By Gregg Howard
When I tell my wife about that woman who vanished from my cab last week, she accuses me of drinking.
Again.
“You believe in spooks now?” she scoffs.
Then I find her standing dazed in the foyer clutching the newspaper.
She’s reading this article about how taxi drivers near Fukushima in Japan keep reporting ‘ghost’ passengers who get in their cabs and then disappear.
Now I’m getting excited! “This is like proof, see? The same phenomena has happened to others.”
But Becca, she starts to cry a little bit.
“Oh Jesus, Harry,” she whispers, “what if it’s some kind of omen?”
Thud. Started out great but the ending doesn’t fit… for me. Others may disagree …
I agree
Is this a follow up to Taxi? It feels more like an excerpt rather than a stand-alone story. Taxi made you wonder what was happening next, but this just leaves a lot of questions.
My original intent was to tell a longer story in a series of pieces with shifting perspectives. There were 5 parts to it, but it may be too much of a stretch for this form and this forum, so I am rethinking the whole concept. Your point is well taken that this part stops at an awkward place. The Fukushima ghost phenomenon is real and can be found easily online, although I wrote the original before I knew about it, and the theater district disappearing passenger was an NYC cab driver legend back in the 40s and 50s.
Fairly apocalyptic.
Minor item: Reread your last line. Anyway, I live in Japan and write about ghosts, too. Let’s be writer friends.
Great! Have you heard those Fukushima stories?
No, but I’ll start reading them. Thanks.