I See Dead People | Celeste Johnson

Of course all my stories of freaks start out and take place at Wal-Mart - so why should this one be any different?

An old lady, painfully sauntered into the store and I couldn't help but stop and stare. She was tired, her eyes showing her exhaustion. Short and dingy ash hair looked unkempt. All wrapped up in an over sized jacket, she nears me. I get a good look at her face, her hands, her neck, any exposed skin showing: all completely slate gray. My eyes bug out of my head and I look to my husband whose face also shows complete shock; he sees her too. We exchange glances and when she is out of earshot, I told him, "I see dead people."

Turtle Woman | Celeste Johnson

An old lady shuffled along the grocery store aisle pushing a cart with her grandson in it. Her stubby gray hair shot straight up in all directions. She was skinny, skinnier than most people her age. Her face bore a lifetime of trials: stress, excessive sun (possibly from hard outdoor labor), deaths, births, cigarette smoke, life. Her mouth seemed to be a magnet for the majority of her wrinkles, creases folding and scrunched all around her pursed lips. Some how her lips ever so slightly pursed in and out, barely noticeable. Most old people or people without teeth do the no-tooth-mouth dance. It resembled that in the tiniest degree possible. The way her eyes blinked as her mouth did the timid dance, resembling a turtle.