H
umpty never felt a thing. The bullet caught him just behind the left
ear. He was dead before he hit the floor. Cinderella calmly dismantled
her rifle and tidied away the spent cartridge. As the police sirens got closer
she melted away through the inquisitive crowd, to her waiting carriage.
I’
ve always been here; you just never look hard enough. Sure, you check
under your bed before the light goes out, peep inside the wardrobe
when you hear a noise — but you never see me. I’m here though. Waiting
for that moment. The moment I tell you what I want.
T
ried telling them I’d been here too long. Been haunting this place for
two hundred years. Told them, should’ve been moved on years ago.
Trouble was, those inspectors from the Department for Ghouls and
Spectres, wouldn’t listen. They failed me. Been downgraded from a ghost
to a mere apparition. Bastards!