Ghost Story: The Farmhouse Part 5

Mrs. Parker was anything but okay. How could she be? Jolene’s scream, the strange coin and the window shade had all left her was a foreboding feeling of dread. That along with still going through grief over her husband’s strange and untimely death had driven her closer to the edge of despair than anything you had ever experienced. Although her mind was racing, she looked up at Jolene and said, ‘I’m just tired pumpkin. I’ve got a lot on my mind. Why don’t you go ahead and play outside and I’ll call you when I need your help for supper.’ Jolene smiled because she wanted to chase the chickens and said, ‘Okay momma’ and raced out the door. Mrs. Parker sat in an almost rigid solitary position just thinking and then decided to call Jim and have him replace that window shade. He picked the phone up on the first ring and after the usual hello told Linda she was lucky to catch him because he was just about to go into town. Mrs. Parker told him she wanted to replace Jolene’s window shade and just as she said these words the phone went dead.

It wasn’t long until Jim got there and said, ‘I was worried something had happened. Your phone cut off and when I dialed back there was nothing. Not even a busy signal.’ Linda assured him she was okay and told him she just wanted to get Jolene a new window shade. Jim went into Jolene’s room and got the size, then inspected it. He came out sand said. ‘Linda, there isn’t a thing wrong with that shade. It looks brand new.’ Linda looked at him and with a tired voice said, ‘Just buy me a new window shade please and I’ll pay you whatever it costs.’ Jim looked at her trying to figure out what she was thinking, but then remembered her phone. ‘I think I should take a look at your phone to see if any wires are loose.’ Jim picked up the phone and heard the dial tone and said, ‘Seems to be working fine. Why don’t you call me on my cell just to make sure it’s working.’ Linda walked over and dialed Jim’s cell.’ The ring tone started playing and Jim answered, ‘Hello’ and Linda said ‘Hello. It’s working’ and hung up. Jim said, ‘Well, I’ve gotta go.’ Linda thanked him for dropping by and then called to Jolene to help her fix supper.

After supper, the phone rang. It was Jim. ‘Linda I got some bad news. I went to the hardware store and the manager told me they were all sold out of that size of window shade. He said it was really strange because a man he’d never see before, a really strange looking dude with tattoos of Gargoyle’s on his arms, had come in and bought every window shade of that size they had. He even insisted the manager go in the stock room to make sure that was all they had.’ Jim thought he heard Linda gasp when he had mentioned the tattoos and thought it strange she wasn’t saying anything. ‘Look, the manager told me they’ll get some more in by next Monday.’ There still was no response. The shadow of fear had enveloped Linda like a thick fog and she felt like she was in a trance when suddenly she was shaken back to reality when she heard Jim’s voice, ‘Linda, Linda. Are you there?’ With relief Jim finally heard her speak. ‘Yes, Jim. Sorry. I guess I’ll have to wait till next Monday. I appreciate you trying.’

That night, after she had tucked Jolene in, Mrs. Parker had the strangest urge to get the coin, but she had a strong will and resisted such thoughts. She was trying to piece together all of the strange events and wrote them down in her notebook just trying to make sense of it all. One good thing was that it had been over a week since Jolene had last screamed and her daughter seemed to be doing well at school and had acted unusually happy the past couple of days. Jolene had said ‘I’m happy daddy still loves me’ when she had woke up the previous morning and she had just said, ‘Of course he does pumpkin.’ Something about the way Jolene had said this had troubled her, but she couldn’t think of any reason such a sweet remark should have given her any cause for concern. Mrs. Parker’s fears and concerns were justified, but for now she just put them off as silly paranoia. Yes, Jolene knew her daddy still loved her because he had told her did several times before she had drifted into a deep sleep.