london secrets i stumbled into while hunting ghosts

i woke up late again and somehow ended up in london with nothing but a ghost hunting app and a coffee that was probably stale by now. the weather said it was 10.41 degrees but feels like 9.52 because of that 77% humidity. i checked and it’s still there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. i swear the air smelled like old books and maybe something burning. not sure if that’s a good omen or just the city’s secrets hiding in the rain.

there’s this place on the edge of town that everyone says is haunted. i didn’t believe it until i saw a flicker in the mist near st. paul’s. someone told me that a guy once died here in the 1800s and his ghost still haunts the underground station. i heard that from a drunk art student at a pub. i didn’t ask for details but he kept muttering about ‘red eyes in the corner of my vision.’ maybe i should’ve taken that seriously.

the neighbors here are weird. not the creepy kind but the ones who play loud polish folk music at 3am. if you get bored, paris is a short drive away. i heard that from a neighbor who was too drunk to explain properly. another person said london’s underground has the best secret passages but also a lot of rats. i’m not sure which is worse.

i checked tripadvisor and yelp for ghost tours and found this one place called ‘the spectral trail.’ it’s $25 and includes a map of haunted spots. someone warned me they might not be safe but i rolled the dice. the last review said the guide was a former clergy member who cried about a ghost in the restroom. i half-expected him to summon one but he just handed me a pamphlet about leper ashes.

there are rumors about a haunted library in central london. i heard that from a librarian who looked like they’d rather be buried. she said if you listen closely, you can hear a girl singing in the arches. i tried at midnight but all i got was the sound of traffic. maybe i wasn’t persistent enough.

i took some photos of the city using unsplash because i’m a freelance photographer by day. the first one was a brown concrete cathedral that looked like it belonged in a sci-fi movie. the second showed a green grass field under cloudy skies, which felt weird because london is all concrete. the third was a building near green trees and a river during daytime. i wish i could’ve captured the ghost better.

i’m not sure if london is actually haunted or if my mind is just trying to make stories. the weather doesn’t help. it’s 10.19 at its lowest and 10.61 at its highest. i checked and it’s still there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. my last meal was a questionable curry from a food truck that might’ve been a consolation prize for a tour guide. i heard that from a pro chef who was eating the same thing. she said it was the best thing she’d ever had but also the worst.

i need to sleep. this city is too loud. my app says there’s a 30% chance of rain tomorrow. i hope it’s not the kind of rain that brings ghosts. maybe i’ll look for a yoga instructor to calm me down. or a skateboarder to distract me. either way, london is still here. it’s always here. even when you’re not looking.

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