Haunted House?

• David Houweling, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2016

They told Alex it was a haunted house… but was it? Two old clammy people had told him yesterday that the terrible place was haunted. Alex shuddered to think of this, as his parents were really thinking of living in the old rundown mansion, which was just down the road of their current house. You see, his parents were worse off than a rat living in a bin. They were broke, their house was a dump and collapsing. This was their tenth house, as they could only afford broken rundown buildings. But this mansion was extremely cheap and in better condition than any other house Alex had ever had, so of course his parents jumped to the decision that they should just get the place.
Alex was convinced the house was haunted, and had to stop them. But how? One day, Alex’s parents went to have a look at the house they hoped to buy. Alex had chosen to stay home, telling his parents he was certain the house was haunted. Very soon Alex’s parents arrived at the gate of the mansion. They were startled when they heard a creepy voice emitting from a tiny speaker fixed onto the gate. “Welcome to my home”, said the shaky voice on the speaker. However, Alex’s parents were unperturbed. They pushed open the gate and immediately fell to their feet when they tripped across a wire, which was tied to the gateposts. Still, the victims of the tricks wore on, and started towards the heavy oak front doors of the mansion. Ding! Alex’s parents rang the doorbell and again heard the unfamiliar voice echoing through the house. “I shall be happy to meet my new visitors.” Still the couple continued, opening the front doors with trouble, and finally peering into the empty house, inlaid with a thick cover of dust. The two adults were starting to wonder if they should enter now. But the choice wasn’t theirs to make. Wham! The doors slammed from the outside, pushing them into the dark, musty hall of the old mansion. Clunk! Two heavy paint pots smashed into the heads of Alex’s parents and knocked them out cold.
Hours later, his parents awoke, covered in crawling spiders. They both screamed and fled the house, never to return again. Alex laughed to himself when they told him of their awful incidents. They never guessed that it was Alex and his friends who had rigged the house with more trouble than they had encountered, and had waited to play even more pranks than just the spiders. They would never guess it was just Alex’s fear of ghosts and the like that had caused these incidents. When his parents got more money and bought a new house, Alex decided never to tell anyone. Ever.