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Message-ID: <35130asstr$1013116204@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "empath :{)" <empath69@hotmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} {ASSD} "A Ghost's Story" [Empath] (MF rom magic) [2/5]
Date: Thu,  7 Feb 2002 16:10:04 -0500
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d



Warnings:  Splitting your attention between driving and ANYTHING else 
(especially -AHEM- :) is dangerous.   Smoking rots your lungs and makes you 
stink - and cannabis is no better than tobacco in this respect, Captain 
Herbal-Life.  Alcohol lets your inner asshole out.  And reading these sorts 
of stories too much makes you go blind.

{What?  OH, *that* type of warning - right.}

Don't read/download this if you're not able to vote; it's not worth the 
trouble you could get into.

And attempting to use the stories I post here to make money of your own is 
a) illegal, and b) ludicrous - if I thought I could get anything for this 
stuff, do you think I'd post it here for FREE?:)

{Happy now?  Good.}



_________________________________________________________________
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<1st attachment, "ghost2.txt" begin>

{ASSD} "A Ghost's Story" [Empath] (MF rom magic) [2/5]


=============

"A Ghost's Story"
Copyright 2001...er 200*2* (dang changeover:)
by empath

Chapter 2
=========

Cable!  If I'd known what Sue was talking about when she told
David she'd be around all day having it installed, I would have
barricaded the house!

My tenant got up bright and early; well rested despite - or
perhaps because of - her activities the night before.  I was
around to see her get up.  I don't sleep per se anymore; I nap
from time to time, but no big chunk of hours asleep.  Maybe it's
because sleep is the subconscious' chance to 'get out', and all
I *am* is my subconscious now?  Whatever.

She dusted off the sitting room again, and moved one of my
chairs out of the room, sliding in a heavy cardboard box in its
place.

She then set about pulling lengths of wood from it and
assembling a piece of furniture, to my amazement.  With just a
hammer, screwdriver, and some kind of bent length of metal Sue
accomplished in an hour what took - in my day - about a week's
work of several craftsmen.  When she was done, there was a sort
of low bookshelf standing where the chair had.  She brought in a
television and set that in the largest 'shelf.'  This I
understood - people had been bringing picture boxes into my home
for the past fifty years.  Interesting things, but hardly worth
the devotion people gave them - all this effort for a fuzzy,
live-action version of a newspaper.

I've since discovered that this was because people only ever
used antennas on their TVs before Sue; after the fright I gave
the plumbers, the owners of the house correctly deduced that
'the ghost' didn't want workmen mucking about, and didn't allow
installation of new phone, cable, etc.  Sue had managed to
change their minds.

Three men in coveralls showed up soon after Sue had set up
several other pieces of black electronic equipment in the
'Entertainment Centre' (so the box said).  They nodded
respectfully to Sue and gave her a yellow carbon paper.  One
came inside, dutifully wiping his feet on the doormat, and
looking around nervously.  They must have heard about me - I was
pleased that my influence had spread beyond these walls.

Sue and the one workman stood in the foyer looking up.  "Hello?
Mr. or Mrs. Ghost?" Sue called out.

"Mrs.?  You don't know," the tech asked.

"Know what?  Mrs. Baker never knew anything more about the ghost
other than that it IS."

"Oh, my dad always used to say it was Mr. Fletcher - the guy who
built this place; he killed himself when his wife left him, and
never left the house."

Technically that wasn't right - I know I didn't commit suicide -
I had vague recollections of an accident.  And my...wife left
after my funeral.  But at least Sue knew my name.

Her hand was over her mouth.  "Ohhhh.  Mr. Fletcher!  I'm so
sorry - I didn't know.  Now I know why you love this house so
much, and why the renters say you don't like people making
changes.

"Well, I promised I'd do all I could to keep it the way I've
found it, and I don't want you to think I'm breaking that
promise now."

I stopped nudging a flowerpot on the balcony - it would land on
the first floor opposite the two people, but I was angry at the
intrusion.  Sue's words made me hesitate and think about her
actions up to this point.

"I really want to get the cable service installed in the house;
it won't rip anything out, like replacing the plumbing did -
just put a few more wires in the walls.  Right, sir?"

"Oh, yeah," he was nervous trying to talk to someone he couldn't
see.  "All we'll do is set up a junction box on the outside
wall, and then install two outlets; one upstairs in a bedroom,
the other in that sitting room there.  There won't be much
damage at all; just one small hole under the eaves to have the
cable come in, then the two actual outlets - they'll look just
like a cover plate like the switch just there."  He gestured to
the light switch on the wall by the door.  Impishly I flicked it
on.

