The Phantom Photograph

Living next door to the local senior center, 10 year-old Henry thought he’d gotten used to the old timers’ peculiarities and quirks. But Henry is about to discover that the lives of the seniors are even odder than they seem. Ghosts linger among the living and the dead live on in photographs. And now, paranormal events have thrust Henry and his elderly friends into the path of dangerous criminals.“I think I found it,” Ryan said. He used a surgical instrument to pull a small, plastic wrapped package from Grace’s abdomen. He handed it to Lana.Ryan stitched the incision, while Lana rinsed the strange little package in the sink. “They look like c-coins,” she said. “B-But I don’t recognize the c-currency.”Lana carefully opened the package to reveal three gold disks. They had strange markings and appeared to be very old.Once the incision was closed, Ryan carefully laid the unconscious dog on the blanket to recover. Zena padded over and sniffed the wound on Grace’s belly while Ryan and Lana looked at the coins. “I don’t recognize them either,” Ryan said. “Usually if a dog swallows a coin, it’s a common penny or quarter… these coins are very unusual, and were packaged as though they were put there on purpose. Smugglers sometimes use animals to transport contraband.”Zena gave a sudden, warning growl. Ryan felt a blinding pain right before the world went black and he crumpled to the floor.