The Escaped Soul

Whenever Stanley goes to Uncle Sam’s house, he feels something different. He feels George, Uncle Sam’s son has supernatural powers. Whenever he is around, the hair on the back of Stanley’s neck stands up.

Stan was at Uncle Sam’s house once again as renovation work was going on in his house. As he lay in his bed thinking; his thoughts, once again, wandered to George. Man, was that boy strange! Everything seemed peculiar about him, from his pale skin to his out-of-place actions. Stan’s arrival in the house wasn’t different from the past times he had stayed over. George always tries for a friendly smile when others are around but Stan couldn’t shake off the dreaded feeling that something was fishy. Not that George was hostile towards him; George was friendly towards Stan but the guy would almost never come out to play no matter how much he pleaded. Stan was more of an outdoor person just like his friends. For him, if someone doesn’t come out to play then something has to be wrong. George rarely eats. He claims to go out but Stan never finds him anywhere! The strangest of all, George would do things before it’s even mentioned to him; as if he could read minds and there have been many incidents where Stan could hear noises from George’s bedroom, it sounded as if he were……. chanting. Another instance was tonight.

Stan was wandering in the porch at night as he wasn’t sleepy. He heard someone walking on the grass. On peeping behind the house, Stan saw George exit the back door of the house and unlock a shed. Weird, he thought, I have never seen this shed before. Of course, curiosity got the best of him and he ended up following George inside. On crawling in and hiding behind a huge piece of metal, what Stan saw left him speechless. There were numerous machines in the room and all of them were, currently, switched on. George was levitating in the air and one of the machines was shining a blue light on him, making his body translucent. Stan couldn’t help. A scream escaped his throat, causing George to whip his head around and Stan noticed that his eyes had turned blood red. Then, in a second, everything was back to normal. Before Stan could make a run for it, the door shut on its own and George was standing right in front of him. Before Stan could think of anything else George declared that he wouldn’t hurt him and wanted a chance to explain but Stan had to calm down. After reluctantly calming his nerves, realization hit him like a pile of bricks and he shouted, “I knew it! You have supernatural powers!” “Well no. Not exactly. I am what they call the undead.” George regarded Stan’s blank look as a cue to explain further. He continued, “I have certain capabilities because I am an escaped soul. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, the Underworld does exist and I found a weak spot in the barrier which divides the living world from the dead. This place used to be my house. I died in an accident at a young age.” Stan’s breath hitched. He is literally facing a ghost but he couldn’t form any words. His brain was on temporary shutdown. George still went on explaining, “For the past years I was trying to find a way back to my world and I discovered that the portal to dead opens in the living world once in every 8 and a half years; which is tonight.” Stan found the strength to speak and stuttered, “W-what about Uncle Sam? Y-you aren’t really his son…” “Yeah, about that…. As soon as I entered this world the reality altered around me. But Uncle Sam will have no memories of me as soon as I go back.” “And what about….me?” Stan mumbled. “I don’t know really” George sighed, “You found the loophole, you may still have memories of me even after everything is back to normal. Now leave because there’s very little time and if I open the portal in front of you, there’s a chance you may get sucked in too” Stan didn’t need any more motivation. After promising to keep his secret, Stan rushed back home which led him to where he is now. Laying in bed, it was morning already. After summoning enough courage, Stan hurried downstairs to Uncle Sam and asked, “Where is George” and got exactly what he expected.

“Who’s George?”