"JEEZ!  Yeah, like that."  The workman sighed and recovered from
the surprise.  Sue giggled.

"So what do you say, Mr. Fletcher?  Will you let me do this?  I
am asking nicely beforehand, taking you into consideration."

I wasn't quite convinced, and snatched the paper from Sue's
hands.  Setting it on a side table, I looked over the gibberish
and acronyms for something that made sense.

Sue tried to take the paper back, but I held it in place, tiring
myself considerably.  "Oh - sorry, didn't realise you were
reading it."

"Uh, I can explain it if you want, sir," the tech said, stepping
up - he passed right through me.  I shrugged - the man meant
well, apparently.

"See?  This is the cable company here.  And the address of this
house here - this is the house's id code," he pointed to a long
incomprehensible number.  "This is Ms. Hoover's account number,"
another 'population-of-the-world' sized number, "but the bottom
part here is what you want to look at.  This line is the install
of the cable lines up to your house and putting the box on the
outside wall; that's the company's equipment and they'll swallow
the cost of that.

"This line talks about the actual cable TV service install - we
set up that box to send the appropriate channels for Ms. Hoover.
Then the cost of the second hook-up in the upstairs bedroom is
this line.  And finally she pays for the first month of service
in advance."  The tech pointed to each line on the lower table.
My mind raced forward and added up the total before he reached
that bottom line on the sheet.  "And that's the amount Ms.
Hoover has paid us to do all this."

HOLY SHIT - more than a hundred dollars!  That was a king's
ransom!  [No wait - relax,] I told myself, [inflation - it's
been eighty years since you've had to worry about money,
Bradley.  Sue paid four hundred dollars for two month's rent for
this big place of mine, and said that was a steal.]

Even so, she had said she didn't have a lot of money, and this
had to be a substantial cost to her.  The owners of my house
probably should have taken the install costs and then just
increased her rent by the amount of the cable service, but they
didn't want to be 'responsible' for any reprisals of mine.

"Mr. Fletcher?  I really need this cable - I've GOT to have my
Food Network!" Sue pleaded, with a smile on her face.  The tech
chuckled, but the joke was lost on me.  "I promise I'm doing all
I can to minimise the effect on your wonderful house."

"She is, sir," the tech joined in.  "That install cost is higher
than normal - we could just drill a couple of holes in the walls
for each outlet - the outer wall gets putty to seal them up."  I
winced at the thought of that.  "But she's getting us to string
the cable inside the wall properly - even though the cable
company is asking more to have that done."

Now I looked at Sue in admiration - as limited her funds were,
she was willing to inconvenience herself for my benefit.  I felt
like I would cry - but for the lack of tear ducts.  This woman
was jerking more emotion from me in less than a week than most
tenants had in a month.

I cast around, looking for something appropriate.  I found it -
a porcelain vase sitting on top of a wardrobe on the far side of
the foyer.  I lifted easily - smiling at the emotion coursing
through my...ectoplasm, I guess - and carried it over to her.

The two people watched the objet d'art slowly levitate their way
and press itself into Sue's hands.  She looked at it in awe then
lifted her face to look vaguely in my direction.  "No - this is
much too valuable-"  I pressed on the vase again to emphasise my
decision; this would pay for her 'cable bill' and next month's
rent, probably.

Now she started to tear up, saying simply "Thank you."

"I don't get it."  Ah, rude mechanicals.

Sue turned to the tech with a smile on her face.  "He's saying
he consents to this; he wants me to take this thing of his to
pay for it - it's part of HIS house, and he's giving it up."

The man looked at the vase, then up into the room (why does
everyone think I float around near the ceiling?)  "I guess my
dad was wrong, Mr. Fletcher - you're an okay guy, after all.
WHOA!"  He started as his gaze dropped past me - the man was
looking right in my direction.

"What?"

"LOOK - right THERE!"  Sue followed his finger and gasped, her
eyes glinting with wonder.

I looked down on myself, and noticed the dust I had kicked up in
moving the vase was settling on my body - because I was
so...vital I was holding it up and getting my 'ghostly aura.'

Sue handed the vase to the tech and stepped up to me.  "Thank
you for accepting me, Mr. Fletcher."  And she reached up on tip-
toes and kissed me on the cheek.  Actually she ended up putting
her nose where my teeth would have been, but it wouldn't be easy
kissing a cloud of dust accurately, and the gesture was
touching.

                   *         *         *

The install took less time than I'd thought; these guys were
pretty experienced at what they did.  The damage was as small as
they predicted, and I didn't feel ANY lessening of my 'self'
when they were done.  Like Sue said, they were INSTALLING
something, not taking anything of mine away.

