The Lamplight Apparition

The bright blue eyes are watching, always watching. They are her eyes. But she's not in them. Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Mythology Excerpt:She wobbled closer and closer. She leaned down. I opened my mouth but my throat caught. And my lungs had no breath to give force to any sound. My sight dimmed at the margins. I saw only shadows. I felt hot, too hot. I closed my eyes. I remembered something touching my forehead. A soft pair of lips. The Wheel of Fiction Turns. What did it land on this time?Each Season 9 story follows a theme chosen by the Wheel of Fiction. Thirteen spokes. Eight are the themes from previous seasons. One is "Turn Again." One is a wild card. And three are covered in question marks and will be revealed when the wheel lands on them. See a story trailer and a (satisfying) video of the wheel turning here: The Lamplight Apparition This episode landed on CHALLENGE. I challenged myself to write a story that was spooky in specific way, a story that was unsettling. Find more stories and episodes from the first year of Storyfeather here: Year of Challenge. SCARYFEATHER IS HERE!Write. Draft. Craft. Create!Or do you care to deviate?31 prompts over 31 days of October.Each prompt is inspired by one of my stories in the horror genre. (Hmm, per the story art, I seem to have some sort of eyeball fixation.)Visit the Challenge page for funsies. It won't bite. (Much.)storyfeather.com/fictioneer/october NEWSLETTERSStoryfeather Gazette (if you'd like to keep up with the fiction I create) Fictioneer's Field Guide (if you'd like writing tips and guidance from me) Choose what you want. (Either way, you're choosing high jinks.) FICTION-WRITING ARTICLES & RESOURCESCome and explore the Fictioneer's Field Station. MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I've gotten all these hundreds of stories written? I have a method. You can learn it in my book called Fictioneer's Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It's now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. MERCH!Interested in merch, like mugs and notebooks, featuring my artwork?Please visit my Store page for info on where you can buy: STORYFEATHER STORE CREDITSStory: "The Lamplight Apparition" Copyright © 2022 by Nila L. PatelNarration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production: Nila L. Patel Music:"Witches" by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro)"Orbs" by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Outro)"Abstract Vision #5" by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro) Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)"Once""At night""Witches""Dark wonders""Orbs""Until dawn""The death of love""The 4th world" All tracks are part of music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market. Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev MarketVocal effects created with Audacity Changes made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration. Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com Episode Art Description:Digital drawing. A human-like figure facing forward with head tilted to the left. The figure is hazy and translucent except for the eyeballs, lips, heart and blood vessels leading from the neck to the heart. At upper left, a bright light extends to the shoulders and fades into black. Watermark of "Storyfeather" along right arm.