The Disappearing Photo Model

(This was something I wrote a little while ago, for the week of Halloween. Also, I've had an idea to start blogging on here too. If you want me to start blogging, please leave a comment. I do have a few ideas for what to post. This is a little bit of a ghost story where I read some inspiration about this hotel. I hope you like it! I have some other ideas for posts on here as well. If you want me to write something, just comment. Please like and follow! Enjoy. Thank you and I'll stop now.)

“Who’s there!” I shouted out again in fright. For I was so afraid. Who could be there? What was there? Were they following me? Why? My thoughts raced. 

Never had I thought that this would ever happen. It had seemed so fine when I wanted to go to this hotel. Beautiful view, nice cheap price. And everybody in town knew directions on how to get there. I never had stopped to question why. No, I had been too naive. There was an odd way to everyone who had worked there. I guessed sleep was the reason they were all so distracted, shaky, wary almost. 

But could I stop for once and think about everybody around me? No, apparently not. The view of the ocean was so lovely. The hotel itself had been around for a long time. Since 1923. I just blamed all the occurrences on my imagination and moved on with my business. I didn't care. It was crucial that it was comfortable enough for me, and inexpensive enough to fit the budget my company had provided me with.

I had been there to scope out the beach, photograph it for my magazine company. It was the first time I have ever travelled by myself. They said, "You've got this." My boss thought the task prefect for me. The first one I've ever taken is related to work. Take a small work related stay. I was happy to enjoy the sea and spend some time alone. And of course, earn some money doing it, as it was for work.

I had two jobs. Take some for a journaling project for a summer edition of the magazine, and take some for the wedding section of the next magazine. And edit them of course, but that could be done after both events. Summer and beachy weddings were something many loved. It was a great venue, both the hotel and the beach. It was perfect.

I went down to the beach to get some pictures. And then, as if from nowhere, there was some lady, skipping stones. She was beautiful and young. She looked distant, and independent. Her eyes were blue, she was wearing a flowy, long dress. Her hair was golden in the sun, and she had a few freckles.

She was perfect. I had to get a picture of her. And could you blame me? She was the perfect candidate for my picture. I went up to her to ask if I could take her picture, but when I got to the rock she had sat upon, she wasn’t there. As if she had merely disappeared, and I could swear, I had just been seeing things. 

Then I went back to the hotel then, to crop and edit and send the photos away. After doing so, I went to my shoot. A wedding shoot. When I went to take pictures of the bride and groom, there she was, in the background. I saw her through my lens! Instantly I snapped it. But when I went to look at the picture, there was no beautiful maiden in the background. 

When the shoot ended, I went back to my room and sent them to be printed, then to be mailed to the happy couple. I loved wedding shoots so, and it had took up the majority of my day. Tomorrow, oh so soon, perhaps too soon, I would be home. 

After reading through my email, I finished work. I found a review on line for a restaurant. I got in a cab, and ate some dinner. I decided to walk back while the sun was going down. A perfect night for a walk. So I started. The town was so lovely and homey. I never really took walks anymore. Where I lived it was just an apartment building. Here, it was a community.

Soon, I was back at the hotel. I was walking through the hall when suddenly, there was a laugh from around me. It continued. Not a sound from a room. No, from the hall. I looked around, but I was all alone. Who could it possibly be? I called out, “Who’s there” a few times, but no answer. Just the laugh. I could not bare it. I looked all around me. 

My heart beat, and the laugh went on. I was ready to cry. Who could be there? Was this some sick joke? Then I saw her, for the last time. She came from a wall, and vanished in front of me. A beautiful, happy maiden appearing from the wall, then completely gone.

The next morning, while I was checking out, I said to the concierge, “Is there any chance…well, I don’t mean to sound crazy but…a ghost could be here?”

Instantly they looked up at me, a ferocious glance. And nodded. “Her name is Emily. She waits for her husband to come back to her. Every guest asks. I see her every day. She’s always been here.” They looked down and finished checking me out. I thanked her and went on my way. 

Never since have I gone back, or thought that ghosts were real. Sometimes I dream about her. That I was seeing things and hearing things and being funny. But it felt so real. If the workers their knows…maybe Emily was real. Maybe ghosts are real. Call me strange. Or funny. Or silly. But I know. Ghosts are indeed real.