Soon Sue was sitting on 'her' couch with a longish plastic box
the size and shape of a necklace case.  It was covered with
rubber knobs, and when she pressed a big one, the TV came on.  I
started, bumping the coffee table.

"Oh!  Sorry; never seen a remote control before?"  Sue frowned
in thought for a moment.  "Uh, what do I call you?  Mr.
Flectcher?  Bradley?  Brad?  Mr. Ghost?"

I thought about this - everyone had called me 'Bradley' in my
life, but the shorter name sounded better for some reason.
'Brad' it was...now how would I tell her?  I was often not
'strong' enough to carry or hold anything for any length of time
- a quick shove would use up my 'vitality' - so writing was out
of the question.

I had the sudden inspiration to run a finger through a dusty
surface, but Sue had been quite diligent in her cleaning.  Then
I saw a mirror.

I hurried over to it and tapped at it, making a noise and
causing the mirror to sway a little.

"What?  What about the mirror...Oh!  Be right there!"  She
rushed over, knelt on the couch that I was standing through, and
breathed heavily on the glass, leaving a mist.

I smiled at her perceptiveness and proceeded to quickly write:

BRAD IS FINE, SUE.

She gasped, then smiled.  "Thank you, Brad.  Pleased to finally
make your acquaintance."  I chuckled to myself.

Sue looked herself in the mirror, then chewed her lip a little.
"One more question," and she hesitated.  After a deep breath to
strengthen her resolve, she exhaled on the mirror again and
asked with the dregs of her breath: "Was that you last night?"

I hesitated myself.  [Should I tell her?  She could always think
it was a pleasant dream - maybe that'd be better?]  In the end,
I was honest, and wrote:

YES

Sue was silent for a fair bit; the only sound being the noise of
the TV.  Finally, she smiled and said "Thank you, Brad.  It's
like I said last night - I was lonely, and missed David a
lot...and well-"

There was just enough room on the 'fog' for me to write:

I UNDRSTND

"It was just a one-time thing; I don't want you to think..." Her
voice faded and when I tapped, she wiped the mirror and breathed
again.

IT'S OK - U NEEDED ME THEN

"Ohhhh, you're such a good friend, Brad.  Thank you for
understanding.  And thank you for helping me then."

UR WELCOM

She smiled at the mirror, then turned around and flopped down.
"Anyways!  Back to the TV; you've probably seen them before, but
we now have over a hundred channels to choose from with this
cable hook-up."

A HUNDRED?  I'd only ever seen three or four.  What on earth
could they possibly show that would fill up a hundred channels?
Sue showed me.

She explained the basic controls on the remote - on/off, volume
and channel up/down, and the number keys to enter a channel.
After a little practice, I found I could use the remote just
fine...as long as it was facing the TV; the buttons were easier
to push than a light switch, though crowded together and needing
more precision.

We 'surfed' through everything once - even the scrambled 'pay-
per-view' channels, and settled on her favourites, and ones she
thought I would like.  Sue was a good judge; she even wrote up a
chart of 'my channels' and left it by the remote for my
reference.

She set the rule that I could watch whatever I wanted when she
was off to work or asleep.  When she was home and awake, I had
to turn over the remote to her, the paying customer.  It was
fine with me; I even figured out how to use the 'closed-caption'
and 'mute' buttons before she went to bed (hey, I WAS an
architect, after all!) so she was relieved that she wouldn't be
woken up by a war movie on the History Channel late at night.

I tapped the mirror one last time when she started yawning.

TANK U 4 THIS
UR A GOOD FRIEND SUE
NOW GET TO BED
SLEEPYHED

She smiled and gave the bottom of the mirror a kiss, then made
her way upstairs to clean up and change for bed.  I settled in
front of the TV and prepared to become one of these 'couch
potatoes' that Sue had mentioned.

                   *         *         *

She was right - the educational channels were the most useful to
me; local tv and cable news was too far ahead of my experience
for the time being; I had eight decades of history to catch up
on.

The channel I LIKED the most was Turner Classic Movies - it
showed all the 'old' films that I'd seen when I was
younger...er, ALIVE.  I remembered taking...my wife to some,
often as an apology for neglecting her.

Before I knew it, it was morning, and Sue came downstairs with a
cheery "Good morning, layabout!"  I toggled channels to let her
know I heard her.  "Okay, I'm gonna get a little breakfast and
then get off to work; you have fun with your new toy and try not
to rot your brain on," she looked closely at the screen, "a
documentary on the Berlin airlift."  Her tone seemed somewhat
defeated.  "Fine!  Be responsible - I half expected you to be
watching trashy infomercials that try to sell junk products!"

