Craig closed his eyes and rubbed them with the palms of his hands. Then he looked again to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing on this eerie, foggy night with a full moon illuminating the mist.

Yes, what he was seeing was still there. A tall, lean young man wearing a dark suit and shoes that looked like sneakers. Was standing on the stone footbridge over the creek. He was wearing a top hat that looked two sizes too large for his head. He also seemed to have a book in his right hand. Craig speculated that it might be a Bible.

But as Craig was staring at the man, he saw the most peculiar sight. Suddeny, without shifting his position at all, the man appeared to float up until he was no longer standing on the deck of the old stone bridge. He was, in fact, standing rather precariously on the stone sidewall on the near side of the bridge. And his left shoe appeared to be fading into the stone wall, as if the bridge was starting to absorb the figure standing on the wall.

Once again Craig closed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. But when he opened his eyes this time, the man was gone, and all that remained on the bridge sidewall was the top hat and the book. Craig walked to the footbridge and picked up the top hat and book, which was, indeed, a Bible.

When Craig got home a few minutes later, he showed his father the hat and book and related to his father what he had seen. Craig’s father turned pale. “It was an apparition, son,” Craig’s father said. “The ghost of Elias Grant. He was tried and convicted for sorcery some 200 years ago. After his conviction, he was brought to that footbridge, hands tied behind his back, and he was thrown in the water under the bridge, where he drowned.”

Craig’s father grabbed Craig by the shoulders and said, “You must take those artifacts back to the bridge exactly where you found them. They say Elias Grant is only visible to those who will meet a similar fate. Be careful, my son.”

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Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Photo credit: Darksouls 1 @ Pixabay.