Servant's Corridor — Victorian Pantry Ghost

An 8-second 16:9 period ghost story: a Victorian maid polishes the same six inches of banister forever, below-stairs, 1880s. The scene opens on the narrow servant's corridor, a single guttering candle, stone floor, a dumbwaiter with its rope and pulley, shelves of preserves; the camera tracks forward as the maid in grey uniform and white cap polishes a stretch of banister — over and over, the same six inches, her cloth moving in a loop. 0-3s: The slow track closes on her, the candlelight flickering across the stone, the polishing never varying, never pausing; she does not look up, her face down, the cloth whispering on the wood. 3-6s: The camera draws level — and her polishing hand passes through the banister, the wood solid, her hand ghosting through it; caught for one frame in the candlelight, her face has no eyes, only smooth skin where they should be. 6-8s: The candle gutters out; in the dark, her polishing continues, the cloth whispering on wood, the loop unbroken. The candle's flame leans hard in a draft from the dumbwaiter shaft, then steadies. The maid's grey uniform shows a century of mending at the cuffs, and her cap's white has yellowed to the color of old teeth. Subject and craft: maid in grey uniform and white cap, banister, polishing cloth, candle, dumbwaiter, preserve shelves, stone corridor. Camera: slow forward track, drawing level for the reveal. Lighting: single candle, warm against stone cold, then darkness. Mood: sorrowful, looping dread. Style: period realism, painterly chiaroscuro, photorealistic.