First Dark (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Elizabeth Spencer
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Ghost story
- Time of Work: About 1946
- Setting: Richton, Mississippi
- Principal Characters: Frances Harvey, Mrs. Harvey, Regina, Tom Beavers
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Mothers, Parents and children, Love or romance, Suicide, South or Southerners, 1940’s, Ghosts or apparitions, Death or dying, Home, Health, Disabilities or physically challenged persons, Old age or elderly people, Houses, mansions, or manors, Cemeteries, Dating, Night
- Locales: Mississippi, Richton, MS
The Story
Tom Beavers, a native of Richton, Mississippi, recently returned from World War II, lives in Jackson but frequently drives to Richton to check on the elderly aunt who reared him after his mother ran away with a salesperson. He is talking with the pharmacist in the local drugstore about a ghost that is a part of the mythology of the town. For years, people have reported seeing an elderly man waving at them from the Jackson road near Richton at twilight, the time of day referred to as “first dark.” A group of men on a chain gang once reported having had a...
[The entire page is 1477 words long]
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