Plot:
The house is perfect with its acreage, gatehouse, and large conservancy. After all her years of recording and concert work, and all the travel, this is the place for her. Never mind the silly rumors about the place being haunted.
Then the relatives she hadn’t seen for years descend on her. When polite hints to leave her alone don’t work, she takes to more underhanded measures and invites them to stay the night… in a haunted house, even if she has to do the haunting herself.
Thoughts:
On the one hand, the reader sympathizes with the narrator right away. It’s understandable that the poor woman wants a little peace and quiet after a long hard professional life. The relatives who help themselves to her hospitality get in the way of that.
Not all is as it seems, of course. Unfortunately, the ending is visible from a mile away. Other than that, this is a fun little piece I enjoyed it.
Bio:
According to her blurb, author Susan Rooke is a Pushcart-nominated poet and author of the Space Between fantasy series. Her work has appeared in such publications as inkscrawl, Eye to the Telescope, The Twilight Zone Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor, among many others. She lives in Texas.
The piece can be read here.
Title: “A Matter of Fax”
Author: Susan Rooke
First published: Theme of Absence, January 10, 2020
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 