete including the copyright notice. The author would appreciate your comments
Category: Spooky
Visitation Rights
By
"Draw me another one, Mack."
"Hey, Tom, it's great to see you back around the old haunts, but you better slow down a bit."
"Another one won't kill me."
"True enough. Here you go. So you want tell me what's going on?"
"Sure, why not? You know I've had some, er, problems lately. I've had a lot of stress. It's sort of , you know, kind of affected my performance."
"We've all been there."
"Yeah, I know. But this time things sort of got out of hand, and I ended up back in court."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Would you please state your name for the record?"
"Hattie McCoy."
"Thank you, Mrs. McCoy. Now on the night of the eighteenth of June, what if anything happened that was unusual?"
"Well, right about midnight, I heard this horrendous wailing and shrieking like a banshee coming from next door. Naturally, I was quite concerned. There have been a lot of strange goings on over there recently. So I sort of wandered over that way."
"And what did you observe, Mrs. McCoy?"
"Well, it was horrifying! Just horrible! I could see that a blindfolded young woman had been stripped and tied to a ladder with her arms over her head. She was being whipped severely with a thick leather strap. Her bottom was covered with wicked raised welts. She screamed with every lash, and let out an eerie keening between strokes. Naturally, I immediately contacted the authorities."
"Thank you, Mrs. McCoy. Your witness."
"On direct examination, you testified 'I heard this horrendous wailing and shrieking like a banshee'. "
"That's right."
"Mrs. McCoy, are you trained to tell the difference between a banshee's screams and other kinds of screams?"
"Well, not exactly...."
"So, in fact, the screams you heard could have come from a banshee, isn't that so?"
"Absolutely not! I followed those screams back to the woman where I watched her getting the hiding of her life. Those pitiable cries definitely were human, not banshee! "
"Human?"
"Damn straight, Sonny."
"No further cross."
"You're excused, Mrs. McCoy."
"The prosecution rests."
"Defense?"
"I'm afraid there is none, Your Honor."
"Then the Court takes this matter as submitted, and is prepared to rule from the bench. Will the Defendant please rise? Tom Hennessy, I find you guilty as charged with conduct unbecoming a malevolent spirit. When you possess a property, it your obligation to howl and shriek in such a manner as to dispossess any corporeal residents. Cohabitation with corporeals is unconscionable. And attempting to deceive your fellow wraiths by relying on the playful screams of a mortal damsel in lieu of your own is contemptible. This Court has no choice but to ban you from the property. I hereby declare the property exorcised. Your visitation rights are terminated. Next case."
The End
© Copyright by BCC June 19, 2002
Reviews
Margaret <wessyLA(at)aol(dot)com>
I love reading a totally original piece like this. It's a nice piece of writing, with an excellent story line. Thank you for sending this along.
John <johnb(at)ssec(dot)wisc(dot)edu>
Now this was funny. And well executed. The use of all dialog allows it to fit within the word count, since dialog tends to be less wordy than description. And the twist at the end was not telegraphed, though I began to suspect something was up when the argument that it might have been a banshee was not objected to as irrelevant.
Anne <Ladyanne60(at)aol(dot)com>
This ghostly tale is an exorcism of such unexpectant circumstances, as told by the views of extracorporeals. Very original thinking indeed. The writers leaves subtle clues such as; "Another one won't kill me, and back around the old haunts." This was wonderful reading for the living as well as the dead. The conclusive results almost sent this mortal to the other side. I would like to read more spooky tales involving such naughty minded spirits.
RCG <rcg1574(at)yahoo(dot)com>
Saw that coming - but still clever. I guess every facet of life, and death, needs some type of law.