The Ghost of Our Beliefs

By Chris J Mitchell

In this stand alone short story will the beliefs of the main character stand firm, or will he come to accept the world and to a greater extent the Universe is a complex place where everything is not so straight forward.

Joshua is a retired engineer, but was not just an engineer by trade; he was one by heart. Ever since he was a child he has been fascinated by the mechanisms and machines that the human race has created. His mind is methodical, pragmatic and his beliefs stand firm in facts and reason. What is observable, testable and measurable is what exists and everything else is simply myth or theory.

His heart felt understanding of the world though is disrupted and altered by the strange sighting of a unexplained figure or what is more commonly thought of as a ghost. Will this experience alter his beliefs or will the ghosts of his previous values stand firm?

Chris J Mitchell: "Everything we see in life is not black and white. Our beliefs are not always correct and even when we are sure of something we should be open to changing our minds. In that sense this story is not focused around a ghost or revealing the character of one, but the sighting of what the main character assumes is a ghost serves the premise of the book well."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris J Mitchell
• Release date: Jun 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370590865

Chris J Mitchell

Chris J Mitchell was born at Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone, London and grew up in Chingford in North East London. He spent his early years out cycling in Epping Forest, playing video games and attending his local church’s youth group. At school, out of all his studies what most captivated him was storytelling and creative writing. This part of his English lessons required no motivation and a short story he wrote about a group of Knights and their quest to destroy a nest of Gargoyles, hidden deep in the mountains, earned him praise and additional credits from his English teacher. In his childhood, around the age of eight, he met with a serious accident and although making a full recovery from it, the event lead to him developing agoraphobia. He struggled against this during his teenage years, but at around the age of eighteen, he eventually overcame this phobia. This experience left an impression on him for how strongly emotions can affect and alter logical and rational thoughts. After college and his battles with agoraphobia, he went on to graduate from University in Manchester. Where he studied Film and wrote his dissertation on Vaudeville’s influence on early comedic movies and how great performers such as the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd or Laurel and Hardy brought their craft to the big screen. Always writing in his spare time, jotting down ideas for stories and researching his upcoming work, Chris has written numerous short stories, of which include a set of six ghost stories in a classic Victorian style. Some of these ghostly tales have been turned into audio stories and all of which have been well received. He also recently completed his first novel The Departure and this book continues the story from one of his short ghost stories, The Return. His writing has been influenced by writers such as M.R. James, Agatha Christie (of which her books – Then There were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd are amongst his favourites) and Andrzej Sapkowski (who writes The Witcher Series). Chris also posts non-fiction articles and short stories to Medium of which several posts have been selected by the curators to be included in the ‘recommended to readers’ section for those interested in Books and History across the homepage, app, topic pages, and emails.

Book preview

The Ghost of Our Beliefs

Written by

Chris J Mitchell

© Chris J Mitchell 2017

All Rights Reserved

www.chrisjmitchell.com

Authors Note

The reader should be aware that this is not a ghost story and although a ghost may make an appearance, I have not focused on the ghost or its character. For that is not the intention of this story, and rather it is about the questions raised in the mind of one scientific man, and his beliefs about life, after the sight of what could have been a ghost.

As well as fiction writing I have a great interest in science, the universe and particle physics. Where this interest in particle physics comes from I have no idea, but I have consumed books, documentaries and talks all in relation to the subject. I find the universe and its workings fascination, but also that our knowledge of the universe and how it works at the tiniest of scales is limited to say the least!

I also have a great interest in ghost stories, horror and such haunting tales. But my interest in both these areas raised a question in my mind. That if a human were to see a ghost, then surely that ghost would have light particles (photons) bouncing off it and into human eyes, and then brain, for its presence to be visualised. How else could a person see a ghost, as it is because of light particles that we see in the first place.

But also there are many mysteries at the principles of quantum physics. Such as when a particle is observed it changes its behaviour. It goes from a waveform to a single point – as though just by observation it takes a fixed place in reality. This does raise questions about the nature of reality and the potential limits of human knowledge.

The Ghost of our beliefs

The morning sun glistens off a layer of mist that stretches across the fields like a giant blanket. Nestled in amongst the country fields and hedgerows is a quaint cottage, and inside an elderly man with greying hair puts on a warm jacket, gloves, and a scarf around his neck.

Sam, walkies, he calls, and a West Highland terrier rushes over to him and hops around his feet, eager for his early morning trot. The man, Joshua, takes an extendable lead from a small stand next to the door and kneels down on one knee. Sam stops his exuberance for a moment while the lead is attached, and the moment Josh stands up, Sam heads for the front door.

I’m off now, usual route, Josh calls upstairs to his wife.

Okay, see you, she calls back.

Outside, the air is fresh, and Josh has a little thought to himself that he is most fortunate to retire to such an idyllic spot. Like a couple of well-versed explorers, they venture down an overgrown path that leads into a field; where the grass is damp, but Josh has a good pair of waterproof walking shoes, and Sam doesn’t mind proceeding with no shoes at all.

In the near distance is a copse of woods and a small lake, and beyond that, the tower of an old church spire pokes out above the misty tree line. Josh approaches the lake, that is peacefully at rest, and this is what he considers the icing on the cake