Chapter 18
The Haunting
Admiral Biscuit
There was no reason to expect instant results, so of course I did.
The attic was still deliberately off-limits during the night, just in case she decided to come back. I left the dormer window open, this time far enough for her to get out with the blanket if she chose to do so. I still wasn’t sure if she’d trust the plush toy I’d gotten for her, but if she came back and saw the blanket—and if the old stallion wasn’t lying—she might take it.
I’d piled up everything in the living room so I’d have enough room to room all the flowers, and I also debated moving my bedroom down a floor. That would give her an extra layer of safety in the attic, which might be beneficial; on the other hand, if she knew where my bedroom was, she might not like it if I moved it somewhere else, and she found me by surprise.
I should have asked the old stallion if he would come over and watch for her, but that might have been awkward for both of us. If he’d asked, I would have said yes, but I didn’t want to broach the subject with him, not yet. I might wind up getting hit again, and I didn’t want that. My nose couldn’t take it.
As I lay in bed, I felt more comfortable than I’d been in a while. I was sure she’d be back in no time, and while I’d have to figure out a way to approach her without scaring her, I was confident I’d figure out a way to accomplish that. Just as soon as she came back.
Of course, she didn’t come back. Maybe she was coming close, or maybe she was just staying wherever she normally stayed during the day. Maybe she’d found another house to haunt.
The flowers hadn’t been as enticing as I’d thought they would be, and while I considered getting more, I was getting tired of lugging them into the house every day and then back out for the night.
Who put flowers out at night, anyway? I was sure that Milfoil was wondering about that, but she hasn’t said anything to me yet. Had the old stallion been messing with me? It didn’t seem likely.
In short, the experiment was turning out to be a complete bust, and I had an idea that either I’d had some sort of weird persistent hallucination, or else that she was gone for good.
Things would have been simpler if that had turned out to be the case.
•••••
Even though I wasn’t trying to actively spy on her any more, I had windows in my house and I looked out them, and one night I noticed a faint glow at the edge of my yard. Something that I ordinarily would have ignored, but not this time.
I’d been in the process of getting undressed for bed, and I just stopped, afraid to make a single additional movement. I had no idea how good her vision was, and I didn’t want to spook her.
She hesitated at the very edge of the yard for a long time before finally getting up her courage and zipping across the yard to the flowers. They’d been getting kind of ratty over the last few days; I hadn’t been paying as much attention to them as I should have been. They weren’t getting the sunlight they needed, and it was a pain to water them all.
Since it was only a border of flowers, it didn’t take her too long to get inside the row of pots, back into the actual garden, which I hadn’t touched at all.
While it was hard to be certain from my position, I was sure she hesitated when she saw that the garden proper wasn’t blooming like the rest of the flowers. She circled through the plants, cautiously at first, and I saw her stop a few times and put her nose down to the dirt.
I might have moved and startled her, or perhaps something else had, because she suddenly made a beeline out of the garden and away from the backyard, back to the woods.
I didn’t think I’d see her back, so I finished putting on my pajamas, but instead of laying down in bed, I sat on the edge where I had just a little view of the garden, and after about a half hour, she was back again.
This time she approached with a bit more confidence, and this time she took a detour to the tree, where her trowel was still sitting safely.
If I’d moved very slowly and cautiously, I could have gotten to the window and gotten a better look at what she was doing, but there was no need. She was back, and that was a start.
•••••
I got up early the next morning.
My first stop was the attic, which I approached with what turned out to be an excess of caution. As I had my hand on the rope for the attic stairs, it occurred to me that there was a very small possibility that during the night she’d decided that the house was safe again, and she’d gone in the attic, seen her blanket, and decided to lie down for a nap. If I just yanked open the trap and stormed up there, I’d lose what tiny progress I’d made.
I got a chair from the kitchen and put it in the hallway, and then pulled down the trap just far enough to get a glimpse into the attic, considering all the while if ghosts actually slept. Before I’d seen her, I would have confidently said that they did not, but after watching her take a bath, I was less sure about what ghosts might do.
