"I can't believe we finally did it!" exclaimed Lia. She hoisted the metal box above her head, her adrenaline allowing her to do it with ease.
Ben just stared at her. They couldn't have actually done it. Could they really have caught a ghost? No, right? Ghosts couldn't actually be real. "But...ghosts aren't real," he said dumbly. He had only seen the end of the catching, as the last bit of the ghostly form was snapped into the trap, but he had no doubt what he'd seen.
"Uh, then why were you a ghost hunter if you thought they weren't real?" asked Lia, teasing, as she started packing up her stuff so they could get the ghost back to their office.
Ben didn't want to tell her why he had been a ghost hunter. Truth was, he was looking for something ever since his parents died. He hadn't found it with a therapist and he hadn't found it in his hometown church and he hadn't found it in any books he'd read, so he thought maybe he'd find it this way. People had tried crazier things to cope with death, he'd told himself. It wasn't too hard to get the job, the people hiring didn't even seem to care that he was a skeptic, they actually saw it as a strength. "People will trust you if you say you saw a ghost because you don't believe." But now he and Lia had actually caught a house at a rotting Victorian house. Why is it always Victorian houses?
"I...I guess I wanted to be sure if they were real or not," Ben muttered, deciding it was easier than the truth.
"Well, now you know," beamed Lia. "C'mon, we gotta get this back to everybody."
When Ben and Lia showed off their discovery to their team, everyone was ecstatic. There were whoops and high fives and hugs and talks of getting champagne.
"So what do we do with it?" asked Ben when the excitement had somewhat subsided.
"First," began Irene, their leader and the one who had hired Ben, "we document it and publish our findings."
"Then," started Richard, Irene's husband and right-hand-man, "we make an exhibit so we can fund more research. We'll get some grants to be sure, but this could be a huge revenue generator."
The team excitedly exchanged their agreement.
"But," Ben cut in through the happy voices, "isn't it alive? Shouldn't we let it go after we document it?"
"Ben," Irene said, trying to be kind, "ghosts can't be alive, that's how they got to be ghosts."
A few people laughed, but Ben didn't. "But we don't really know though, do we? Since now we know ghosts are real, couldn't that mean that people are just alive in a different way?"
Irene weighed his words, "Perhaps, but we would need to study it to truly know. And we need to be able to fund that study."
"So on exhibit the ghost goes!" shouted Lia excitedly. The rest of the team roared their agreement and someone did go out and buy some champagne.
It didn't take long to document their findings and get some widespread publicity. They hadn't let the ghost out since Lia caught it, instead they documented their readings from the trap outputs itself and had the brief images Lia had managed to capture before the ghost was caught. They were blurry and the ghost's features weren't recognizable, but people were convinced of its veracity.
The team worked to construct a bigger version of the metal trap that had a large glass portion so the ghost could be put on display. With the funds they already had coming in from some grants, they were able to do this in under a month. It took another month to get the office space cleared away and a proper exhibit set up.
Ben cringed a bit at the merchandise they purchased to sell. He knew they needed to learn more and this ghost was an incredible discovery, but he felt knickknacks overly cheapened the whole thing. The ghost shouldn't be a sideshow, the ghost should be treated with respect. None of his objections seemed to hold any weight though. He stayed on because he did want to see the ghost in its full form when they released it and, besides, he thought it was better to have someone raising the objections, maybe they had stymied some worse ideas that hadn't been voiced.
The day finally came and the team watched as Lia released the ghost into its new enclosure.
The ghost took the form of an older man, horrifyingly recognizable to Ben. Shocking to all, the ghost spoke, "Ben?"
"Dad?"
(Prompt by Sonia Soto)
Ben just stared at her. They couldn't have actually done it. Could they really have caught a ghost? No, right? Ghosts couldn't actually be real. "But...ghosts aren't real," he said dumbly. He had only seen the end of the catching, as the last bit of the ghostly form was snapped into the trap, but he had no doubt what he'd seen.
"Uh, then why were you a ghost hunter if you thought they weren't real?" asked Lia, teasing, as she started packing up her stuff so they could get the ghost back to their office.
Ben didn't want to tell her why he had been a ghost hunter. Truth was, he was looking for something ever since his parents died. He hadn't found it with a therapist and he hadn't found it in his hometown church and he hadn't found it in any books he'd read, so he thought maybe he'd find it this way. People had tried crazier things to cope with death, he'd told himself. It wasn't too hard to get the job, the people hiring didn't even seem to care that he was a skeptic, they actually saw it as a strength. "People will trust you if you say you saw a ghost because you don't believe." But now he and Lia had actually caught a house at a rotting Victorian house. Why is it always Victorian houses?
"I...I guess I wanted to be sure if they were real or not," Ben muttered, deciding it was easier than the truth.
"Well, now you know," beamed Lia. "C'mon, we gotta get this back to everybody."
When Ben and Lia showed off their discovery to their team, everyone was ecstatic. There were whoops and high fives and hugs and talks of getting champagne.
"So what do we do with it?" asked Ben when the excitement had somewhat subsided.
"First," began Irene, their leader and the one who had hired Ben, "we document it and publish our findings."
"Then," started Richard, Irene's husband and right-hand-man, "we make an exhibit so we can fund more research. We'll get some grants to be sure, but this could be a huge revenue generator."
The team excitedly exchanged their agreement.
"But," Ben cut in through the happy voices, "isn't it alive? Shouldn't we let it go after we document it?"
"Ben," Irene said, trying to be kind, "ghosts can't be alive, that's how they got to be ghosts."
A few people laughed, but Ben didn't. "But we don't really know though, do we? Since now we know ghosts are real, couldn't that mean that people are just alive in a different way?"
Irene weighed his words, "Perhaps, but we would need to study it to truly know. And we need to be able to fund that study."
"So on exhibit the ghost goes!" shouted Lia excitedly. The rest of the team roared their agreement and someone did go out and buy some champagne.
It didn't take long to document their findings and get some widespread publicity. They hadn't let the ghost out since Lia caught it, instead they documented their readings from the trap outputs itself and had the brief images Lia had managed to capture before the ghost was caught. They were blurry and the ghost's features weren't recognizable, but people were convinced of its veracity.
The team worked to construct a bigger version of the metal trap that had a large glass portion so the ghost could be put on display. With the funds they already had coming in from some grants, they were able to do this in under a month. It took another month to get the office space cleared away and a proper exhibit set up.
Ben cringed a bit at the merchandise they purchased to sell. He knew they needed to learn more and this ghost was an incredible discovery, but he felt knickknacks overly cheapened the whole thing. The ghost shouldn't be a sideshow, the ghost should be treated with respect. None of his objections seemed to hold any weight though. He stayed on because he did want to see the ghost in its full form when they released it and, besides, he thought it was better to have someone raising the objections, maybe they had stymied some worse ideas that hadn't been voiced.
The day finally came and the team watched as Lia released the ghost into its new enclosure.
The ghost took the form of an older man, horrifyingly recognizable to Ben. Shocking to all, the ghost spoke, "Ben?"
"Dad?"
(Prompt by Sonia Soto)
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