Ghost Short Story – The Coat
Photo credit: cohdra from morguefile.com
The moment I rose up to take my book from the table, I felt a sudden jerk, which sent me sprawling over the chair beside the hearth, where the burning embers of a dying fire were glowing. My spectacles had fallen off & I was dazed. I found them on the rug beside me & put them on.
In an instant my vision cleared but it was a vision so terrifying, that my very bone marrow was chilled. Hovering in front of me was a coat, as if worn by an invisible person. The coat was quite old, patchy & dusty. It was the same coat which was mysteriously hanging on the front door peg when I had first rented this house. At that time I had paid no attention to it & had assumed it to be the coat of a previous resident.
But now as it was suspended over me I wished that I had paid attention to rather than scoffing on the pleas of my fellow mates who had told me not to live in this particular house.
Disrupting my thoughts the coat charged at me with his arms straight on to my neck, strangling me. The strength with which the hands were holding my neck was supernatural. Already tired after the day’s work, I did not have the strength to counter him. He started dragging my head towards the fireplace. I could feel my breath giving away. As my head drew closer to the hearth, instantly the embers leaped up into a raging fire. I felt my hair getting singed as my head was dragged closer to the fire and helpless as I was, I could not do anything.
As the ‘Coat-man’ was about to burn my head, I found my hand on a solid stick coming out of the fire. Realizing it was a poker stick, I pulled it out of the fire & with a last desperate attempt smashed the red hot poker through the breast pocket of the coat, where the heart would have been. I heard a scream so unnatural & horrifying that it still makes the hair on my arms stand up with fear.
As my neck got free, air rushed into my lungs & I could breathe again. With adrenaline coursing through my body, I ran without looking back, even leaving behind all my belongings, which also included my newly written novel on ghosts.
I ran as fast as my weary legs could carry me. It was snowing outside & the world was decked in white. Once I was sure that I was at a safe distance from the house, I stopped to get a gulp of air.
As I stopped, everything turned black & I collapsed !
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