(Part3) The Haunting of Ruby Shane

Some wounds are so deep I can't imagine how we survive them. Let alone thrive with them in our hearts and souls.

Maybe that is why I gave Thomas the wrong address the day he fixed my car. I gave him the address of a friend of mine who was out of town for her uncle's funeral and wouldn't be back for a week.


Thomas later told me he had waited at her house for 4 hours for me to come home. He said he finally figured it out that I had given him the wrong address when the neighbor boy came over and told him that Mary was out of town. He said he wasn't looking for Mary he was looking for a Ruby.
The boy told him there was no Ruby that lived there and never had been.

Thomas said it just made him more determined to find me. He had found the girl he was going to marry. And he said, he knew it, from the minute he had looked into my aqua blue eyes.


But I didn't want Thomas to find me. I didn't know how he would react to where I lived. The girl from the wrong side of the tracks. That was never allowed to forget that her Mother cleaned other people's homes for a living, or that her father was the town drunk that often slept it off in the ditch in our front yard.
No, people were cruel. I had learned that in my life.



People judged you from where you lived and by who your parents were.
They judged you by what clothes you wore, what shoes you wore. And I wasn't ready for the most beautiful person I had ever meet to deal with that.

He was to me, like the hard orange candies I kept in my favorite jar. That I only ate on very special days. Or when I had done something extraordinary. The rest of the time I just opened my cabinet and looked at them or smelled them. The brilliance of their color delighted me and the smell was intoxicating.

If we met again I had to be sure that where I lived was not an issue.
That it would not make a difference to him. That he would like me for me. I would find out the next day...


to be continued...

by Nita Barrow Zimmerman

Today's Song, A Rainy Night in Georgia
By Brook Benton
1st video, 1st clip

This song is one of my favorites. The way he sings this with such sadness and soul fullness has always touched my heart.

Photo Challenge....

I still can't get the links to work on the posts.

So anyone who wants to participate in this weeks photo challenge, please leave a comment on my site, that way everyone can go from the comment link to look at your photos.

The rules are 2-3 photos . The theme is keys.
And, I am supposed to pick someone to host next weeks challenge and I will do so tomorrow.

I picked keys from my collection for these photos. I hope you like them..




I leave you with these quotes:

" The deeper and richer a personality is, the more full of paradox and contradiction. It's only a shallow character who offers us no problems or contrast."
Madeleine Le' Engle



"Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact, Nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the Infinite."
~Thomas Carlyle






If you have a broken heart or a battered soul. Find something to hold onto and don't let go, to help you through the hard nights like a flask filled with hope. And Darlin do not fear what you do not know.
Because it won't last, your worries will pass.
From the song, Darlin Do Not Fear, by Brett Dennen

Tonight's song, Life in a Northern Town by The Dream Academy
1st video, 1st clip

Rhondi's Porch Party...

This is my dream porch, and my dream house. If you are going to dream why not dream big?

I love the red tin roof, and that the house is made from stone.

John loved stone for building material and the tin roof is right up his alley.

Rhondi has all the links for the porch party on her site. Please check it out. Hers will be the first link in my favorites. It is called Rose Colored Glasses. There are so many beautiful porches on this link...Some fantasy some real..

For everyone who is participating in the Photo Challenge tomorrow. The rules are...2-3 photos. The theme is keys. The only way I can figure out how to get your links on my site is leave a comment on my photos and then everyone can follow your link to your photos.

I'm sorry that blogger is still missing up.

~Nita~

The story of the haunted house is below...

Tonight's song, Sea of Love

1st video, 1st clip

The Haunting of Ruby Shane (part 2)

( This is the beginning of the story, The Haunting of Ruby Shane from the previous post.
When I posted the picture of the house I was just going to write that little bit. Make it just a mini story, but everyone expressed an interest in more . So here is the beginning of Ruby's story.)




Have you ever found something so fantastic you couldn't quite believe that it was you who found it?

Maybe a gold ring or a secret hide a way tucked into the woods.

I felt that way the day I met Thomas Shane. It wasn't just his deep set brown eyes or his build. His body could not have been more perfect even if it had been carved from marble. It was the way he handled himself. He was courteous and kind, not like the guys I knew who were just plain rude.


I was broke down on the side of the road and he must have seen me struggling to lift the hood of my car. I was smaller then, and it was a heavy hood.

I looked up when I heard his truck, and then I saw him. He was smiling, a sweet smile, slightly crooked.

"Miss do you need help?" He asked softly with such kindness. That I was taken back a little. I had not received much kindness in my life.

"Do you know a lot about cars?" I asked.

"A little bit." He answered, still smiling.

He parked his truck in front of my car and got out. The first thing I noticed was his height. He was about six foot tall and had on blue jean overalls with a white sleeveless t-shirt.
His arms and face were very tan from working outside I presumed.
He was muscular and beautiful.

He lifted the hood and looked at the engine. "Your battery cable has slipped off." He said as he nimbly reattached it.

"Why don't you get back in your car and try to start it now." He stood with the hood still open in case it didn't start.

I hopped back in my old junker and started it with no problem.

He slammed the hood down. And wiped his hands off with a cloth he had tucked in his back pocket.

"Thank you so much. I would have had to walk three miles home if you wouldn't have came along. Can I pay you for helping me?" I asked hoping he would say no because all I had in my purse was three dollars.

"Instead of paying me, how about you go with me to the carnival tonight?" He asked nervously.

I was taken back a little bit. He was much more handsome than I was pretty.

" Sure..But how about you tell me your name first." I said laughing.

He blushed then. From his dark brown hair to his toes.

"I am sorry, my name is Thomas Shane. And what is your name?"

"Ruby and you can find out my last name when you pick me up tonight."

by Nita Barrow-Zimmerman

to be continued Saturday Morning.....

The Haunting of Ruby Shane (part 1)

The boy down the road still mows the lawn though I can't pay him. The roof needs fixed but who can afford it now. The boy used to come in the house and look for me..But he only looks at the kitchen window now when he is finished with the lawn.


My husband killed himself 2 years ago after finding out he had lost his job of 20 years. He went to the barn and blew his brains out. A single shot to the temple. I heard the shot and found him on the barn floor. I have never had a loss like that. My world has never been the same.

My kids are grown and gone..

And I roam this house day and night alone...

I see the kids play outside through my windows, and yet when they see me they seem afraid. I would never hurt them.


The electricity was shut off long ago. But, I still have a pump in the kitchen for water.
But does a ghost really need water?

A work of fiction

By Nita Barrow- Zimmerman

{ i took the pictures of this house way out in the country}

Song tonight, The Blower's Daughter

1st video, 1st clip