G. Salinger

|dead| I never was. displaced by hitler's ideals & wandering ever since

[httprichieyang]

Donna heard a faint 'shit' escape the lips of a stranger behind her. She quickly gasped and turned her head to see whom would be out in the cemetery. She could have sworn it was empty just moments before. She looked over the man that walked towards where she was seated. 

He’d asked for a cigarette… but she was in awe. His hair, his suit, the way he walked with his hands tucked away in his pockets. It was as if he had come from her imagination. “I— Yes, actually. I do.” 

Digging through her vintage pink purse, she pulled out a pack and tapped one out, not bothering to stand, but simply scooting over to allow the stranger to sit. She continued to stare, but quickly averted her gaze. To test her theory of him being from her imagination, a man only her dreams could conjure, she lifted a cigarette to her own lips, and waited for him to light it for her. 

That was how it was, back then. Men were more chivalrous then, had more mannerisms than now. This seemed so surreal. His presence gave her a chill, but she shook the feeling to smile softly at him, just as she would at any other person in Bentley, keeping the cigarette between her red lips. 

[salingersaghost]

Her eyes shown at him & his smile widened as his inquiry was answered. "Thank you." He said simply as he took what was offered & debated internally for a moment whether or not he should sit. When she shifted a cigarette of her own between her teeth, Gabriel sat, immediately reaching for the lighter inside his jacket. He could very much feel the woman's eyes on him throughout the ritual but he didn't comment or mind as he flicked the flame to life. Protecting the frail flame with his other hand, Salinger leant closer, bringing it right up to the tip of her cigarette & swaying back only when the end began to glow. He hadn't wasted a second in lighting her cigarette & with an appreciation of what was to come, he lit his own before returning the silver lighter to an inner pocket. Leaning back against the back of the bench as he drew in a breath, he turned his attention back to the woman. He looked at her carefully, tilting his chin up to breathe smoke but his eyes didn't leave her. "So, what's a woman like you doing out here at this time of night?" He asked. "Dead husband?" He inquired, inclining his head towards the graveyard behind them. 

[starskeeper-deactivated20221129]

[httprichieyang]

Donna frowns slightly as she sits on a park bench beneath a tall, wooden city lamp, mumbling to herself before holding her head in her hands, with no one in sight, (as far as she knew) she could break down. The lamp flickered a few times, but she ignored it, too into her thoughts to care.  The cemetery was quiet and usually empty, aside from the occasional reckless teenagers that would come through to ‘score some dope’. 

Glancing up with an expressionless face, the light flickered again. Donna was broken and she was trying so hard to hide it that it was weighing on her heart more than she originally thought. 

[salingersaghost]

"Shit." Salinger cursed under his breath at the sight of the empty pack. Rolling his eyes at the absence of his favorite vice, Salinger tossed the box as he walked. Unwilling or unable to get a new pack in a town that shut down at nearly sunset, Gabriel occupied himself just shy of the headstones, twisting the ring on his finger until the street light above him disrupted his mindless habit. 

Balancing on the edge of the cemetery, Salinger's eyes narrowed up at the bulb above him that flicked in & out seemingly because of his presence. Perturbed, it was then that Salinger looked away & saw someone occupying a nearby bench. He had half a mind to walk in the other direction when the woman looked his way & he froze. Sure she'd spotted him he pushed off the pole & began to walk in her direction in favor of standing still & causing anxiety. A corner of his mouth pulled upwards in greeting just before he spoke. "You wouldn't happen to have a cigarette would you?" He asked, choosing, for now, to pretend he didn't notice that she seemed somewhat distressed.

[salingersaghost]

has anyone caught your eye around here yet?

Bentley has an abundance of beautiful women but I’m not exactly looking.

[salingersaghost]

how do you feel about children?

I don’t really have opinion on kids. They’re just there & I don’t have to worry about ‘em, which suits me just fine.

[salingersaghost]

what is your biggest regret?

Leaving Vienna without the love of my life. Being a coward.

[salingersaghost]

Honesty Thursday

[bioshockinfinites-deactivated20]

[damiennorrell]

People? No, you’re definitely not from here. If you’re referring to the parasites plaguing this bottomless pit, I take it you haven’t been here long. Either that or you have an impressively long fuse. Irregardless, I wasn’t aware prying ears were in my vicinity. How much exactly did you hear?

[salingersaghost]

Ah, this is beginning to make more sense. Looks like we have similar opinions of the people that inhabit this place. It could be an extraordinarily long fuse or apathy developed over a depressing amount of time spent here. It's inconsequential, I don't care what you're up to.

[damiennorrell]

Pleased to make your acquaintance. Damien. You’re not from around here, are you, Salinger?

[salingersaghost]

Yours as well, Damien. No, not exactly. Do most people here mutter on street corners often, or is that specific to just you?

[damiennorrell]

I don’t believe we’ve met.

[salingersaghost]

I think not. Gabriel Salinger. & you are?

[damiennorrell]

[Scoping out potential victims to posses near the oddities store] Too young. Too old. You.. You I had last week. Christ, you’d think there’d be higher quality stock around these parts.[Attention drawn to his right upon the sound of footsteps] —Well, don’t you look promising.

[salingersaghost]

What was that?

[hrveys]

[salingersaghost]

Little things about Gabriel Salinger

[play-listings]

Visit Original Link

[salingersaghost]

Depth over distance was all I asked of you & I may be foolish to fall as I do Still there's strength in the blindness you fear

[zarabootes-blog]

Jeepers Creepers || Hollis and Gabriel

Writer’s block was a little dumb butt. She’d been trying for months to write her new novel, but after the success of her first one, Hollis was finding it impossible to do anything but stare at blank pages. Sure, she had some ideas, but not a clue how to execute them. She’d contemplated writing a ghost story, but she’d already pigeonholed herself into being a crime novelist, and though crime novels were all she really wanted to write, she couldn’t help but feel oppressed by the genre as a label.

