Daily Flash Fiction

Dust motes danced in the attic's gloom, swirling around Lyra's flashlight beam. She searched for a hidden diary, skepticism battling curiosity. A sudden chill wrapped her, followed by an unsettling calm. "Hello?" she whispered, her voice trembling in the darkness.

A spectral form shimmered into view, a young woman in a Victorian gown. "I had the strangest dream," she said, her voice echoing with melancholy. "A dream of life, love, loss, and… death. But when I woke, I found myself here, forever young, forever trapped."

Lyra, despite her fear, felt a pang of sympathy. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Lola," the apparition replied, extending a translucent hand. "This house was mine. The diary you seek holds the key to breaking my curse."

Intrigued, Lyra unearthed the leather-bound book. As she read, guided by Lola's spectral whispers, the attic grew warmer, the ghost's light intensifying. With the final entry, Lola smiled, tears glistening on her spectral cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered, her form fading. "Now I can rest."

Alone in the darkness, Lyra clutched the diary, its warmth a comforting presence. Stepping out of the attic, she glanced back. A silver locket lay on the floor, a silent proof to the ghost who dreamt her life, and the girl who set her free.

That night, tucked in bed, Lyra couldn't shake the feeling of Lola's presence. As sleep claimed her, a thought bloomed, "I had the strangest dream… about a ghost named Lola." A smile played on her lips. Perhaps, dreams and reality blurred at the edges, and some dreams were meant to be shared, even if only with the quiet whisper of a memory.