{"id":3264,"date":"2026-02-05T11:55:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2026-02-07T10:48:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:48:35","slug":"lesson-14-ghost-from-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=3264","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 13 \u2013 Ghost from the Past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


\u201cNo, please, stop!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor found himself once more cowering in the corner under the stairs, sobbing quietly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please don\u2019t hurt her.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPathetic excuse of a boy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His eyes were closed. His body trembled at the sound of plates being smashed to pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then everything shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He felt the warmth of his mother\u2019s hand as she held his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome, my love. Let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft. Loving. Protective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor stirred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hushed conversation. Beeping sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where am I?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His body felt numb. His breathing, shallow. Despite not being able to open his eyes, the bright light behind his eyelids felt almost too painful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damn it. What happened?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive him some more fluids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis condition is stable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the muffled voices, one sound was particularly clear. Haunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beep. Beep.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d heard it before. He\u2019d been to the hospital countless times during\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor how much longer will you lie there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevor stilled. It was the voice he\u2019d learned to fear a long time ago. The beeps grew closer together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He struggled with all his might to break the constricting spell binding him to the bed in which he lay. He couldn\u2019t see. He couldn\u2019t even move. And in the muted light, he could barely discern anything through his stubbornly closed eyes; he could only feel the rush as it all came back once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFailure!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish you were never born!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are a disgrace.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nights spent scrambling from door to door, in desperate attempts to escape from his moods. The days they\u2019d remained hungry just because he felt like throwing away their food. The endless humiliations, belittlings, shouts, while his mother covered his ears and sang lullabies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, his illness. The endless hospital visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it punishment?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeart rate\u2019s spiking. Increase midazolam. Hurry\u2014he\u2019s going into shock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urgent voices. Violent shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He barely managed to clench his fists before\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening to him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deidre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease, step back madam. We need to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHelp him! He\u2019s dying!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deidre, run. That bastard might hurt you too.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cold sensation rippled into his arm. He felt himself being pulled back, slowly, surely\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deidre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be fine. Please, let us do our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat happened? I\u2019ve been here the whole time. He seemed stable!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What? Had she? Was he?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He felt his consciousness drift away into the abyss of nothingness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was he ever truly there? Or had he imagined him\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His father had died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo, please, stop!\u201d Trevor found himself once more cowering in the corner under the stairs, sobbing quietly. Please don\u2019t hurt her. \u201cPathetic excuse of a boy!\u201d His eyes were closed. His body trembled at the sound of plates being smashed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":652,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-short-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3267,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions\/3267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}