Ghost of a Chance

By Clayton E. White

This captivating novella tells the story of three young teenagers that discover a ghost while on vacation in New Hampshire in the early 1980's. The story will enlighten the hearts of all readers while providing the much needed escape to a simpler time in which our experiences in the world were exciting and new.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781794706040

Book preview

2020

Chapter 1: 11:00PM August 5, 1980   

I was alone in the bunk room that overlooks the misty late-night view of Bernard Lake.  The lake looks mystical at night and I like to pretend that dragons are soaring above looking for villages to destroy.  Wake Up! I told myself as I walked to the small bathroom in the corner of the room.  A splash of cold water in my face immediately brought me back to the moment. 

I feel the need to tell you about the room; it's a giant wood paneled space that takes up most of the third floor.  The room had formerly been an attic above a Blacksmith shop for most of the 1800s.  In the 1920's the Blacksmith shop was converted into a Speak Easy during prohibition.  Legendary tales of dancing to swing bands during that time period have passed on to me from my older friend Aaron, the owner of this building and boat craftsman.  My father told me that it was renovated as a vacation home twenty years ago in 1960.  My parents have been renting it every summer for the last five years and the shop still blows my mind.

My two older brothers and I claimed the room as our pit and have used the bunk room every summer for pillow fights and telling terrible fart jokes late into the night. One of my favorite features of this room are the huge windows. Three of the windows are centered on the back wall and look out onto the lake. The lake is actually pretty cool to row a canoe or rowboat on, and it’s a blast to swim from our small backyard beach to a barrel raft that is anchored twenty yards out and directly behind the rental house next door. 

The fourth window is on the right side of the room and looks out over a giant ancient oak tree.  My older brothers and younger sister used to scoot up the old oak climbing tree to see who could climb the highest in the fastest time.  The branches actually reach almost to the window as I look out at a thick and knotty one that actually pushes against the outside wall below the window.  It’s that exact branch that makes this a great tree to sneak out at night and use the old branch as an escape route. Last summer my brother Justin and I climbed down, grabbed our fishing gear and set out on the canoe for all night fishing. I think my parents wouldn’t have minded if we went out the front door but sneaking out is so much more exciting! The payoff occurred when we caught a whopping five-pound Calico Bass early in the morning after reeling in a dozen Perch through the night. 

I was getting restless.  It was time to walk downstairs to see what everyone else was up to.  The stairs were creaky as I stepped on them lightly and I felt like I was destined to fall through some day.  The living room was empty, except for the lump of my older brother snoring from the couch. Justin left by noon the second day to get an early start back to Holsum. The girls and my parents were tucked in for the night. 

It was a routine time for a snack, I peeked into the fridge and saw some barbecue chicken left from the earlier dinner with the new neighbors.  As I sat down at the counter chomping on cold chicken, I tried to justify why Justin made the drive that morning just to turn around the next day and drive back. Maybe he had struck a deal with Dad? 

I looked at my parents' downstairs bedroom and saw a light around the gap between the frame and the door. I was finished with the chicken and it was time to climb back upstairs to escape into the great science fiction book I had started reading earlier. 

As I sat on the bed facing the side yard, I saw movement through the window.  I glanced out the large sheet glass window and saw a pale ghostly white figure perched in the large old tree.  I blinked and rubbed my eyes and saw that the figure was sitting on the branch closest to the window and trying to peek in on me! Damn!

I jerked back away from the window with my heart pounded through my chest as I felt like I was going to faint.  It took a few minutes to get my breathing and heart rate under control, and when my heart slowed down and was no longer beating through my chest I crept back to the window and peeked out.  The illuminated figure had disappeared.  The few seconds I had seen it were weird.  I thought it looked like a man with albinism, a stark white almost translucent

Reviews for Ghost of a Chance

[charrlygirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars
I read this book as part of a Shelfari group read.

After their mother died, Natalie shared the family house with her brother, Trevor. They began to get on each other's nerves, so Natalie applies to rent a beach house so they can have a break from each other.
She gets the house and then finds out it is haunted. So far, so good.
But then the story went downhill for me. The ghost hardly ever shows up and when he does, he's (mostly) dismissed.

I didn't think the protagonist, Natalie, displayed much wisdom in her choices. For instance, she goes to bed with Karl who has a reputation as a womanizer with no protection-telling him it's a safe time of month for her. Hello, safe time of month doesn't mean you can't get herpes or AIDS!

Once I realized there wasn't really a ghost story going on, I still gave it a chance, because I liked Natalie. However the stupid things Natalie was doing, combined with some truly cliched dialogue (I'm going to show you heaven, oh please!), made me cringe. The last part of the story sort of took a hairpin turn then wrapped up within a few pages. It was weird.

I think the author has the talent to create good characters, but I do feel that the dialogue really needs a lot of work. The character of Natalie didn't act in the ways that I would expect a modern, intelligent woman to act. Altogether- I think the story was decent but I probably won't be reading anything else by this author.