The clock on her laptop read 2AM, but she was wired. She couldn’t write anything, and she definitely didn’t feel ready to sleep. There was always Netflix… she could watch the second season of Dexter for the sixth time, but a cloud of guilt thickened inside of her head. It had been a month since she’d gone by the graveyard to see her granny. Hollis was almost positive that her grandmother, being dead and all, couldn’t care less that she hadn’t received any visits from her favorite granddaughter, but still, Hollis felt guilty for breaking the promise that she’d made herself: when her grandmother died, she’d told herself that she would visit every other week and tell her about life. Granny always had been one for stories.

Her black cat, Chuck, brushed against her leg, and the action broke her thought process. Perhaps it was her guilty conscience, but it seemed as if his eyes were begging her to take him outside. She sighed and stood, grabbing a snack baggy of Cheez-Its from her nearby coffee table. They were, after all, his favorite snack. “Come on, Chuckypoo,” she surrendered, walking out of the door of her apartment, cat in tow.

Hollis made her way to the graveyard. It was dark and eerie, but at least she was fairly certain that at this time of night she’d be alone. With Chuck following faithfully behind her, she plopped down in front of her grandmother’s headstone.

“It’s been a while,” she murmured, carefully placing Chuck on her lap. She smoothed the black fur on his back as she continued. “I’m sorry I haven’t come by sooner. It’s just that…” She could say she’d been busy, but that wasn’t exactly true. She’d just let it slide, like so many other things in her life. “Well, I’ve been lazy,” she shrugged. “And confused. There’s this girl… she’s beautiful. It’s like… her presence is magical.” She gulped and cracked her knuckles. “Um, also, I’ve been teaching Chuck how to jump rope. He’s getting pretty good at it. I wish you weren’t in the ground right now so you could see.”

A movement in the distance made her dart up from the ground. Chuck jumped off her lap just in time to land on his feet and gave her a pissy meow. A dark shadow in the distance moved closer. She took a few tentative steps forward until she could make out the figure, a man. “Um… hello,” she said, not entirely sure whether it was kosher to speak to strange men at a graveyard in the wee hours of the morning. “Wanna touch my cat?”

[salingersaghost]

The soft breeze tugged his hair, threatening to tangle it atop his head until he brought a hand to it, smoothing it back into place as he turned in the direction of the warm gust. The wind refused to heed his molten stare & like anyone at a loss, Salinger turned the corner. Outsmarted but not defeated, the branches above him rustled as mother nature retaliated around him. With his back to the granite structure, Gabriel leaned against it, drawing both a lighter & a cigarette from an inner pocket of his jacket.

Night had fallen around him & he’d hardly taken notice. The concept of time was lost on the deceased & even now, as he leaned against the crypt that bore his name, he teased death as he drew in a breath full of nicotine. Gabriel held it in, eyes wandering around the cemetery washed in inky darkness as he replaced his lighter. Roguishly, Salinger pulled his foot up to the stone, tilting his head back as he exhaled smoke. It swirled around him, curling above his head before dissipating. A frown deepened on his face before he planted his foot again & began to walk. The semblance of a smile faded as he paced, deftly avoiding the gravestones that were dwarfed by his ancestors' monstrous tomb. 

This is how he’d begun to spend his nights, walking between the grave markers like a slow rolling locomotive with no destination. It was comparable to his life really. He’d always been a wanderer but his domain had diminished to such a frightening minuscule area that it was a miracle he hadn’t lost his mind yet. His days were spent doing much the same. Having surrendered any sort of routine of the living he’d surrendered to his quiet company.

The end of his cigarette began to glow again as he pulled off of it until his cheeks hollowed. His stroll was interrupted only by the emergence of a sleek black cat that leapt in his direction from its otherwise cozy perch atop one Avery Greer’s tombstone. The two didn’t bother with greetings. Not a meow & not a word as the cats head met the man’s head. A moment passed & the cat, having noticed something more interesting than Gabriel, continued on its way. Salinger respected the cat’s fickle decision & looked after it briefly before the sound of someone’s footsteps caught his attention. Gabriel turned, bourbon eyes brooding through the darkness. In an attempt to ignore the intrusion, he walked begrudgingly back in the direction of his tomb only to realize he’d only gotten closer to the source & before he could back pedal someone was calling out to him. He hadn’t seen the girl, hidden behind a marker but a rare smile formed on his lips at her question & he supposed then that he couldn’t ignore the person that had already noticed his dreary shadow of a self. His eyes narrowed initially, as he looked her dark shape over, puling his jacket together & buttoning it with one hand as he changed direction. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” He said, closing the gap between them, his eyes going from her to the cat & back before landing on the name on the stone. "I didn't suspect anyone would be out here so late." He said offhand, planting the butt of his cigarette on top of a gravestone before he reached the foot of the grave the young woman sat upon. 

[mcgills]

[coleelliot-deactivated20160731]

What the hell happened?

[coleelliot-deactivated20160731]

Nice to meet you, too. My dad was in the same room with me, and the other three I haven’t seen since they split us up. Do you need to know where anyone is?

[salingersaghost]

I think they forced everyone to go into the cafeteria so they must be in here somewhere. The chaos certainly doesn't help. The chances of picking anybody out of this mob look dim though.