Haunting

• Matilda Adamson, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

I never liked the new house. It had a creepy vibe.
But my parents wouldn’t listen. They kept saying: “You’ll get used to it. Go out and make some friends.”
I won’t be able to. I like to stay on routine and don’t like change. My brother Jack didn’t like it either. He’s similar to me.
But as we walked inside, somehow I knew we wouldn’t last long here...
That night, I laid in my bed. It was my normal bed but somehow it felt different.
I was thirsty, so I crawled out of bed and peeked outside my door. Spotting a clock on the wall, I saw it was past midnight.
I carefully crept to the stairs, and that’s when I spotted a ghostly figure behind me. Then everything went black.
The next thing I knew, Mum was shaking me like crazy. “Mel! Mel, are you alright?” Mum kept repeating until Dad stopped her.
I looked around. I was at the bottom of the stairs. Had the ghost pushed me?
“Mum! A ghost pushed me!” I cried.
Dad put his hand against my forehead. “You’re a bit hot. Are you coming down with a cold?”
I felt like screaming. Why don’t they believe me?
Suddenly Jack says: “I saw it too. Mel was at the top of the stairs, and then a girl appeared and pushed her down the stairs.
Mum and Dad look at each other and shrug. Then they usher us back to our rooms without a word.
Later that night, I still can’t sleep. Thoughts of the strange girl flood my mind and refuse to be drained.
Then Brownie appears. Brownie is the family dog, and we’ve had her since I was a baby. She snuggles up with me and helps me clear my mind.
The next morning, Mum has a whole list of jobs for us to do, such as vacuuming, helping unpack stuff and organising our rooms. Jack flat out refused to help (I guess he was still shaken from last night) so Mum sent him and Brownie to go for a walk. I started unpacking my stuff.
Soon, I wandered downstairs for a drink of water, and spotted a note from Mum and Dad saying they’d gone next door to greet our new neighbours.
Suddenly, Jack runs in, trailing a broken leash. He was breathing hard.
“B-B-Brownie’s m-m-missing!” He stammered, panting.
We must have spent hours looking for Brownie. We searched everywhere Jack said they went. Then he explained how he had clipped Brownie’s leash to a pole for a minute to read a poster, and when he turned around, she was gone. But when we reached our house, a note was pinned there. It read: “Leave this house now or else.”