The Garland

On a chilly autumn night, Mark and Emily decided to take a late-night stroll through the quiet streets of their neighborhood. They had been married for two years, and despite their busy lives, they cherished these peaceful moments together. The moon was full, casting an eerie glow on the deserted streets.

As they walked past an old, abandoned house that everyone in the neighborhood avoided, they noticed a figure standing in the shadows. The person, dressed in a tattered cloak, stepped forward and extended a hand, offering a garland of flowers. The flowers were strangely vibrant, almost glowing under the moonlight.

"Take this," the stranger whispered, their voice raspy and unsettling. Before the couple could react, the figure disappeared into the darkness, leaving the garland hanging in Mark’s hand.

"Who was that?" Emily asked, her voice trembling.

"I don't know," Mark replied, equally disturbed. "But it’s just a garland. Maybe it’s a kind gesture."

Reluctantly, they decided to take the garland home. They placed it on the dining table and tried to shake off the unsettling encounter. As the night progressed, strange things began to happen. The once fragrant flowers started emitting a foul odor. The air grew heavy, and the temperature in their house dropped inexplicably.

Around midnight, the couple was jolted awake by a loud thud. They rushed to the living room and found the garland lying on the floor. The flowers were now wilted and blackened, and the air was filled with an oppressive, suffocating energy.

Suddenly, they heard a whispering sound, growing louder and more insistent. The whispers seemed to come from all directions, echoing through the walls. Terrified, Mark and Emily clung to each other, their eyes darting around the room.

Then, the figure from earlier appeared at their doorstep, no longer a shadow but a ghastly apparition with hollow eyes and a sinister smile. "You should have never taken the garland," the ghostly figure hissed.

The room plunged into darkness, and the whispers turned into anguished screams. The couple felt an icy grip on their bodies, paralyzing them with fear. Desperate to escape, Mark grabbed the garland and threw it out the window.

Instantly, the oppressive atmosphere lifted. The temperature returned to normal, and the whispers ceased. The ghostly figure vanished, leaving behind a chilling silence. Shaken but relieved, Mark and Emily hugged each other tightly, grateful to have survived the night.

The next morning, they found the garland outside their window, now completely decayed. They decided to burn it and never spoke of that night again. From then on, they avoided the old house and the memories of the terrifying encounter, hoping that the spirit had been laid to rest and would not return.

However, strange things continued to happen. People in the neighborhood started avoiding them. Their friends and family members seemed distant, their faces shadowed with unease whenever Mark and Emily were around. It was as if a cold, invisible barrier separated them from the rest of the world.

One evening, Mark overheard a conversation between two neighbors. They were talking about the couple who lived in the old house, saying, "It's so sad what happened to them. They died so young. That house has been empty for years now."

Confused and frightened, Mark and Emily decided to visit the local library to look up any recent news. To their horror, they found an article dated a few months back: "Tragic Death of Young Couple: Mark and Emily Found Dead in Their Home." The article detailed how they had been found lifeless, with no apparent cause of death, and how the garland had been linked to a series of mysterious deaths in the area.

In that moment of realization, they understood the ghostly figure's curse. They had died that night when they had thrown the garland out, but they never knew. They were now restless spirits, trapped in a realm between the living and the dead, forever haunted by the eerie whispers of the garland and the sinister smile of the ghostly figure.

Every night, the whispers grew louder, the oppressive cold returned, and the figure appeared, reminding them of their fate. Mark and Emily could only watch helplessly as the world moved on without them, their souls forever bound to the cursed garland, never to find peace.