It was still dark outside, and I didn’t see any ghostly glow--of course, that could fade when she slept. If she did. Maybe ghosts were out in the daytime, too, but it was just too bright to see them.
From what I could observe through the crack, the blanket was where I’d left it, so I edged the trap open a bit further and when I still didn’t see her, pulled it down all the way.
If she’d been planning on braining me with her duck, this would have been the perfect opportunity. She could have played whack-a-mole with my head as I stuck it above the trap.
I hadn’t really expected her to be in the attic, and she wasn’t, so I closed the trap back up and took the chair back to the kitchen before going out into the backyard.
Her trowel was gone--apparently she’d decided to take that back with her, or else she’d found a better hiding place for it. It didn’t matter.
There were a few more plants that had been dug up, but not that many. Most everything was going dormant for the winter, so that wasn’t overly surprising. Weeds mostly took the winter off, too. I hadn’t had to have my lawn mowed a second time, although it was looking a bit shaggy. Not too shaggy, though, not enough that I was worried about it. Surely some pony would have complained if it was overgrown.
It was probably my imagination, but when I stood back and didn’t focus on anything in particular, the garden did look a bit neater.
•••••
By the time I’d moved half the flowers into the living room, I was considering the advantages to building a potted plant conveyor belt system. Or something on tracks--back on Earth there were people who build garden railroads, and while it was unlikely that they used the railroad to actually move their garden, I couldn’t think of a reason why that wouldn’t work, so long as the track was sturdy. Each plant could have its own train car, and I could build a spiral in my living room where it could park them, and I’d have the only locomotive-powered garden in Haywards Heath. That was something to look forward to. I hadn’t seen any toy trains at the market or in any of the shops, but if they had real trains they almost certainly had toy ones.
Milfoil came out while I was finishing up, and watched me with the same skeptical look she had on her face every time I moved my plants inside for the day. Ears forward, that was interest, and one eyebrow cocked, that was confusion. It was an expression I’d learned quite well.
One of these days, I was going to tell her the whole story, but for now she was just going to have to remain in the dark as to why I kept my plants inside during the day but outside at night.
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Good on him. he broke something, and now he's going to make things right. However long that may take.
If the plants can survive outside at night, why not outside during the day as well?
Just tell her it's a human thing. What's she going to do? Call you out with her vast knowledge of earthican culture?
9347419
nice to see you getting into the spirit of things with that post.
Hmmm, avoiding the new things...
Just tell her the plants can’t sleep outside because their beds are uncomfortable.
Now I want a train powered garden.
If he keeps up this sort of thing he's apt to get a visit from Moonbutt thanking him for the weird Lunar Princess worship ritual. "Thy floral sacrifice is unnecessary, but we doth appreciate the gesture human."
9344387
9347419
I didn't mean for my puns to make you gag, they were meant in good humor though sadly they seem to have pratfalled a little short though since I'm in this deep I think I'll slapstick to my guns as ironyway so I guess I'll be side splitting now.
9347416
You are a very verbose author in the comments section.
Plants on tracks for delivery?
At least he aint trying to make it a canal.
Then he would be going mad. Trying to make an Amazon?
The Boo Is Back.
9347349
He puts them out at night to attract the ghost filly, and brings them in the following day so they don't freeze
Mending the fence one flower at a time... though I can only guess at the rumors this is inspiring.
9347259 BLARG!!
9347407 I am a super-genius after all.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/00/e1/78/00e178b3bfc6e63946bd2d13e625c55f.jpg
9347409 Derpy's Derp-Vision allows her to see through cherngelerng disguises!
I often have to move my tropical plants in and out as the weather becomes unstable in spring and fall, trying to maximize the sunlight they get as long as possible.
Of course, some of my plants are small trees and weigh over 200 pounds. Soooo... a bit tougher than flowers.
Yay, ghost!
9347396
Well, if I knew there was a house where the spirit of my niece was and I could stay closer to her, I would at least consider selling my current home and moving across town.
YAY!
Little Windflowerghostiepony has returned.... albeit in a tentative manner.
