• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Stories
  • Games
    • View All
    • FAQ
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

Creepypasta Of The Week: “Without”

May 20, 2020 by Lucia

Previously: “A Knock At The Window.”

(CW: Suicide.)

Like our last Creepypasta of the Week, I found the creepypasta titled “Without” via the Creepypasta Wiki’s “Random Page” function — and honestly, the moment I realized what the story was about was kind of an uncanny experience. I mean, the tale was uploaded to the Creepypasta Wiki way back in 2013 by user Zanthis, but it, uh…. Well, let’s just say that it is very Of The Moment right now.

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

That’s why I was so taken aback by it: It sounded like the kind of thing that would come directly out of our current circumstances — and yet, it’s actually quite a bit older than that.

Anyway, it’s a pretty quick read, all things considered; however, a CW for suicide is in order beforehand. Additionally, if you’re feeling particularly stressed about the fact that, as writer Helen Rosner recently put it on Twitter, many people are currently living in “an endless today, never tomorrow,” you may want to skip this one, as well.

If you feel up for it, though… read on.

What do you do when the clock is irrevocably wrong?

My watch continues to tick, the digits keep moving forward, but nothing else does.

Has it been weeks? Years? At a certain point you stop asking, stop counting. If you’re denied basic human contact for so long your mind will start to wander, almost as if your body is no longer a suitable housing for it. It tries to crawl, squirm out of your ears and eyes, desperately searching for a home where it can be properly nourished and fed, but here there is no better place.

I slowly sit up. The once vibrantly decorated room where I lay had long since faded before I found it, and my tenure within only saw it fade further. My watch says it’s around nine in the morning, but that never ending twilight that fills the clouded sky serves as the constant reminder that time has moved on from this place. The minutes may keep passing but nothing else changes unless I attempt to do something, and even then my minor impact is nothing more than the sound of a pin dropping during an artillery strike.

Any hope of life returning have long since vanished. After the first few days, weeks even, I gave up any pretense of pretending that normality could still exist. I haven’t changed my clothes in months, but the usual accumulated dirt and grime from a proper day’s activities is nowhere to be found, as is the hunger and thirst associated with the heartbeat I can still feel within my chest. I’m alive in the traditional sense, but logic and science have long abandoned me in this place.

In the before, I fancied myself an intellectual. Puzzles and codes kept me up at nights and unlocking secrets brought the greatest reward. Try as I might, the foreign shapes and symbols imprinted on my left forearm since the day I was abandoned are still as meaningless to me as when I first saw them. Yet another reminder that my predicament wasn’t the result of a freak accident. Something caused the dissolution of reality as I knew it and that something left me here.

Keep reading…

***

Support The Ghost In My Machine on Patreon for behind-the-scenes access and other bonus content.You can also follow on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And for more games, don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photo via h-moose/Pixabay]

Filed Under: Tales Tagged With: creepypasta, Creepypasta of the Week, time, Without

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Top Stories

‘Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark’ Is Now Available From Chronicle Books!

The Most Dangerous Games: Elevator to Another World

A UK road sign reading "BROOMHALL FARM/Private Road/NO THROUGH ROAD."

The Weird Part Of YouTube: The Making Of “No Through Road” And The Power Of Unanswered Questions

About

The Ghost In My Machine is an internet campfire of sorts. Gather round, because it wants to tell you strange stories, take you on haunted journeys, and make you jump at unexpected noises.

Continue Reading >

Support

Like what you read? Support The Ghost In My Machine!

twins

Support

Follow

Facebook Twitter Patreon

From the Vault

  • Bloody Mary & Other Games We Shouldn’t Play

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • This Man

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Dionaea House

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Noise Coming From Inside Children

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • NoEnd House

    Is It Real?

  • Killswitch

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • Suicidemouse.avi

    Is It Real?

  • 200 Phenomena In The City Of Calgary

    Scare Yourself Silly

View All >

Letters from the Beyond

Enter your email to receive blog posts and updates by email

  • Stories
  • Games
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

Copyright © 2021 · Keeper On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Close