The clouds were drawing in and the wind was picking up, he knew he would have to batten down the hatches and get ready for the storm.
Storms on Bangor were legendary for their ferociousness but also for being spectacular, the colourful spectacle would be seen across the galaxy. Some one had likened them to the northern lights of earth, just brighter and faster moving. For Jack it was a highlight of the year, like the fireworks they had on a solstice.
His little farm was on the edge of the only big city on Bangor and mainly contained sheep and chickens, he had heard years ago that the scientists had tried making a genetic hybrid of the 2, god knows what that may have looked like, and Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to know really.
He started to put his animals in their respective huts and locked doors ready, so they were comfortable and not to freaked out throughout the storm.
As he pulled down and locked the last window he could hear a low rumble of thunder and started looking through the window getting excited, and in every direction hoping to catch a glimpse of the first colour hurtling through the atmosphere or between the clouds.

As the wind picked up he could hear whistling coming from the trees, that meant that it was moving quite quickly, as normally the trees omitted a low hum or purr.
The colours changed as they fluttered past, the purples and blues blended into each other and the pink centre faded into swirls, slowly more colours lit up the sky, yellows and greens started to appear, all the while the whistling of the wind became out of tune and almost deafening at times. The animals had gone into hiding and the people were nowhere to be seen, apart from the raging storm on the surface and in the air not one mammal or other ventured out into the night.

This went on into the early hours of the morning, after the sun had rose the wind and whistling had died down. The racing colours had slowed down to a crawl and the bright yellow sun peeked out from a red cloud bathing the whole planet in an orange glow. The animals and birds started waking up, and coming out of hidey holes in the foliage above and below the trees.
The people started moving and doing things again and Jack walked out into the landscape basking in the new day, it was like walking out after a sandstorm, everything had moved and yet everything was also still and hazy, like when they show people walking slowly in films-just without the big bang behind them.
He picked up a few twigs that were scattered close by and threw them back in towards the bushes and thought back to the storm, that was incredible, a shame about the devastation that it brought with it because it really was worth seeing.

As I turned round the corner at work I jumped as a moth fluttered past me, what an idiot, deep breath, move on.
The sky outside had turned dark, not black with stars, just dark. The smog from the city meant the sky was devoid of description. I put on my big comfy warm coat and ventured into the night, with my trusty torch light bouncing off the concrete floors and brick walls, what a night to go ghost hunting.
There were several of us there, all in big coats and ready for the off. Walking to the cemetery on a cold dull night was definitely atmospheric, and a few friends huddled together for warmth.
When we got there there was a rather marvellous big old church with big buttresses and it glowed in the moon light like a fairytale castle lit up at Disneyland. We were all very impressed, a bit less impressed when we found out we were going inside first.
Inside the church was cavernous and cold, our voices echoed with the high ceilings, if I was in a choir here you certainly could feel you were singing to god. The wooden pews were old and dented, and the main dais was rickety but functional. I found the stained glass windows to be beautifully full of colour and life, not even being religious I could see the beauty in it.

We began the evening by meeting our guide, he had slicked back black hair, bright hazel eyes and a glint in his smirk like he was going to enjoy terrifying us tonight. During the course of the evening we listen to stories about the place and nod along with it, the atmosphere was starting to get creepily worse.
Out in to the cemetery now and it’s definitely colder outside than in, and the only noise is an owl in the background hooting at us, or at least that’s what it felt like.
The stories our grisly guide was giving us about ghosts was enjoyable but creepy, and looking around I was waiting for something to leap out and say ‘BOO’.

The evening went well and I left the party of friends around 2am, still spooked from ‘The hunt’ I walk home a little faster than intended, tripping over a paving slab I crashed to my knees in pain as the joint impacted with the concrete, painfully I limped home and as I turned a corner something flashed past my eyes, turning quickly I see a boy, younger than 10 in old clothing with a haze around him, realising he was on of the ghosts that was mentioned earlier I walk into the house, shut the door and didn’t come out until late the next day, with sore knees and dubious of every glint in the sunlight or movement out of the corner of my eye.

