30 Comments
User's avatar
Alicia's avatar

I think this one will stay with me for a while. Very eerie, very unsettling, and very intriguing.

Violet Encantada, PhD's avatar

For some reason this makes me think of Woodland. 😁

Gan's avatar

Woodland WA?

Violet Encantada, PhD's avatar

Exactly. There's a sort of 'tone;' hard to describe...

MoTy's avatar

Gan, Gan, Gan. Your mastery of eerie scene-setting is unreal. Gloom intensified through ordinary details, a sensory storm moving through the town’s silence and horror, vulnerability tucked into the admission of humiliation. All while counting to three. Don’t stop me, still counting x

Gan's avatar

always happy to hear from you. i should have done more to make the whole town act as an instrument. cheers!

MoTy's avatar

Hold your horses, you’ve done enough already @Gan x

Matthew E Meurer's avatar

Tense like an old creepypasta. But smooth around the edges with great imagery by sight and of course, sound. Solid read

Nora O’Dowd's avatar

Wonderful! The eerie resonance is masterful.

Gan's avatar

always a pleasure ma'am

Roger Browne's avatar

Some may be wondering whether the deputy mayor will survive his interference. I do not. Nor, will the town. Not really. The healing had not completed. Haunting and mesmerizing, a great read!

Gan's avatar

welcome. You're right, what administration does best is stifle that which may save us

Olly von's avatar

Great read I was worried and wondering the whole way through I liked the sheriff too he’s a good character

Gan's avatar

thank you for reading

AsukaHotaru's avatar

The radio turning itself back on after I turned it off more than three times..? I swear I became embarrassingly done cuz of that...

Gan's avatar

i wish i could create the things you can

Silent Words with Cynthia Wong's avatar

Excellent piece, Gan. "There are moments now in which the silence between counts feels worse." Crises ironically can be habitually comforting in their known states.

Gan's avatar

sometimes i feel tense with angst and must choose again to set it down

Silent Words with Cynthia Wong's avatar

I get that. Choice is the shift though.

Ronna Lapray's avatar

I can not believe the deputy mayor got to live !! Thought that fiddle player was going to let the mob get him ! Very nice Very nice- of course I loved it

Gan's avatar

he is maybe too important as an organ of the town to allowed to depart

Lois Thomson Bowersock's avatar

You captured my attention and kept it right through to the last word. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next.

Excellent read, Gan.

Gan's avatar

What’s something that scares you that I could write about?

Lois Thomson Bowersock's avatar

That is a good question, Gan. There are a lot of things that scared me more in my younger years than they do now. I think exposure, age and faith in God has a lot to do with it.

I was terrified of heights for years. Then, on a spur of the moment decision, I decided to go skydiving. After that, my fear of heights was tamed.

I was scared crazy of lizards. I would walk a mile to avoid a lizard. Living in Texas, it is hard to avoid geckos and other lizards. I was inundated with lizards. So, I decided to desensitize myself from them. I put lizard stickers on my computer and lizard pictures around me etc. These days when I see a lizard, I stop and talk to it… geckos really are cute and attentive. I don’t go awol when I see one.

Then there are snakes… If you write about snakes, tell me. I’ll make sure I don’t read that article. I haven’t warmed up to serpents and I don’t plan to.

Your writing is excellent, and I enjoy reading your work. Best to you!

Gan's avatar

I'll put some of these things in next week's post, thanks!

Sphere by Simran💌's avatar

omg! my eyes reading this article while scenes appear in my mind.

it was so good. You are amazing uncle Gan👏❤️

Gan's avatar

thank you my kind friend

Sphere by Simran💌's avatar

my pleasure 🤗🤗

Gan's avatar

good to hear from you