The Haunted House

I was about six years old at the time, give or take a year or so. I was always a little adventurous and getting into things I should not.

About a block from where I lived was a whole city block with only one house on it. It was a very old house sitting in the center of the block surrounded by trees, shrubs and weeds. With two stories plus a belfry it was by far the biggest house around and was very spooky looking.

No one ever talked about it, except to say it was haunted.. I guess the reason was it had been there forever and was of no interest at the time. It sure did look haunted. For some reason it fascinated me.

No one ever went around it at all. I don’t know if they were afraid or what. It did not make sense to me. When I mentioned it the only replies I ever got was it was haunted. Then whoever I mentioned it to would just start talking about something else. It was just something to be ignored. It seemed to me like we were just not supposed to go around it.There were several kids in the neighbor hood and you would expect that some would go there sometime. They did not.

My curiosity or spirit of adventure got the best of me. One day I walked by and stopped to look around. No one was watching. I slipped between some shrubs and trees and approached the old house.

It was a little scary because of the looks of the place and knowing that I probably should not be there. There was very little paint left on it, but I don’t remember seeing any signs of it rotting. Vines were growing all around it and some growing up the sides. I felt uneasy but don’t know why. There was nothing moving except birds and squirrels in the trees. No ghosts showed up. The shrubs and trees hid me from the street. There was nothing to worry about.

Then I caught my breath and stopped breathing. There was a noise in the underbrush coming toward me. What could it be? Were there really ghosts around? Did ghosts make noise when they moved through the underbrush? I just froze where I was. Then I could breathe again as an armadillo came out of weeds. That was enough for me. I left.

When thinking about it later I knew I had to go back and not only go into the house, I had to get up to the belfry, ghosts or not.

I did go back.

Continued.