Excellent an unexpected collaborator The Ghost Writer by RodG      Supernatural Flash Fiction Contest Winner

Because I overslept that morning, I didn’t brush my teeth or shave, but hastened upstairs to keep my appointment with him.  I had a very small window of time: 6:30-6:45.  He wouldn’t wait.  He never did.     I hobbled up the stairs to my third-floor studio as fast as my bum hip would let me.  I turned on the tall lamp standing by my desk and opened my legal tablet to  a blank page.  I glanced at the digital clock sitting on a nearby book shelf.  6:29.     Exactly one minute later the first words began to appear across the blank page.     Good morning, Roy.  Have you checked FanStory yet this morning?  You won a ribbon for that love poem.     I didn’t have to scribble a reply.  He was somewhere nearby and could hear me.  He just never spoke.     “We won.  We’re a team, remember?  GhostWriter’s our log-in name.”     But you do all the composing.     “And who provides the ideas?  You!  And who nurtures, encourages, critiques my efforts?  You, my friend.”     Friend.  I am pleased you call me that, Roy.  I had so few when I was alive.     He has a name:  Lawrence.  I’d learned it shortly after I bought what had been his house, an old Victorian, in a bank foreclosure auction.  His heirs had sold it to a developer who lacked the money to renovate or pay the back taxes.  I bought it cheap and restored it to its former glory, doing most of the work myself.  After falling off a ladder and breaking my hip, I could no longer do any kind of physical labor.  But I’d made plenty of money flipping houses, and now had time to devote to my hobby:  writing.  I’d stumbled half way through a novel before hitting a wall.  That’s when Lawrence first appeared, startling me with a page of suggestions he’d written on some discarded paper near my monitor.     It didn’t take much to convince me “Lawrence” was real.  I’d often sensed a supernatural presence while working on the house.  My tools would disappear and reappear in another room, or windows I knew I had closed before leaving would be open the next day.  I never heard his voice, even a whisper, but some days I would hear a sigh or a sharp intake of breath if I made a mistake in what I was doing.     I self-published the book he helped me complete.       Then I discovered FanStory.  When I urged him to work with me on contest entries, he eagerly agreed and the team was formed.       He’s told me a lot about himself and his family, but he’s very private about his current affairs.  I have no idea why he meets me only at the specified time most mornings, or why he never stays longer than fifteen minutes.  But I'm not complaining..     There is a supernatural flash-fiction prompt today, Roy.  Will you tell your fans about me?     “Would you like me to?”     “Yes.”        Writing Prompt The character in your story is involved in some way with the supernatural. Supernatural Flash Fiction Contest Winner Recognized Author Notes The artwork is courtesy of Google images.

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