Every Thursday, I use this blog to highlight a title from
my list of books and stories already out there that you might have missed. This
week, I'm throwing back to an emotional and haunting (literally!) love story, THE GHOST IN NUMBER 9. I like to flatter myself into believing the story has similar themes to the amazing short story, "Brokeback Mountain." Author Lloyd Meeker said this about the story:
"The author might not agree with me that '
The Ghost in Number 9' is a kind
of closeted gay man’s 'Christmas Carol'...When the spirit world intervenes to guide someone into a happier life in
this world, it’s hard not to see the similarities..."
BLURB
For
Tony and Carter, room number 9 in the Galaxy Gold motel on Seattle's
seedy Aurora Avenue is a refuge. There, the two young lovers have found a
place to hide away from a world that would condemn them for their
love. Within the darkened, summer-hot confines of room number 9, Carter
and Tony can explore their love and lust for one another, free of the
burdens of the outside world.
But room number 9 holds a terrible and tragic
secret, one that dates back to the Galaxy Gold's opening back in 1962,
when Seattle was hosting its World's Fair. There's a ghost in room
number 9, and he has a message for Tony and Carter, a message about the
consequences of shame and hiding love behind a closed motel room door.
Will Tony and Carter listen to the ghost's
message and have the courage to bring their love out into the open? Or
will this long-ago story, one eerily similar to Tony and Carter's, be
ignored?
The answer awaits in room number 9...
Genres: Gay / Paranormal / Hauntings / Ghosts / Interracial / Multicultural
Length: 11k words
BUY
EXCERPT
...When
he returned to the bedroom, a man was sitting in one of the chairs
opposite the bed. His legs were crossed and he made Carter think of the
TV series, Mad Men. He had that perfect Don Draper look: dark
hair neatly parted at the side, a crisp white shirt with the sleeves
rolled up to reveal hairy forearms, a pair of gray slacks, creased, and a
pair of black wingtips. The man was smoking a cigarette and blowing the
smoke into the air in rings.
He looked over at Carter as though he had been expecting him. He smiled.
For Carter’s part, he didn’t know whether to scream, laugh, run, or question his sanity. “How did you get in here?”
The man sighed. “I’m always here. I was here when you and your boyfriend were fucking today and every time before.”
Carter cast his gaze around for an unnoticed
closet where the man could have hidden himself, but there was only the
freestanding wardrobe in the corner and Carter doubted he could secret
himself there.
“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want,
but I’ll give you a minute to get out of here or else I’m calling the
cops.” Carter edged a few steps closer, so that he could snatch his
pants from the floor. He felt in the pockets, relieved when he grasped
the outlines of his wallet and phone.
He struggled into the khakis, almost losing his
balance. All kinds of creeps walked up and down Aurora, at all hours of
the day or night, and all Carter could think was that this one had
gotten in when Tony left, forgetting to lock the door behind him.
Yet, didn’t the door lock automatically? And what did the man mean about always being in the room?
And while it was true there were prostitutes and
thugs that regularly walked the lengthy north-south traverse of Aurora
Avenue, none of them looked as neat (and neat was the best word) as this
character.
Carter shivered, even though the room had no air
conditioning. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and put it on,
buttoning it with trembling fingers.
“You know what? Forget it. I’ll just leave and
I’ll let the guy at the front desk know you’re here.” Why not? Carter
had all his important belongings now. He needed only to slip into his
wingtips.
“Sit down.”
“What?”
“Grab a seat on the bed, bud. You know I’m not real.”
“Not real?” Carter neared the man. “You look real
to me.” He reached out to place a hand on the guy’s chest and it was
like his hand passed through a fog of cold air...
BUY
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