She acts too innocent and cute to lose. Glad she's back-ish.
9347314
Ɯнʏ σғ cσʋяƨɛ иσт, ωɛ'∂ нαя∂ℓʏ вι тнɛ ɛϰƨιℓℓɛит ʝɛƨтɛяƨ ωɛ αяɛ, ιғ ωɛ ƨтσρρɛ∂ cяαғтιиɢ ƨʋcн ɢнσʋℓιƨн ∂ɛℓιɢнтƨ
Just started this a couple days ago, apparently just before that ch 18 update. Lol
Kinda fell for this story quickly. Box forts. Ghosts taking baths/washing their perceived dirty hooves after gardening. Playing and hiding their favorite toys around the house. And side stories of desperate mares looking for companionship and a very old uncle with a mean right hook who displays earth pony healing properties.
It's fun and adorable ride so far.
Y e s
9347256
That’s the only thing he can do, at least as a decent human being. He made a mistake, and now he’s got to fix it . . . there’s no other option.
9347315
Depending on the design, a flower railroad would be a practical solution. And in fact, one of the YouTube channels I subscribe to has built a garden railroad to transport things to and fro, although it’s currently human-powered rather than having locomotives.
9347349
Being outside at night isn’t good for them, ‘cause that’s when it gets the coldest and they get frosty. In terms of plant survival, he’d do better to have them outside during the day and inside at night, although of course that wouldn’t lure the ghost in.
9347382
What if she did? What if she had a degree in humanology? That’d show him.
9347444
9347456
She is, poor thing.
9347461
He’s trying to avoid the nice ponies with the butterfly nets, not give his neighbor another reason to call them.
9347501
Who wouldn’t want a train powered garden? I wouldn’t mind one myself. I’ve even got enough land to pull it off.
9347603
Oh, man, that would be a twist he wouldn’t see coming. She just shows up in his garden one day, sniffing at the flowers or nibbling them or something, and he’s all frustrated because now he’s got a princess in his yard but no ghost. . . .
9347662
9347692
Thank you!
I do try to reply to every comment, although not always in as timely a manner as I’d like. I think that comments are one of the best features of the site.
9347693
Although thinking about it, a canal system would pay off, since it could both transport plants and also irrigate them. More setup at the beginning, but once it’s done, it’s multipurpose.
Trying to make an Amazon might be going a bit too far, at least without heavy equipment. Just a little canal would be plenty.
9347981
The kindest rumors would be that the dumb human doesn’t know how photosynthesis works.
9348027
Or completely insane . . . and let’s be honest, those are often two sides of the same coin.
It does . . . and there’s an advantage in being able to look in two different directions at once.
Whereas I have a black thumb or two, and pretty much figure that my plants will do the best if I don’t help them.
So what you’re saying is that you really need a plant railroad.
9348046
9348346
Sure, if you knew that for certain, you’d do it in a heartbeat. But if you didn’t know for sure? If you maybe suspected that that could be the case, but thus far has no conclusive proof that it was so? Would that be something you’d do on a maybe?
9348508
She has!
Oh, yeah, totally. She’s the kind of ghost that improves a house, really.
9349067
Also, that comment must have taken forever to type.
9349517
Thanks!
It really does have everything, doesn’t it?
9349977
It really is a goal to aspire to.
9349067
Though you've kind of boxed yourselves in with the one brand of pun oh don't worry they're very ghoul but every blooming single bit of spoopy PUNishment is a lot to trough through you have to weed out the good from the boned and move in to a new category of puns or else they start to feel horse
She's planting the flowers?
Huh, good point.
Aw. No planted flowers.
Ummm. Okay?
Why does he keep them inside during the day, though? Nights are colder
9997651
No, but you’re close. She’s weeding.
And I have not seen this addressed in any ghost story I’ve ever read, just saying.
Nope.
Given that he’s considered building multiple box forts, this is not any less sensible of an idea.
Because he has to have them outside at night, to attract Windflower. Bringing them in gives them a chance to warm up, and hopefully they’ll survive longer (also, he’s not a gardening professional).
9349977
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