Urban Fantasist
Menu
Picture
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Poetry & Fiction

New Flash Fiction: The Ghost of Joey Ramone by Matt Handle

8/11/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
​What's not to love about this story: a cold, wet, winter's night in Greenwich Village, sitting in a coffee shop that could be the model for Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks when in walks the ghost of one of the heroes of Punk Rock? The author is Matt Handle and some of his work, including his debut novel Storm Orphans, is available on Amazon. Links to more of his short stories can be found on his blog riff. You can also follow him on Twitter @Matt_Handle


Me and the Ghost of Joey Ramone
by Matt Handle



My coffee tasted like they brewed it from dirty dishwater, but on a January night in the East Village, if it was warm, you drank it. I sipped the beverage noisily as I watched the winter drizzle descend outside the storefront window.  It was less than half an hour until closing time. The place was deserted. I could have sworn the seat next to me was empty when I sat down too. A minute later a grungy dude that was probably no more than 30, but a hard 30, if you know what I mean, sat there staring at the same snow-filled view. I had to do a double-take when I saw him. He was a dead ringer for Joey Ramone.

If possible, he was even thinner and paler than Joey ever was. Same rose-colored shades though. He had the same thick black mop of hair covering most of his face too. Even his ratty leather jacket and pants looked familiar. He smiled, showing off a mouthful of crooked teeth when he caught me looking at him.  

“How’s it hanging, man?”

For what felt like an eternity, but probably wasn’t more than 20 seconds, my brain froze. I couldn’t respond. I just sat there staring at him with my mouth hanging open. I know it sounds stupid, but I’m a longtime fan.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look just like…” I finally managed to blurt out, but before I could complete the question, the guy nodded toward the trendy clothing stores across the street.

“That used to be my bar,” he stated in an accent so authentically New York, no one could ever mistake him for a tourist. “Now look at it.”

The stores looked like every other cookie-cutter establishment along the block. Pedestrians trudged past them without so much as a glance. 

“There hasn’t been a bar there in years,” I offered up. 

The guy nodded, his shaggy hair flopping over the tops of his round sunglasses. “Yeah, it’s been awhile,” he agreed. “I just stopped by to see the old neighborhood.”

“You move away, I guess?” I asked as I turned to face him. I didn’t want to come off as creepy, but I needed a better look. Joey had been dead for well over a decade, but this dude was an absolute doppelganger. 

The leather-clad punk chuckled as he scratched at the back of his head. “You could say that. I got the band back together. Regular gig. Packed house every night.”

“Oh yeah?” I replied. “Where do you play?”

He gave me a mysterious smile. Like he knew a private joke that he was just dying to tell. Before I could convince him to share it, the store’s sound system kicked in. The opening notes of “I Wanna Be Sedated” blared across the shop. I jumped a little in my seat, goosebumps popping out on my arms. For no more than a second, I turned to look toward the direction the music was coming from. When I looked back, Joey was gone.

I glanced around the room to figure out where he went. When I didn’t see him, I actually stepped outside the front door, bitter cold and all. I looked up and down the street, but there wasn’t even a hint of the lanky echo of a man. There was only falling snow filling up shallow footprints, burying any trace of the past.
2 Comments
Carola
17/12/2019 15:08:54

Truly a great ghost story, in a scenario where it could happen to all of us, with the spectrum we love. He made a sweet, painful melancholy sprout in me. Thank you.

Reply
Matt Handle link
6/3/2020 17:12:52

I'm so glad you enjoyed the story!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Welcome to the Grievous Angel – fresh free-to-read science fiction and fantasy flash fiction and poetry, including scifaiku and haiga.

    ISSN 2059-6057

    Quote, Unquote

    "We need more excellent markets like Grievous Angel" ...award winning Canadian author

    "Thank goodness for guys like you, who devote so much time to these things" ...Elizabeth Crocket

    "Thank you for giving us such a cool and unique e-mag" ...Mandy Nicol

    "Thank you for your kind words and making my weekend uplifting and bright. I'm excited to be published alongside other wonderful visual and textual works in Grievous Angel" ...D.A. Xiaolin Spires

    "Love your magazine. Keep up the good work! I've read bits and pieces of so many magazines that are so boring, I'm donating to yours because everything you publish is fascinating" ...Laura Beasley

    "I want to be a part of any project named after Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris" ...poet, writer & journalist Andrew Darlington

    "I really love your site and the wonderful eerie fiction you publish. Unlike a lot of work, most of what I read on your site stays with me - like a flavor or a scent, slightly tinting the world" ...performer, writer, biologist and painter E.E. King

    Categories

    All
    Flash Fiction
    Haiga
    Haiku
    Poetry
    Scifaiku
    Tanka

    Archives

    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Picture
Copyright © Charles Christian 
& Urbanfantasist Limited 2022


[email protected]

Fuelled by Green Tea & Rosé Wine

  • Home
  • * Latest book *
  • Weird Tales Videos
  • Charles Christian Bio
  • Manifestations
  • Books & Reviews
  • Weird Tales Radio
  • Donations
  • Writing: Nonfiction
  • Writing: Fiction
  • Writing: Poetry
  • Old Americana
  • Old Grievous Angel
  • WoldsCover
  • Home
  • * Latest book *
  • Weird Tales Videos
  • Charles Christian Bio
  • Manifestations
  • Books & Reviews
  • Weird Tales Radio
  • Donations
  • Writing: Nonfiction
  • Writing: Fiction
  • Writing: Poetry
  • Old Americana
  • Old Grievous Angel
  • WoldsCover