ghosting
[goh-sting]
- Television . the appearance of multiple images, or ghosts, on a television screen.
-
Informal
.
- the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship: He was a victim of ghosting.
- Also called French goodbye, Irish goodbye . the act of leaving a social event or engagement suddenly without saying goodbye: Ghosting might be the best option if we want to get home before midnight.
- Digital Technology . the removal of comments, threads, or other content from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.
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Brad
checked his phone, seeing that there was still no response.
“Man, I
don’t get it. Why hasn’t she replied
yet. I’m starting to get worried, you
know?’
“Why,
because your girlfriend is giving you the silent treatment? It happens.
Next time you see her, apologize with everything you have.” Chuck
said.
He was busy clicking the remote,
trying to find anything good on TV. The
two had already browsed just about everything on their streaming sites, and found
nothing. So now, they were trying to
rely on old fashioned TV. It was proving
just as fruitless.
“No, this is different.” Brad said,
putting his phone away. “I’ve gotten the
silent treatment before. I know what
that’s like. If it was just the silent
treatment, she’d probably be here, so that I know she’s ignoring me.”
“You know, I’ve always wondered why
women do that. I mean, they want to
ignore you, by making sure you know they’re ignoring you. It makes no sense.”
“True that. And this isn’t her just ignoring me. She wasn’t home when I check either.”
“So? She could be out shopping or something. Plus, it’s not like the two of us are the sum
total of Ashley’s social life.”
Brad sighed and stood up. He began to slowly pace around the room,
trying to work thing out in his mind.
“I know that.” He said. “But her car was still there, and you know how
she feels about getting rides from others.
It’s like she just disappeared.”
“Sure, man, sure.”
“Besides, she wouldn’t be giving me
the silent treatment. We haven’t had any
arguments recently.”
“Did you forget her birthday?”
“Got her a new set of earrings that
she loves.”
“Anniversary?”
“That’s in December, and I’ve got
plans already made for that.”
“Huh. That is weird. You sure you didn’t do anything to make her
mad?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Okay, yeah, I guess…”
Chucked stopped. His thumb hovered over the remote and his
breath caught in his throat.
“Uh, hey, Brad, I, uh, I think I
found Ashely.”
“What, where?”
Chuck pointed at the screen. Brad looked and nearly fell over. The TV was currently showing some kind of
game show. But that was not what they
were looking at. There was another image
on the screen. It was faint, like it was
behind a thin curtain, but it was there.
And it was definitely Ashely.
Brad would recognize her anywhere, even if her image was faint.
The girl was wandering around the
screen, like she was looking for something.
Then she paused and faced the two viewers. She made a mad dash for the foreground and
slammed into the glass. She recovered
quickly and began pounding on the screen.
Her lips opened wide, like she was shouting, but no sound came.
“Ashely!” Brad shouted and ran to
the TV.
He probed the glass, hoping that
somehow he could reach her through the barrier.
The two guys began scrambling, trying to find something to do. They checked behind the set, hit buttons on
the remote until their fingers cramped.
None of it did anything. And all
the while, Ashely looked on, helpless on the other side of the screen, a ghost
in front of whatever show happened to be on.
“It’s no use, man.” Chuck said
eventually. “We don’t even know what’s
going on, let alone how to fix it.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Brad said
quietly. He knelt in front of the screen
and looked at the faint image of his girlfriend. “Ash, I don’t know if you can hear me right
now, but I’m going to find out what happened to you, and how to fix it. Just…just hang tight, okay? I’ll figure something out. And Chuck?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever you do, make sure this TV
stays on.”
*********************************
Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe, have fun, and get lots of candy! Just remember to brush your teeth afterwards, okay?
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