Secondhand Quotes

“Today, the theme is Unusual Hauntings and our challenge is to create a display with at least two ghosts or spirits hanging out somewhere you wouldn’t typically expect to find them. Like an arcade. Only we did that yesterday so I’m thinking the judges wouldn’t be too impressed if we built them another one.
“This is tricky,” Auggie declares, running a hand through his shaggy hair as we try our best to come up with something original.
“What makes you say that?” Terry asks.
“Because ghosts can hang out anywhere. Ships, theme parks... I’ve even heard of Walmarts that are haunted!”
“So, no grocery ghosts, then?” I remark.
“Okay, let’s look at it this way. Ghosts can hang out anywhere, but that doesn’t mean that they do,” Terry points out. “I can think of a few places I wouldn’t want to spend my eternal afterlife. Like the dentist’s.”
“Or a math class,” I shudder.
“Or the reptile house at the zoo,” Auggie says.
“What’s wrong with herpetariums?” Terry asks.
“Geckos scare me,” Auggie replies like it’s a totally normal thing to say.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“So... you and I are friends now?” she asked with a playful grin.
“Well, no. I didn’t mean it like that. Like, I’m not gonna ask to tag along with you and your girls to go get your nails done. Not that I’m opposed,” he said, holding up his hands to reveal jet-black painted fingernails. “I just meant that you’re a person that I don’t necessarily hate interacting with. You know, from time to time.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“You want to go to college?” She’d have thought that he’d be done with school as soon as he graduated.
“I’ve flirted with the idea,” he shrugged. “Granted, it’s been a rather brief and tumultuous courtship.”
“Why is that?”
“For some reason, Old Lady Grady doesn’t seem to think I’m ‘college material.’” He emphasized the last two words with air quotes.
“Maybe because she’s our guidance counselor and you call her Old Lady Grady,” Izzy quipped.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“Connor Scarborough was a local legend. Unlike most of the Holloway High kids who had been going to school together their entire lives, Connor hadn’t shown up until halfway through eighth grade. And when he did, he stood out like a sore thumb. Not because he was the new kid or because of his fondness for black tank tops and denim jackets, but because of the scar. Red and jagged, it ran from beneath his bangs all the way down through his left eye to the middle of his cheek. And it didn’t take long at all for the stories to start. Or for the cruel nicknames to spread.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“I couldn’t feel the spot where the bullet had struck. I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet. All I could feel was the icy wave of dread that rapidly engulfed me as I slowly turned to look at the lifeless, blood-soaked figure lying behind me.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“If she didn’t already know The Silver Wagon was haunted, that staircase alone would have been enough to convince her. There was an unusual energy about it and it always felt as though something was watching her, waiting just out of sight.
Silly, she scolded herself. You’re the one watching and waiting just out of sight. You’re the ghost they’re here to find.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“Travelers passing through the small town of Fortune, Texas often describe it as a community lost in time. I tend to disagree. Fortune isn’t lost in time. It’s simply frozen.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories

“Lured by Scotty’s pure energy and the promise of an afternoon of ghost hunters’ theatrics, she decided to tag along. Being dead didn’t have many favorable aspects, but one was watching mortals react to what they perceived to be her presence.”
― Jacqueline E. Smith, Secondhand: And Other Stories