The Token by May Sinclair. and read by Christopher Halton

"The Token" was first published in the March 1922 edition of Hutchinson’s Magazine (London). The story is narrated by Helen, the sister of Donald Dunbar, concerning Donald’s wife, Cicely. Donald, though deeply attached to Cicely, is emotionally reserved and reluctant to express his love in words. A treasured object—a small Buddha figurine (the “token”) given to Donald by George Meredith—becomes a symbol of his emotional distance. Cicely, suffering from illness and growing increasingly uncertain whether Donald truly loved her, dies with her doubts unresolved. After her death, Cicely returns in spirit, visiting Donald’s study night after night—but Donald cannot see her. Only Helen, who also loved Cicely, perceives the apparition. Helen urges Donald to acknowledge his love, and finally, he destroys the figurine as proof that his emotional bond is greater than any material object. In that moment, he briefly sees and embraces Cicely’s presence before she vanishes, comforted by the knowledge that he did love her after all. Sinclair uses the supernatural return as a means to explore themes of emotional communication, regret, and how unexpressed feelings can haunt relationships. This story is read by Chris Halton. May Sinclair (1863–1946), born Mary Amelia St. Clair Sinclair in Rock Ferry, Cheshire, was an English novelist, critic, poet, and philosopher whose work bridged late Victorian realism and early modernism. Deeply interested in psychology, mysticism, and the inner life, she became known for her subtle explorations of consciousness and emotion—often depicting how repression, love, and belief shape human experience. Sinclair was among the first writers to employ the stream of consciousness technique in English fiction, and she was the first critic to use that term publicly in a 1918 review of Dorothy Richardson’s work. Her fiction, including The Divine Fire (1904), The Tree of Heaven (1917), and The Combined Maze (1913), examines conflicts between duty and desire, intellect and intuition, and the pressures of social convention. During World War I, Sinclair volunteered with an ambulance unit in Belgium and recorded her experiences in A Journal of Impressions in Belgium (1915), one of the earliest literary responses to the war. In the 1920s, she turned increasingly toward the supernatural as a means of expressing emotional and metaphysical insight. This interest culminated in her collection Uncanny Stories (1923), which includes “The Token.” The story exemplifies her blending of psychological realism with the ghostly or symbolic, using the supernatural not for horror but as a metaphor for unspoken love and the persistence of emotional truth beyond death. Across her career, Sinclair’s writing illuminated the hidden life of the mind and spirit, earning her recognition as a crucial—if long underappreciated—figure in British modernist and speculative literature. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed listening to this eerie tale and its haunting details, please like the video, share your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for more literary explorations. Share this video with friends who love a good ghost story. Stay tuned for more spine-tingling content! Don't forget to subscribe to this channel for more updates. Subscribe now (Haunted Tales of Darkness): https://www.youtube.com/@HauntedTalesofDarkness?sub_confirmation=1 Why not buy me a coffee if you enjoy my work to keep me going? https://www.ko-fi.com/chrishalton Why not support my work on Patreon for a mere USD 5 per month or GBP 4. Visit: https://www.patreon.com/ChrisHalton 📱Follow Our Socials! Twitter / X: https://x.com/HTOFDARK Haunted Tales of Darkness on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559314466201 AdKey:EB2_jDeekW6eQw Thank you for watching our video. #horrorstories #audiobook #ghoststories #ghoststory #horrorshortstory