Oct 11 Freestyling

Oct 11 General Freestyle Brainstorm, World Building or Research

Longfellow Dark

Ghost talking. He became aware of this gift, so to speak, when he was 11.

July 5, 1977, a month before his 12th birthday, he was in a car at a red light, with an older cousin driving. He was in the front seat. The driver of a pickup truck, distracted by a bee, accelerated without looking ahead. The collision caused him to fly throw the windshield, bounce off the hood, and land on the road.

When he awoke in the hospital it was three days later, his bed was surrounded by nurses and family, and he had such stories to tell. But he knew that he couldn’t tell anyone. He dreamed of ancestors, of people who had recently died, and of victims.

It had taken him years to come to terms with this. He was scared to be visited by murder victims. He was deeply saddened by the souls of children. He didn’t know what to do. Just before his confirmation in May 1981, Father Jan Andrzejewski spoke with him after the priest noticed he was uncomfortable during a funeral, talking to no one.

The teenager spoke openly and honestly, told him what had happened to him over the years. Longfellow told him that he had journals of what the ghosts had told him. Father Jan asked if he would share them. Longfellow removed one from his backpack. After reading for a few minutes, he smiled.

“This story seems very similar to a novella I read,” he began.

“It should,” the teen interrupted. “It’s the story a ghost told me that I turned into a kid’s novel.”