A Ghost on the Cliff: Dark Corners Collection

By Tim Laseter

A Dark Corners Collection Story.

 

Alamo World.  A theme park in South Texas known for thrilling rides, live entertainment, and a day of fun and excitement for the entire family.  But beyond the rides, shows, and thrills, there is darkness.  The darkness you find in corners, shapes of things best left unseen—something you see out of the corner of your eye that is not there when you look closer.  Things you best not turn your back on as they will suddenly pounce on you.  Dani's story comes out of one of those Dark Corners.

 

Dani is a young woman in an abusive relationship who works as an overnight security guard at the local theme park, Alamo World.  Nothing happens on the Dead Shift beyond routine patrols, avoiding the night critters that inhabit the empty park and chasing off the occasional intruder.

 

Then Dani encounters a ghostly apparition with a story to tell - a story of murder.  As the abuse at home escalates, Dani is desperate to help the ghost and, in turn, may save herself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Laseter
• Release date: Oct 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215483275

Tim Laseter

Tim Laseter is a veteran and former paramedic who spent six years running 911 calls in Texas, and his experiences form the basis for his fictional tale, Blink.  He is currently working on a series of dark stories set in theme parks, where he worked for over three decades.  A Ghost on the Cliff is the first release of Tim’s Dark Corners Collection.  Tim Laseter resides in Texas with his spouse and cats. Follow Tim Laseter at: www.facebook.com/Tim.Laseter.Author www.linkedin.com/in/timlaseter

Book preview

1

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?  I didn’t either, but that was before I encountered one.  I believed in facts and the power of my observation.  I guess that came from my training and work as a security officer.  I believed in what I could see, touch, smell, taste, and above all else, verify.  While determining the facts, I usually find two sides to every story; the truth is somewhere in the middle. 

People tend to see and remember things through lenses distorted by their perceptions and biases.  In this case, my bias was my state of disbelief in the possibility of an otherworld.  However, like any good security officer, I eventually had to set aside my bias and view the facts, which led me to conclude that there are ghosts and that sometimes the living and the dead need each other.

My name is Danielle, but my friends call me Dani.  I’m twenty-four, and I’ve worked at the local theme park, Alamo World, for five years.  I consider myself moderately good-looking but a bit on the stocky side, which is handy working in security.  It also lets me fend off my not-too-pleasant husband when he has hit the sauce a little too hard and gets abusive.  Suffice it to say our marriage of two years is rocky, but more on that later.

Alamo World is a theme park in San Antonio, Texas.  It was constructed in an abandoned rock quarry back in the early 90s and was named after, you guessed it, the Alamo.  The quarry was situated on the city's outskirts, at the fringes of the Texas hill country.  The excavation of the limestone left a beautiful cliff wall that arcs in a semi-circle around the property.  This wall now surrounds the theme park, except for the side where customers (or guests) and employees (or team members) enter.  The cliff wall ranges from sixty to eighty feet tall, and the limestone still bears the marks of the mining that occurred.  The rugged nature of the walls, complete with crevices and small ledges, provide homes for scrub bushes, local birds, and small wildlife.  Over the years, a variety of rides, big and small, have been placed adjacent to the cliff wall for the scenic backdrop it provides riders as they are whizzing by in a roller coaster train, clutching the grab bar for life, or throwing their hands in the air for the thrill of the ride. 

Like most regional theme parks in America, Alamo World has several different themed areas.  The entry into the park was designed to resemble its namesake, the Alamo. As you walk up to the plaza to buy your tickets and enter, you see a majestic, hand-made wall of stones that rises eighteen-feet high, with multiple archways that resemble the wall that still surrounds a portion of the Alamo grounds.  The entry plaza facade is a replica of the old mission, complete with aged stone and adorned with pock marks that could be from the Battle of the Alamo that occurred in 1836. 

Once past the small army of team members waiting to scan your ticket, the park's first area feels like you have walked into old Mexico, with whitewashed buildings, soaring archway windows, and clay tile roofs.  Ironically enough, this area ends in a circular plaza called The Square, a centralized meeting spot that also leads to the other major park areas.  These different sections include a western region where you can stroll down the street looking for the next gunfight, a German area where every day is Octoberfest, Americana that feels like you just walked onto a movie set in the 1950s, a water park to cool off in, and an elevated boardwalk reminiscent of Coney Island or Atlantic City.

Each area has its themed rides, retail, and food shops.  Even a couple of large indoor entertainment venues and a vast outdoor amphitheater can seat thousands.  After all, this is South Texas, and people want to get out of the heat once in a while.  What better way to beat the heat than to enjoy one of the daily high-quality live performances Alamo World offers? 

I usually work overnights, but occasionally I’ll pull an extra shift during the day or evening.  It runs from midnight to eight a.m., so I call it the Dead Shift.  The Dead Shift is quiet, and not a lot happens, which is why I like it.  I get to do my job and go home.  The people I work