By Ozgood13
There was a dirt road leading to the old home out on the edge of town
that the kids were afraid of going to at night due to the sounds
and what looked like spirits flying the night sky.
It was a few days before Halloween and the Smith family
was on an outreach mission to make sure all the elderly people
in the small town would be able to make it through the coming fall.
The sky that night was clear and had a hint of a harvest moon
as it was less than a quarter and the wind was non existent.
This was the type of night people heard strange sounds in the
over grown acreage the home sat back on.
People remembered an old woman who had lived in the run down home
for years and yet they could not describe what she looked like
as they turned away and dared not step a foot on the property
people called the haunted house of Elm street.
The sun had set an hour ago and in the still night sky
there were screeching and clicking sounds coming from the treeline.
The sounds of creatures scurrying through the ankle deep grass
made our five year old twins Sheri and Linda stay right next to my legs
as they would grasp onto my pants legs each time a loud screech filled the night.
The sounds came from two different trees and I stopped
at the end of the dirt drive and looked down the long dark road
towards the house with just a single light on in a window next to the porch.
“Daddy do we have to go there. There are ghosts in the trees and
zombies trying to come out of the ground.” she said softly.
“Yes there is nothing to fear as we need to check in on the person who lives here.
I was like you when I walked past the house at your age.”
I said as I knelt down in front of the girls.
Just then a pale white silent blur went past us and there was a sound in the grass
as the white blur went back into the sky.
Both girls shrieked in fear as I watched it fly off into the sky.
“Come on we have to keep going. There is nothing to fear from this old house.”
I said as I stood up and tried to take a step forward,
but was held back by both of my children.
I pulled them loose and took several steps as they saw the
silent pale creatures in the sky and I turned and looked back.
They ran up to me and I let my hands down to hold theirs
as we slowly made it down the long dirt road.
The dry dirt made crunching sounds with each step we took
and there I heard another screech no more than twenty feet to our
left in a tree and the sound of something snapping.
“Daddy please let us go home I am scared!” Sheri said as
I just kept walking in the darkness.
I could hear a croaking frog to the left as
I knew there was an old pond and the sounds of crickets now
filled the night as again a pale white blur swooped near
up and towards the house.
The girls were quaking in fear, but as a dad it was my job
to keep going with the task at hand.
We had come to what had been a white picket fence
at one time and now the gate was broken and the paint faded
and crackled with age and neglect and the sounds seemed to
become louder with each step as we walked to the gate.
I found the gate open and I boldly stepped through and looked
in the darkness at a lawn that was in need of care,
but the home itself seemed to be in safe condition.
Linda and Sheri tried to keep me from stepping up onto the
porch as the old wooden steps creaked with the weight of my step.
A shadow in the window moved as I approached the door and
there was a sound of a thump on the roof over our heads.
Sheri screamed “Daddy please no!” as I reached up to knock on the door frame.
I heard shuffling sounds from inside the house as someone approached
the door and I reached down and held each of my girls hands
as the person unlocked the door.
The three of us waited and the girls were squeezing my hands hard
as the lock on the door rattled back and the door knob slowly
twisted as the person slowly opened the door.
An Old woman who was thin, but in good health opened the door
and looking past her the entry way was clean and well lit.
“Master Nathan it has been so long. Please come in and visit.”
“Mrs. Brooks I am sorry to come so late I hope we are not interrupting
anything and I see Tom and Carol are still hunting in your area.”
I said with a smile as she lead the three of us to her living room.
To make this story short and sweet.
Never fear what you do not know as the creatures as you guessed were
Owls hunting in the night and children as well as adults sometimes
fear what they do not understand.