Lee was excited about volunteering for the first time in awhile.
He used do it do it when he was young, a young lad with floppy hair reminiscent of a 90’s boy band with a stone washed denim jacket and having crushes on girls, oh how he’s changed. To start with he doesn’t have crushes on girls any more, his last boyfriend called him too gay, how can you be too gay?. He also had moved on from floppy hair, he now styled a short crop but still he wore the denim jacket on occasion. He had volunteered at the local racecourse putting bets on for his dad and his friends, so technically not exactly an official voluntary job but he did have some benefits, free soft drinks and the occasional bet that he put on himself , not many won, but some did.
Lee crossed the street to the theatre, the same one he acted in when he was younger.
Inside it was bigger than he remembered, the paint was chipped here and there despite the large lottery grant it got 15 odd years ago, the atmosphere was the same. The slightly brighter green paint work had been replaced with a minted one, more in keeping with the original aesthetics, it also looked a lot cleaner.
The original boxes were still there, with names of playwrights or authors to adorn the plates above peoples heads, the Shakespeare name was the only one not been restored, the others had, he thought that was a nice touch. He also remembered the dressing rooms were below the stage, either it had got smaller since he was here last or he had grown a lot, it was more likely to be the latar as he bumped his head on a supporting beam.
Lee had decided to refresh his memory and joined a tour of the theatre, so much stuff he didn’t know about it. The history was fascinating, at one point it was run entirely by women, female actors dominated the stage, lighting, stage management and props, all women, he liked that, talk about rights for women, any feminist today would be proud.
In lees voluntary capacity he found out he would be helping in the box office, usher duties, cleaning and locking up at night, still he was looking forward to it, luckily it was a small theatre and he hoped it wouldn’t be to creepy at night, as the tour guide had shown them around earlier the prop store was kind of creepy, and this was in the daylight, lee could only imagine it at 10pm at night. Especially as he was getting bad vibes from an old dusty grandfather clock in one dark corner, how did that get in there?.

Lee had just moved back to his parents , he wasn’t happy, as up until recently he had been living with the boyfriend who called him ‘too gay’ and they had had a fight and broken up. He had no other option as living where he did was really expensive to live alone, despite his merchandising salary. So tail between his legs he went home, to a part time bar job in a local hotel and volunteering, for a possible career change, he did love all aspects of the theatre.
His new job was going well, he had connected with old friends he hadn’t seen since school and getting used to living in a little town again. It was still a nice place, and a little ‘posher’ than it used to be. Lee remembers all the charity and bargain shops it used to have, nowadays it had less of those and more Starbucks and harvesters, also a rather nice deli.
The history was also interesting in these parts, with a castle, the cricket and bowling greens and the theatre, a quintessentially English town. Lee liked being back, it was comfortable, he had already put his name down for a theatre studies course for next year in the closest college, and decided to concentrate on having fun and forgetting the ex. When one evening working in the bar a familiar school friend turned up and they started talking.
‘ Lee, pint please mate’
Lee grinned , he recognised the upbeat tone in the voice
‘Stan the man, what have you been up to all these years?’ Lee said as he pulled a perfect pint
‘Oh you know, this and that, wheeling and dealing, you know the sort of thing’, ‘What are you doing back here?’
‘You mean apart from asking you for £2 for the pint, bad break up, needed distance and my washing done for me’
‘That’s along way just for your washing’
‘Well its a fresh start if I’m being honest’
‘Good for you mate, hey listen there’s a good comedian in the theatre Friday if you fancy joining me and the Mrs?’
‘ Sorry mate can’t I’ll being working it, actually in the theatre though, I’m volunteering there’
‘Not bad, free shows, nice one, see you there then, drink after’
‘Yes sure’
Lee remembers Stan being the ‘wide’ boy in school, always being a booky for any bets going on, and a different girl on his arm every week, he always jangled with fake medallions, much to the dismay of the teachers, Lee wondered which of the many weekly blonde girls he married.
Friday night came around quickly and the theatre lit up, the metal was polished and the stage was swept, it was looking good, and the stage was set up and ready for what she needed for her comedy show. She was a local girl that now did the rounds in the big cities so the turn out tonight was busy.
Lee did his usher duties as usual and was coming down from the top gallery when he heard a knocking coming from an unusual place, he went a few steps to see where it was coming from, and by then the knocking had got louder, then a big BANG and the door shook violently, Lee started walking backwards and ran back to the café/bar, one of the tour guides was there sipping a glass of whisky
‘It’s Neil right?’ Lee asked slightly out of breath.
‘Yes, that’s right I’m a tour guide here, off duty of course, why?’
‘Quick question, the fire exit on the boxes level, did people used to come in that way?’
‘Yes, originally that was the main front door before the 1950’s, I thought you went round when you first got here with Nick?’
‘I did, I’ve forgotten some things, I remember that the hatch next to used to be where the tickets were sold’
‘Yes, that’s right, and that was the main door, why?. He asked perplexed
‘Oh no reason, just my imagination, just thought I heard something’
‘No, that happens sometimes, there’s a few ghosts around the building, not bad of course, they are dotted around, pounding that door is one thing they like doing, the other things are moving props around, just walking around, and occasionally singing, everyone loves them, just don’t piss them off’
‘Why, what happened that last time someone pissed them off?’ Lee asked worryingly
‘Well there is one story where a bloke that used to work here, he was an electrician, but was a bit of a, his words ‘ skirt chaser’, I think he was caught groping a female usher and was found the next day stone cold in the prop cupboard by that creepy old grandfather clock’
‘OK, don’t piss off the ghosts, good tip’
Lee figured he would be OK, after all, he was ‘too gay’, the ladies would love him.