I chuckled at that, and had a sudden brainstorm - I flipped to
Comedy Central, and lucked out; a studio audience was laughing
at something the actors had done.

Sue fell on her ass when she realised what I was trying to say.
She laughed so much her cheeks were wet with tears.  "Oh.  Oh,
Brad - thank you...hahaha - thanks for that!  Anyways, I gotta
get going or I'll be late for work."

She walked off to the kitchen, and I settled back to the
documentary I was watching.

                   *         *         *

When she got home, I was watching Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in
"Some Like It Hot" - I'd missed out on so many good movies, even
ones that would be considered 'oldies' today.

Sue poked her head in and checked the TV.  "Ah, that's better -
all work and no play makes Brad a dull boy."  She leaned on the
back of the couch facing in from the doorway and said "I like
that one; I'm gonna go clean up and get changed.  Be right
back."

I toggled channels in agreement.

When she came back, she plopped down on the couch a little ways
from the remote, brushing her hair out.  "Ahhh, much better.
How was your day- oh, better wait until after the movie."

I grinned unseen and started to work on the remote: I opened up
the 'menu options' and quickly flipped to 'channel title'.  This
was a neat little feature of Sue's TV that the owner could label
individual channels - rather than just seeing "48," they could
have "48: COURT TV" at the top of their screen.  I used the
blank blue screen to slowly type out:

ITS OK SEEN IT EARLIR

Sue dropped her brush.  "Oh.  My.  God.  Brad!  How did you do
that?"

I hit 'clear' and then used the number keys to put up:

HAD A FUN DAY

waited a few seconds then cleared and typed:

LEARNED TO TALK

Sue was laughing in delight.  "Oh, Brad!  This is WONDERFUL!  At
least I won't get short of breath."

NOT MANY MIRRORS HERE

"But how did you figure it out - *I* didn't know it could do
this!"

GOT CURIOUS
AND HEY I WAS AN ARCHITE
CT  OOPS HAHAHA

Sue laughed at my limitations.  "Oh.  This'll help so much - I'm
so happy for you!"

ME 2  I LIKE THIS

"Huh - who'd have thought it.  The TV remote is the 21st century
Ouija board - ohmygod; a Ouija board!  I think I have one!"

NNONNONONO DONT BOTHER
HIPPIES TRIED THAT
TOO SLOW AND MORE TIRING
THIS IS BETTER

"Oh, okay.  I'm glad we can talk now."

YEAH I LIKED TALKIN
BACK IN THA DAY

"'Tha day'?  Weren't you WHITE, Brad?"

SO I WATCH MTV  SUE ME

"Oh my god, I'm living with the ghost of a 1920's architect who
thinks he's the next hip-hop sensation!"

NEWAY  HOW WAS YOUR DAY

"Me?  Oh, okay - same old, same old."

SUE  WHAT DO YOU DO

"Do?  Oh, my job - I'm a hospital cook.  Actually my title is
'Kitchen Manager' and I don't cook much anymore."  She looked a
little disappointed at that.

U LIKE TO COOK I TAKE IT

"Oh, yeah.  Always had a knack for it, and it's a fun hobby,
even if it has drawbacks."  She held her tummy and jostled it.

U LOOK OK NOT FAT AT ALL

"That's sweet of you to say, especially since I saw what your
wife looked like."

THAT WAS 20S  FLAPPER FA
SHION

"And the current fashion is an athletic body that has more
muscle than fat - neither Mrs. Fletcher nor I would fit in."

BIG DEAL  FASHIONS FICKL
U R HAPPIER THAN THESE
SO CALLED IDEAL PEOPLE
THEY SEEM TO SPEND ALL
THEIR TIME TRYING TO
LOOK GOOD
NO TIME LEFT TO FEEL GUD

Sue was silent then looked at the remote with glistening eyes.
"Thank you - that's very kind.  But you got all that from
watching TV for one day?"

YEP  THESE ADS ARE QUITE
OBVIOUS OF WHAT SOCIETY
NOW WANTS YOU TO WANT
WE NEVER HAD IT THIS BAD
BACK IN THA DAY HAHAHA

I paused for a while to let Sue think up a reply, but got
inspired before she spoke.

MAYBE NEED SOME1 OUTSIDE
OF RATRACE TO SEE MAZE

"Makes sense.  It's still very profound."

