The Seeing

This is a fictional horror story about a man who can see the ghosts of the old world, it's people and buildings that have long gone and demolished. He writes a story about his unusual gift, that he calls The Seeing. Although this story is made up, I sometimes see things that are no longer there, usually due to over tiredness or by misremembering the present, forgetting certain buildings or forests are no longer with us. It is these occurrences that have inspired this story, you are about to read.

I am writing this in vain hope, wishing that somebody else out there has experienced similar visions of a world that has long ago changed. Maybe I'm not going mad, but perhaps seeing ghosts of not just people of the past, but buildings and events too. It was in 2023 when I first noticed it. I'm from Runcorn, Cheshire. Towards the end of that year, the old towers at Fiddler's Ferry were bulldozed. It was a huge display, everyone in town came to watch. I was in work the day it happened, but I later saw videos of it's destruction on Facebook that very night. Here is the thing, I can still see them. Even though I know they are nothing but ash, scooped up and gone forever, for some reason I could not comprehend, they were still standing. Yet, it was only to me. Of course, I never told anyone this secret, fearing I'd look weird or crazy, but it's true. It's then that I started to think about my life. I had seen other strange out of place items, out of time buildings, people and objects in bizarre places, men and women dressed in unusual fashion. I simply assumed that some people are just old fashioned, or that old buildings still remain. I remember telling someone about the cute cottage I seen on my way to work, when I was a cleaner at the Bilmo (Italian supermarket chain) warehouse in Runcorn's industrial district. Nobody knew what I was talking about, not my father who often drove me to work, not my coworkers, nobody saw it but me. I figured it was just hidden (which it was, within a dark forest) so nobody noticed it but me. Obviously I didn't know I had this ability back then, it was nothing but a pretty view before entering that miserable warehouse. Then there were other times, when I was much younger, where I seen odd men in Victorian era clothing. With waxed moustaches and beards too. I told my dad, he didn't see them pass, but we were on holiday, visiting an old castle in Wales. Again, I presumed they were just stage performers, it was entirely possible that there was a stage play on nearby. We just didn't know about it. That's just a few examples of the strange sights I've seen, I'm a believer in the occult. At least, I'm a fan of the supernatural, I love horror, ghost stories of the like. Maybe because it strikes close to home, I've heard things that nobody else has, saw objects move and when I point it out, people laugh or say I'm joking. I'm never joking. Maybe I'm mad, or perhaps I'm seeing ghosts. Not just people, but events and pieces of the old world. Who knows? If anybody out there has shared this supernatural sight, please let me know by telling me your story. Come to think of it, perhaps it's just my memory telling me where something long gone should be. Like I'm so used to knowing something was there, but no that it is not, somehow my brain still see's what is no longer there. It really makes me wonder and second guess everything that I can see around me. This is a much more frightening thought, perhaps I'm just insane!