The Ghost Discrepancy
Title: The Ghost Discrepancy
Author: eanor
Rating: PG
Characters: Penny and the boys
Words: 348
Warnings: (very brief) mention of violence and death
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: “But we agreed I should tell a ghost story!” - different perceptions of a successful Halloween
Author’s notes: Originally written for the great-tales October challenge "Ghost Stories". Comments and criticism are always very welcome! Enjoy! :)
„And after he had slain them all and watched them lie in their own blood, the ghost laughed his scary deadly laugh and vanished in a cloud of fog“, Penny finished in a hollow voice, then looked around expectantly.
Dead silence ensued.
Sheldon sat frozen on his spot, clinging to his favorite blanket like it alone could save him from an invasion of murderous ghosts. Howard’s and Raj’s faces were distorted into silent masks of terror and Leonard looked like he wanted to crouch behind his chair.
Penny laughed half-heartedly and looked at the boys in disbelief. “Come on, guys, it’s over now. This is the part where you say ‘Wow, Penny, I never knew you were such a good story teller!’”
Finally, Leonard broke the awkward silence. “That was, um, not exactly what we were expecting”, he explained apologetically and managed a brave smile.
“But we agreed I should tell a ghost story!”
“But not one like that”, Sheldon complained, audibly upset. “If ghosts existed - and scientific evidence strongly suggests they don’t, especially not in this apartment - they would be more fun and much nicer - like Casper, the friendly ghost.”
“Says the one who wanted to celebrate Halloween by playing Resident Evil”, commented Howard drily and then added as Raj whispered into his ear: “Which - and I fully agree, given recent developments - suddenly doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.”
“Alright, you didn’t like my story, I get it!” Penny threw up her arms in despair. “So, why doesn’t one of you geniuses tell the next ghost story then, for a change?”
After exchanging some nervous glances, it was agreed that it was Leonard’s turn to go first. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Once upon a time, there was tiny particle. Because it didn’t carry electrical charge and was massless - …”
“Only almost massless!”
“… and was only almost massless, most of the time it reacted with other particles via weak interaction only. Thus it was very hard for scientist to detect this tiny particle and they called it ‘ghost particle’…”
Note: The “tiny particle” from the story is a neutrino and it is indeed nicknamed ‘ghost particle’ for exactly the reasons Leonard is giving.
Author: eanor
Rating: PG
Characters: Penny and the boys
Words: 348
Warnings: (very brief) mention of violence and death
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: “But we agreed I should tell a ghost story!” - different perceptions of a successful Halloween
Author’s notes: Originally written for the great-tales October challenge "Ghost Stories". Comments and criticism are always very welcome! Enjoy! :)
„And after he had slain them all and watched them lie in their own blood, the ghost laughed his scary deadly laugh and vanished in a cloud of fog“, Penny finished in a hollow voice, then looked around expectantly.
Dead silence ensued.
Sheldon sat frozen on his spot, clinging to his favorite blanket like it alone could save him from an invasion of murderous ghosts. Howard’s and Raj’s faces were distorted into silent masks of terror and Leonard looked like he wanted to crouch behind his chair.
Penny laughed half-heartedly and looked at the boys in disbelief. “Come on, guys, it’s over now. This is the part where you say ‘Wow, Penny, I never knew you were such a good story teller!’”
Finally, Leonard broke the awkward silence. “That was, um, not exactly what we were expecting”, he explained apologetically and managed a brave smile.
“But we agreed I should tell a ghost story!”
“But not one like that”, Sheldon complained, audibly upset. “If ghosts existed - and scientific evidence strongly suggests they don’t, especially not in this apartment - they would be more fun and much nicer - like Casper, the friendly ghost.”
“Says the one who wanted to celebrate Halloween by playing Resident Evil”, commented Howard drily and then added as Raj whispered into his ear: “Which - and I fully agree, given recent developments - suddenly doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.”
“Alright, you didn’t like my story, I get it!” Penny threw up her arms in despair. “So, why doesn’t one of you geniuses tell the next ghost story then, for a change?”
After exchanging some nervous glances, it was agreed that it was Leonard’s turn to go first. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Once upon a time, there was tiny particle. Because it didn’t carry electrical charge and was massless - …”
“Only almost massless!”
“… and was only almost massless, most of the time it reacted with other particles via weak interaction only. Thus it was very hard for scientist to detect this tiny particle and they called it ‘ghost particle’…”
Note: The “tiny particle” from the story is a neutrino and it is indeed nicknamed ‘ghost particle’ for exactly the reasons Leonard is giving.