By Dan Dooley
An Unexpected Delivery
It was just a plain package wrapped in plain brown paper and tied together with twine. There was no forwarding address, nor was there a return address. There was only, printed on one side, a name. “Miss Penny.”
The Enigmatic Wedding Dress
What was inside, once Jonathan Wells and his employment partner Robert Hamberly in the dead letter room at the Post Office opened the package, was an even greater mystery. A faded old fashioned wedding dress. Nothing more. There was no note, nor letter, nor anything else to give notice as to how the package with the dress inside came to be placed on the front step of the Post Office building, that morning. Or who it belonged to. Or who Miss Penny was.
A Bride’s Tragic Tale Revisited
Almost a century before, woman named Penny was murdered on the eve of her wedding by the man who had promised to take her as his wife. The story was revealed in an old, yellowed newspaper. Was that Penny the one who’s name was on the package containing the wedding dress?
The Haunting of Jonathan Wells
The trouble began when Jonathan, out of a sense of sentiment, took the dress to his home and hung it in his wardrobe. The sounds began during the night. Faint at first, but then growing louder as they seemed to draw closer. The piteous sounds of a woman crying. At first seemingly from a distance, they came, but soon the sounds were coming from within his own bedchamber.
The Chilling Presence
And it gets worse. The sounds of wailing and sobbing were always, when they came, from within his bedchamber, and close about his bed. And at times of the night, awakening, he felt the presence of something – someone – laying next to him. But it was merely a coldness. Not the warmth of human flesh. And then fingers began touching his face. Not warm, loving woman fingers. Rather they were not visible to the eye, nevertheless, he felt them. Cold and without the warmth of affection.
Jonathan’s Descent into Despair
Thus began a nightmare for Jonathan Wells. To add to his misery, his fiancée left him. His position with the Post Office was taken from him, and he was reduced to running packages and letters across town as a bicycle currier at low wages. And to add to his injuries, he is betrayed by the one whom he had considered his best friend. And the thing haunting him at night – it must be a thing as it is not a living being – now turns its romantic interest upon him.
Love, Betrayal, and Redemption: A Tale of Psychological Thrills and Supernatural Chills
Miss Penny’s Wedding Dress is the story a psychological thriller, or was the ghost real? To Jonathan, it was all to real, even if others, including his friend and his now former fiancée began to doubt his mental state. It is a story of betrayal, fear, the seemingly supernatural, love lost but in the end, real love found, and redemption. When life takes you to your lowest place, do not count yourself out of the game.
A Journey from Dreams to Print: The Author’s Path to Storytelling
This the author’s sixth novel. His writing interest began in his pre-teen years, but other than producing non-fiction (technical) works during his career years, his dream of creating stories in print form did not come to pass until some years after retirement. He and his wife Patsy reside in northeast Arkansas where they enjoy traveling, RVing and traveling, in addition to their many church related activities. In addition to the seven published books (one is a non-fiction) he currently has three more book projects in the works. This is his first submission to Authors’ Lounge.
Amazon link where the book is available for sale:
Miss Penny’s Wedding Dress: Dooley, Dan: 9798416057756: Amazon