HAD 80 YEARS TO THINK
AND LITTLE ELSE
WATCHED DIFF PPL COME
AND GO AND CHANGE OVER
THE YEARS

"I guess.  I'm glad you just have someone to talk to now - and a
way to communicate, too."

ME 2

Sue sighed, and got up.  "Anyways, I'm hungry - wanna watch me
practice my favourite hobby?"

OH WAIT
U GOTTA GET PHONE CO
OUT HERE TO UPGRADE LINE
AND THEN GET ANSWERING
MACHINE

"But that'd disturb you - the house...why do I need an answering
machine?"

PHONE RANG TWICE 2DAY
COUDLA BEEN DAVID

Sue gasped.

OR COULD BEEN TELEMKTRS
AFTER ALL YOU DONT HAVE
THE TELEZAPPER ONLY 7995

My 'ad' had the effect I intended, Sue burst out laughing.  "I
still think you're gonna turn into a couch potato; c'mon and
watch me cook!"

                   *         *         *

That wasn't as much fun as it could have been; I did enjoy
watching Sue prepare a meal, but I had no nose to smell the
cooking food, and no mouth to taste it.  I had fun anyway - I
was able to move spice bottles along the counter at her request.

Sue piled some cushions between the coffee table and the couch
back in the sitting room, put a cheap tablecloth over the table,
and sat on the cushions to eat her supper - an interesting
looking goulash.  She'd come out here so she could still talk to
me during the meal...or rather, I could still talk back.

U GET A TV IN KITCHEN

"Yeah; I'll ask for a housewarming gift of a programmable TV.
Say, would you be able to handle a typewriter?"

NO TRIED IT
KEYS TOO HARD TO PUSH

"Well, we've come a long way-"

PAPER ALSO HARD TO HANDL
I LIKE THIS

"I'm glad - but you wait 'til I get David here.  He's a whiz
with computers - he'll probably put together something even
better for you."

YEAH DAVID
THAT SOUNDS NICE

"You know, those may just be white letters on a blue screen, but
I get the feeling that your tone of voice just changed."

WELLLL

"Are you worried about David meeting you?  He's very open-
minded; probably take to you better than me!"

I was 'tonguetied' - I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Sue what
I thought about her situation with David.  Telling HER that I
thought he might be making the same mistakes I did probably
wouldn't help.  Ideally I'd sit *David* down warn him of my
concerns.

"Brad?  Still here?"

YES  JUST THINKING

"Well, Brad...I should tell you something - David's busy on a
project a long way from here, then he's coming back to me.
We've been living together for a few years now, and this current
job is going to be his last with the company he works for.  He's
already given notice that he'll quit after he finishes this one
last project.

"When he comes here, we...we may be moving in for good.  Not
just renting, but BUYING this house.  Your house."

That - that gave me mixed emotions; it would be good to have Sue
around - she was my first friend in a long, long time.  And
David sounded interesting - not to mention in need of some
advice.

But if they moved in permanently - if they bought my house, they
would naturally want to make changes.  Eventually they would
want to have a family, and renovate - convert one of the rooms
to a nursery, childproof the house.  In short, they'd make it
*their* house, and where would an old ghost fit in the house of
a new family?

Sue spoke up to fill the silence.  "Um, that's if David likes
the place.  And I'd never agree to take over the house if it's
not okay with you.  I was supposed to get a short list of places
to live, and try out one or two of them while David finishes up
his project.

"If you're not comfortable with us moving in, we do have other
options to explore; don't feel obligated to take us in."

She took her gaze from the screen and placed it upon the part of
the couch closest to the remote - upon me.  "It's up to you; if
you don't want to try it, say so and I'll understand.  And even
if you do say it's okay, it still may not come to pass."

That made me think about the other side of the coin; if they
chose somewhere else to live.  Sue would obviously want to use
her time alone to 'scout' out these other places she had in
mind.  And even if she stayed, she eventually would leave.  And
I would lose my friend.

I made my choice.

BETTER A LITTLE HAPPINES
THAN A LOT OF LONLINESS
YOU HAVE MY BLESSING
MI CASA EST SOU CASA
SORY FOR THE BAD SPANISH

She smiled, first at the screen, then at where I was.  I was
just thinking how perceptive she was, when she reached up and
stroked my cheek...and I felt it.

HOW

Sue just pointed to a mirror.  I turned and saw my 'white
mantle' was back - again I was running on high emotion and more
'present' than normal, and attracting dust.  I leaned forward
again and tapped out the following thought:

I LOOK LIKE INVISIBLE
MAN WITH DANDRUFF

It made my friend laugh.


fin de deuxieme



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