The Omniscrolls

I was busy with office work when my phone rang. It was my sister, Carin. I dreaded answering it. Our cousin’s wedding was a month away and she was pushing me to find a date before it because she didn’t want me to go to the ceremony alone while she would attend it with her fiancé. She was persistent as ever on the phone. “Brian says he can set you up with one of his friends. Why not give it a shot?” “Why are you two so bothered by me not having a date? I have no issue going by myself.” Carin sighed, and I hung up the phone right after. She called again; I put my phone on silent. She and mom were always the same. Neither of them ever respected my boundaries. The last time Carin set me up with someone was a disaster. They can’t understand that not everyone needs a partner to be happy; I’m the happiest I’ve ever been since my breakup and now they’re trying to drag me back into dating again? I missed grandma. She was the only one who understood me. That night, I had a dream about grandma. S...

It was past 3:00a.m. when I was woken up by a mysterious sound. I switched my bedside lamp on and scanned the room, but no one was there. I grabbed the metal bar and mace can I always kept next to me and stepped out of the bedroom, switching on each light as I made my way downstairs. Snow, my cat, also tagged along as I inspected every inch of the house. To my luck, I was alone. “Maybe it was a rat,” I wondered as I went back to bed, but as I switched off the lamp, the sounds returned. I repeated the process, and there was another noise yet again. This time, I was certain it was from the kitchen. Before entering, I yelled out and said the cops were on their way. There was no reply. I searched the kitchen next, but like before, I was alone. However, something strange stood out: there was a sweet scent in their air, with hints of chocolate and nuts pervading the room. I opened the fridge and looked at the chocolate bars I had recently bought; two of them were missing. “What is happening ...

I was passing the mountains on my way home when a biker suddenly raced past me at a bend. Trying not to hit him, I lost control of the car and veered off the road, plunging into the river below. The windshield cracked upon impact and, before I knew it, I was sinking into a watery abyss. I held my breath and tried to open the door, but it was jammed; I kicked it several times, but it wouldn’t budge. It was not long before I couldn’t breathe anymore—I felt a sharp burn pierce my chest as my vision blurred to a dark haze. Soon, I found myself looking down at my own body by the river bank. I was sitting next to it, or rather floating just above the surface, as a paramedic continued to perform CPR on me. “Just stop, I’m already dead,” I said, seeing the desperation in her eyes. But right then, something even stranger happened. “No, you’re not, you still have a pulse,” she whispered. Did she just hear me? “Yes, I can both hear and see you. It’s a long story.” She made eye contact with me for...

Little Saffron woke up to a soft whisper against her ear. The voice sounded familiar, and it was calling out to her. She switched on the bedside lamp and looked around, but no one was there. “Saf, it’s me,” the voice said again. Feeling a sudden chill grip her body, Saffron leapt out of bed and ran into her parents’ room. “Mom! Dad! There’s a ghost in my room!” “It was most likely a nightmare, sweetie,” Saffron’s mom, Gen, said. “No, I heard her when I was awake, too.” “Wait here,” Saffron’s dad, Jean, said. Jean took a bat and left the room. He came back saying there was no one to be seen. Saffron still insisted that there was a ghost in her room, so Gen said she could sleep with them that night. The next morning, both Gen and Jean left for work, leaving Saffron in her nanny’s care. It was not long before Saffron was visited by the voice from the night before while the nanny was in the kitchen. “Saf, don’t be afraid,” the voice whispered. Although she was scared, Saffron noticed that ...