Haunted by Dorah L. Williams Read Free Book Online

school and Rosa was happily watching cartoons, I went into Matt’s room and sat on the edge of his bed. In the bright light of day it looked like a typical little boy’s bedroom, with wallpaper featuring hockey players, toys and books scattered about, and artwork covering the dresser and bookcase. Yet I could not forget the fright I had seen on Matt’s young face the night before. Now that one of my children had been affected, I was much more angry than afraid of whatever it was that was present in our home. I decided to try to talk to whomever or whatever had sat down on his bed.
    â€œI won’t have you scaring my children,” I said, speaking just loud enough to make myself heard but not to disturb Rosa in the living room below. “Maybe this used to be your home, but we live here now. I don’t want you making your presence known to us any more,” I said firmly.
    The house seemed calm and quiet after I had spoken to this presence, and we all slept through the next few nights undisturbed. Then Matt called out to me once more in the night, and I again went in to comfort him. When I entered his room, he mutely pointed to the door near his bed that led up to the attic. Always firmly closed at night, it now stood wide open.
    â€œThe door opened up all by itself,” he told me nervously.
    I closed the door, made sure it was properly latched, and then sat down on his bed.
    â€œWho opened the door?” he asked.
    â€œI think it just wasn’t closed properly and swung open on its own. Things like that can happen in an old house,” I said, trying to calm his fear, despite my certainty that I had closed it tightly when I had tucked him into bed.
    â€œCan Piper sleep with me tonight?” he asked. I nodded my assent and went down the stairs to the living room to get the dog. I hoped that, on that occasion, she would stay with Matt and comfort him. Piper snuggled happily into my arms when I picked her up, but as we approached the stairway to the second floor, she started to tremble. When I brought her into Matt’s room and put her on the bed with him, she immediately jumped down and dashed into the master bedroom. I found her hiding under the covers of our bed, beside Ted.
    I tried again to have Piper stay with Matt but she simply refused to do so. I finally closed the door of his bedroom so that she would not be able to leave. Just as I was about to lay back down in bed, Piper began howling desperately, frantic to get out of Matt’s room. That sound woke up the other children. Even Ted awoke, after sleeping through all the other commotion.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with Piper?” Kammie called out sleepily.
    â€œWe can’t let her do this all night,” Ted grumbled, looking at the clock that told him it was only a little past 3 a.m. I went back to Matt’s room. The minute I opened the door, the dog burst out, shaking with fear.
    â€œMatt, I think Piper only likes to sleep downstairs,” I said, not wanting him to know that it was only in his bedroom that the dog refused to stay. “Would you like to camp out in Mommy and Daddy’s room tonight instead?”
    He nodded eagerly. After I tucked him into his sleeping bag atop our bedroom carpet, I took a relieved Piper back down to the living room.
    The next morning Ted and I had a long talk about what had been happening in our house. We decided that, if we were not going to sell the property, then we would at least do some rearranging and let Matt have another room. We could move the two little girls into one bedroom. Their rooms appeared to be undisturbed, except for Rosa’s past insistence that a girl occasionally waved to her from her bedroom window. We thought Matt would feel more secure in a different room, and we could use his current bedroom as a den or a day-time play room for the children. I recalled how that particular bedroom had not been used prior to our purchasing the house, and I