Shop Some More

A poetic short ghost story by Michelle Ko

Inspired by The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

It was a dreary night, and worries filled my head. There was a sense of doom inside me. I could not rest in bed, so I took my tablet off my nightstand and used its light as I walked through the darkness to my living room. 

I felt such a sense of lonely gloom as I sat on a recliner armchair. It was only after I turned on my tablet, the ceiling awash with its eerie light, that I felt better. A thrill ran through my veins, as I found my favorite online store, where I shopped for shoes and clothes, and just before my eyes closed, I heard a ghostly voice whisper, “Shop some more.” It gave me quite a fright. 

“Who’s there?” My voice croaked, but I only heard the sharp rasp of my icy breath, so convinced that I was tired and imagining things, I turned my tablet off and closed my eyes. I tried my best to sleep. I truly did. Laying so still, to rest my body in soft repose, after some time, I finally started to doze. 

That’s when I heard a sound, much louder than before. The previously soft voice was almost booming this time, as the ghostly voice said, “Shop some more.” I let out a gasp, my tablet falling to the floor.

“Just my imagination,” I muttered. “Only this and nothing more.” 

The room felt chilly. My quick breath of soft plumes of air drifted before me, like specters. I built a fire, and as the flames licked and danced, they left light and shadows across the floor. Grasping my tablet, and basking once again in its ghostly glow, I found another favorite online shopping store. I looked at household goods galore, and when I made my purchases, my eyelids grew heavy, and the fire grew to embers. I slowly drifted toward sleep. Then a voice whispered, “Shop some more.” 

 “No!” I shouted. “You’re just my imagination, nothing more!” 

I picked my tablet up again and found another favorite online store. I bought, and bought, and bought some more. “Now leave me be!” I shouted again. “I need to rest, and it’s growing late.” Despite the warm fire, shivered with fright. “I need some sleep tonight,” I muttered.

Eagerly I wished it were tomorrow, where deliveries would follow, delights all wrapped up like Christmas day upon my porch. They would thrill me as I opened them, the paper rustling as I removed items from their boxes, and found a place for them in my home. I would find such joy in my new things and the happiness they temporarily would bring until the lonely night would come again. The sad terror of their cost would bring worries to my head, of bills and credit overextended.

For now, to still the loud pumping of blood from my heart to my ears, and the loneliness in tears, I would ignore all of my fears to shop some more. I delighted in finding some earrings that were shining like stars in the heavens. “Just one more thing, then off to bed.” At least that’s what I said in my head.

Then a voice again whispered, “Shop some more.” 

At this moment, my heart grew stronger, hesitant no longer, I stood from my chair, and shouted into the ether, “Ghostly voice, please, speak to me no more!” 

I marched to the wall and flipped the switch to turn on the light, not exactly knowing what I was looking for. No longer did shadows extend from the fiery embers in my hearth. My room was awash in blinding light. But in my heart, I was still feeling dreary, and as I stood there feeling weary, and as tired as I felt, I worried that I’d sleep no more. 

The fiery embers had gone out. Leaving the light on, I left my tablet in my living room. I slipped back into my bed. I was back to tossing and turning, my heart within me yearning for something that I couldn’t put into words or buy. 

It was dark in my bedroom, and it filled my heart with gloom. The eerie glow did bloom upon my ceiling once more. I groped the nightstand and found that in my hand was my cell phone. 

Then a voice once again whispered, “Shop some more.” 

“No! It’s the wind, nothing more, or my imagination! I implore you ghostly voice, to let my heart be still a moment and speak no more!” 

My fear was fierce. I threw my cell phone across the floor, and my heart seized. The pain was extreme. I gripped my chest, then rolled off my bed and onto the floor. 

The phone also landed on the floor near my bedroom wall. It cast a light upon my door. And from within the shadows, grew a menacing shape. This ebony shape looked like a man. A man with a scythe in his hand. His countenance was trained into a fierce and grave expression. 

“Ahh, you! You are the one with the eerie voice! Torture me no more!” I shouted. But he said nothing. This ghastly grim creature of the night spoke not a word. He just stared as I lay quivering on the floor. This strange creature’s eyes, demon’s eyes, were just seeming to stare at me some more. Of what evils he was dreaming, I couldn’t be sure. 

Then, a dark and raspy voice said, “You’ll be at rest now. You’ll shop no more.” This was not the voice that I had heard before. As dark and scary as this creature was, his tone was kind, so that when he reached for me and put his hand in mine, I stood up, and his arms went around my shoulders. I felt a sense of peace in his icy embrace. Something I had never felt before. I looked back at the floor and realized that my body lay there still, very still.

“How can this be? Am I dead?” 

“Yes, you died.” The creature replied. “Your stress and fright have been your end. Your heart couldn’t take the toll upon your soul.”

The light from my phone turned off, and the room grew dark. I would not stress nor worry, no shopping bills to pay. Never again, never, not anymore.