The Benton Country Club was a handsome brick building that had been built on top of a hill. The Country club was the playground for the bourgeoisie of the town. A nine hole golf course surrounded the building and attached to the building was a deep, oval-shaped swimming pool and beside the swimming pool was a tennis court. To become a member, one had to vote in. It was also clannish, with just one vote against you being enough to black ball you from ever joining the club again. 

I took a deep breath as I peered toward the full floor length mirror that was hung on the other side of the small changing room. The reflection that greeted me was totally alien to me. The reflection showed a girl, who appeared to be around sixteen. She had long, flowing brunette hair that reached down to her shoulders. A modest chest that was just starting to fill out. Her hips were just starting to come in. This girl also wore a strapless coral pink ball gown that reached all the way to the ground.

According to the Book of Genesis, the first recorded murder in human history was committed  by Cain who murdered his brother Abel. Setting the stage for men to murder each other for years to come. A foreshadowing to man's own bloody history of conflict with his fellow man. Now, the next story was told to me, by my cousin, Daisy. Who claims the story is true. And there was something in the manner of his speech, something the way he seemed to look over his shoulder, something in the way he held himself as he recounted this story that filled me with a sense of dread.

In a world without women, the trans woman is Queen. Taken from the old saying "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

No one knew who started it, but the Americans accused the Chinese and the Russians. Both of those countries accused each other. The Gynax virus had effectively wiped out 98% of women.

It was thought that it came from a mutated virus that was meant to mimic the beneficial effects of female hormones on the immune system. During the covid outbreak, more women recovered than men, and fewer were hospitalized.

Have you ever asked yourself the following question? What causes a place to become haunted? Or to become infested with demons? That is the million dollar question that is often debated among theologians and paranormal scholars alike. I'm not here to answer that question. I'm here to tell you a story of a building that is haunted. Haunted by the lost soul of a wayward teenage girl who tragically took her own life in a fit of religious fever and my personal encounter with her. But first a brief history lesson.

Mischief Night Magic
Sequel to 
Cemetery Shenanigans
Part Five: Costume Shopping 

It was around twilight when we left the parking lot of Dollar General. As we drove through the narrow streets of Benton, toward our next stop. Gwendoline seemed a little lost for words. She seemed lost in thought, she kept looking over me, and every time she would look at me she would smile. I returned the smile with one of my own. 

Mischief Night Magic
Sequel to
Cemetery Shenanigans
Part Four: Basic Supplies

There is a long held belief among those who live in Yazoo County that the name of the Yazoo, the name given to the river that flows through it, and who's yearly overflow made it prime cotton growing ground comes from the old Choctaw word that means “River of Death”. I guess that is fitting enough because all the ghost stories and legends I've shared with you center on Yazoo County. This next story was told to me by a good friend of mine. Her name is Lana Edwards. She is one of the few remaining Edward's that call Benton home.

Fathers
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I found a canoe. I had taken a job for a few days cleaning out an old shed behind a house on the shore bought by somebody in the city. The realtor said that I could stay in the basement under the house for a few days and earn some cash for emptying the contents of the shed into a dumpster, sweeping the floors and wiping the place down.

An unexpected situation arises and turns into so much more.

A Lady and a Gentleman
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

He had watched her all night. He had danced with another lady, but his eyes had been on her, or rather her ears and her throat. He did not need to get in close to see that they were real diamonds. He knew that the quality of the settings was enough. You do not apply that much workmanship to protect stones of no value. He could see it from the clips behind the ears, and the clasp of the necklace below the nape of her neck exposed by the upswept hairdo. Quality work means quality stones.

I've told you a fair number of legends that center around Benton Academy, I've also told you one or two that center around Benton High School. The School I attend. The story I'm going to tell you now, is a ghost story that is well known to the cadets of Benton High School's Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps or JROTC for short. That is commonly pronounced “JAY-rotsee” for those who were wondering.

Mischief Night Magic
Sequel to
Cemetery Shenanigans
Part One: Heather Delilah Soenksen

My mother is the night nurse at King's Daughters Hospital, my father is a foreman at Benton Brickwork. Because of their shifting schedules it's rare for the two of them to be at home at the same time. My father was already at work when I left home to keep my appointment with the strange woman. My mom had just gotten off, and had already showered and was fast asleep when I left.

Hi, Sofia here. Mary gave me permission to tell her story so here it is, picking up from when I asked her a question, but here’s a refresher of where we were when she told it to me.

I got a cab round to Mary’s so I could change back and sort out everything the male me needed for work next week. There were a couple of questions I needed to ask her so once the change had started I said, “Mary, there’s a couple of things you said and I wanted to ask you about it.” She told me I could ask her anything so I began….

A conversation with a Phantom

The mall closes its doors at nine o' clock on the dot each night. On week nights I'm in bed by then, but on Friday and Saturday nights I'm still roaming the corridors. This was one such night, it was seven at night, the sun had set and a full moon could be seen against the backdrop of a dark, cloudless night sky. The mall was as quiet as the grave and a strange stillness was starting to settle over the building.

The next week at work was a bit of a come down really, everything just felt so drab and I think Anita knew I was feeling a bit down when he had our lunch time coffee. Finally she asked me to open up. I told her, “Everything just feels so different and strange now.

Chapter 12

It would take us about five hours to get to Jakarta in Indonesia and we needed to go through emigration in Perth and immigration in Indonesia. Before we left the hotel I went to see everyone who was flying with a bag and said that if anyone had any drugs on them to put them in the bag now.

Hannah was waiting for me the moment I walked out of work, and she followed me in her car as I drove home, insisting on being the one who took me shopping. Once we got to the shop, the idea was that she would pick things out that would be suitable for a young teenager to wear to a party, so there I was shopping for the other me, and trying to visualise how I would look in things. Hannah settled on a blue dress which I thought looked very short and very tight, but she insisted it would look perfect as she had been doing some research.

Wildman’s Wife
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

It was only for pure alphabetical chance that I met Albert. We shared a college dorm room since Idlewild and Ien were next to each other on the list.

Chapter 11

When we went to leave, Jim, who had been very quiet, then asked us all if he could stay with us over the break. He said he could use the smallest cabin and that he had some experience with boats. The girls were happy to let him, so he hugged everyone and thanked me.

I checked in with the marine chandler that looked after the moorings, and he was surprised at my appearance. I told him that it was only for the tour that I was flying around and found out that he and his daughters were booked in for the third show.

Photoshoot
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

I was accompanying my girlfriend on a photoshoot. To be honest, as a guy I was pleased to tell my pals that I was dating a model, but the truth is that she was not getting much work. She mentioned that her father had a hand is teeing up the session to promote a line of clothing that was just her style, so I have to say I wondered if Daddy might have sweetened the deal a little, given that he has bundles of cash.