lulu-illussions

My attention span Has been dying for some time Staying afloat is hard

PART W As he left the house, he could feel the autumn air outside pleasantly warm compared to the chilly atmosphere inside. It was weird, but it almost felt like the whole house was sucking the heat out of the air, and Retsu shivered as he closed the door behind himself. The jack-o’-lanterns were still where he left them, but Retsu felt like their grins were wider than before. He also didn´t remember carving so many teeth… But that didn´t matter right now. He decided to focus on a bigger problem. If the house was actually haunted, then the salt cleanse could maybe help with it. Maybe. It was definitely worth the try. He drove to the city and bought several large bags of salt. He also looked for some horseshoes, which were supposed to work like talismans or bring good luck, but those weren´t exactly things to find in ordinary shops. Eventually, he at least found some sage-smelling candles, and took a whole box of them. It was hard to say if any of those things would actually help

PART V Gasping, he leant against the nearest wall. He couldn´t believe what just happened. It felt like a bad dream, not like something that could happen in the middle of a day. This stupid house got to his head! He was stupid too. Everything about this felt stupid.  Sighing, he shook himself off and walked to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. His throat felt dry, as if he spent hours without water, despite it couldn´t be more than 20 minutes since he started salting the thresholds. He checked the clocks on the kitchen wall - it was almost evening. Startled, he stopped in his tracks. Could it be? The clocks had to be ahead. It couldn´t take him this long to place the salt on the thresholds. Or was it the cellar? Did it trap him for hours instead of minutes? It felt like a long time, but Retsu thought that was just his panic making the incident feel longer than it was. But what if it was the house instead?  There goes watching Halloween movies, Retsu thought. He couldn´t bear

PART U Gasping, he leant against the nearest wall. He couldn´t believe what just happened. It felt like a bad dream, not like something that could happen in the middle of a day. This stupid house got to his head! He was stupid too. Everything about this felt stupid.  He needed a drink. He walked to the kitchen, his knees still feeling a bit weak. The house was a lot darker than when he started with salting process. He checked the clocks on the kitchen wall - it was almost evening. Startled, he stopped in his tracks. Could it be? The clocks had to be ahead. It couldn´t take him this long to place the salt on the thresholds. Or was it the cellar? Did it trap him for hours instead of minutes? It felt like a long time, but Retsu thought that was just his panic making the incident feel longer than it was. But what if it was the house instead?  He shuddered and went to a kitchen cabinet. Retsu wasn´t a big drinker, but he enjoyed whiskey from time to time and he had two nice bottles

PART T He really wished he read some of these things earlier. The house (and he) needed all possible protection. There were some things Retsu wasn´t sure how to get, but he was confident that buying salt would be easy and not too expensive. As he left the house, he could feel the autumn air outside pleasantly warm compared to the chilly atmosphere inside. It was weird, but it almost felt like the whole house was sucking the heat out of the air, and Retsu shivered as he closed the door behind himself. The jack-o’-lanterns were still where he left them, but Retsu felt like their grins were wider than before. He also didn´t remember carving so many teeth… But that didn´t matter right now. He decided to focus on a bigger problem. If the house was actually haunted, then the salt cleanse could maybe help with it. Maybe. It was definitely worth the try. He drove to the city and bought several large bags of salt. He also looked for some horseshoes, which were supposed to work like

PART S Retsu felt like his heart would beat out of his chest. This was just too much, he needed to find out something that would help him survive Halloween in this crazy house! He hurried to the living room and grabbed the laptop. As soon as internet connection was on, he opened Google. How to stop ghost from moving things in house. When the AI generated suggestion loaded up, Retsu snorted out a disbelieving laugh.  … assert control by firmly speaking aloud to command the entity to stop and leave…  “Oh, my god.” He reread the part again. Just the idea felt ridiculous. How was he supposed to assert control over someone he couldn´t even see (and who might not even exist)? Assert control, he couldn´t even control the placement of the very armchair he was sitting in right now. Assert. He shook his head. The rest of the result was at least a bit more helpful.  … cleanse the home using sage (smudging), and create protective boundaries using salt in corners or across thresholds … Salt.

PART R After a few minutes, Retsu felt like he could use his legs again. He took a deep breath and shook his head. It was just his nerves, it had to be. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. His throat felt dry, as if he spent hours without water, despite it couldn´t be more than 20 minutes since he started salting the thresholds. He checked the clocks on the kitchen wall - it was almost evening. Startled, he stopped in his tracks. Could it be? The clocks had to be ahead. It couldn´t take him this long to place the salt on the thresholds. Or was it the cellar? Did it trap him for hours instead of minutes? It felt like a long time, but Retsu thought that was just his panic making the incident feel longer than it was. But what if it was the house instead?  Maybe I really need to finish with those thresholds, Retsu thought. This house was definitely haunted, and he should get as much protection as he could.  Sighing, he washed the glass, grabbed

PART P After a few minutes, Retsu felt like he could use his legs again. He took a deep breath and shook his head. It was just his nerves, it had to be. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. His throat felt dry, as if he spent hours without water, despite it couldn´t be more than 20 minutes since he started salting the thresholds. He checked the clocks on the kitchen wall - it was almost evening. Startled, he stopped in his tracks. Could it be? The clocks had to be ahead. It couldn´t take him this long to place the salt on the thresholds. Or was it the cellar? Did it trap him for hours instead of minutes? It felt like a long time, but Retsu thought that was just his panic making the incident feel longer than it was. But what if it was the house instead?  There goes watching Halloween movies, Retsu thought. He couldn´t bear the idea of watching some horror inside this house. The place was terrifying enough on its own. No wonder the postman acted

PART O Maybe I should finish with those thresholds, Retsu thought. After a drink, he felt a bit calmer. But the incident in the cellar also tired him up more than he realized before. The salt, he decided, can wait. It didn´t help him too much so far, so maybe it was completely useless anyway. Sighing, he washed the glass and went upstairs. In the bathroom, he splashed some cold water on his face. When he looked into the mirror, he noticed the spiderwebs stuck to his hair and clothes and groaned at the thought of having to clean it all. Eventually, he decided to just toss all the clothes into the laundry basket and wash it tomorrow. Now, he was standing in the shower, enjoying the hot water slowly warming him up. He felt a bit fuzzy after the drinks, but at least his knees stopped shaking. Tiredly, Retsu closed his eyes and turned his face upwards, allowing the shower to wash his face. After a moment, he looked aside and wiped the water off his eyes, blinking.  HIs eyes shot open

PART N Maybe I should finish with those thresholds, Retsu thought. After a drink, he felt a bit calmer. But the incident in the cellar also tired him up more than he realized before. Just a few more thresholds, he thought, trying to hype himself up. He could do this. Sighing, he washed the glass, grabbed another bag of salt, and went upstairs.  At least there were no more cellars to get trapped in. Retsu quickly salted the threshold of his bedroom, making sure that the line of salt was thick and without any gaps. He wondered if it would stop any angry ghosts trying to get into his room, or not. If only it would help!  Lately, he felt like being watched, anytime he was changing clothes or showering. The thought that the ghost could be some kind of sleazy pervert made his skin crawl. Maybe he should put some salt on the shower´s threshold, but it might get washed away. Retsu put a generous layer of salt on the threshold of the bathroom door, and then went to “cleanse” the other