A Life to Be Remembered

The cryptic feel of the old house was pungent upon their first night.  Recently married, they had decided to leave the crowded city and move to the country.  In a backwoods town in the middle of Missouri they found a home for themselves.  Anthony was a writer, and although far from the city, the small town would facilitate his work.

The first night in the old brick house had an ominous, eerie feel.  Anthony went down the stairs to get a drink of water soon after retiring to bed.  The creaks and cracks while walking through the house seemed to be attuned to his senses.  He walked into the kitchen and the refrigerator switched on.  He went onto the back patio and the sounds of nature also seemed to reflect the uneasiness which permeated the old house.

His new wife, Courtney, echoed his apprehension when he returned to the room.  The large house in the country seemed to take on a soul of its own.

She spoke the words with an anxious air, “My heart is beating.  I can’t breathe.   It’s like were not alone in here.  Before you walked up the stairs I could swear I heard somebody walking in the hallway.”

“It’s probably just because we are in a new place,” Anthony responded not wanting to highlight the alarm that he also shared.

The solitude of the country was unlike the busy city.  However, instead of serving as solace, this invoked deeper angst.

They finally both managed to comfort themselves to sleep.  The emptiness of the old house and the country remained unnerving, however, as two adults they did not let their fear take hold of them.

In the middle of the night, Courtney rolled over in bed and in the faint light saw an aspiration in the room with her.  It could have been dismissed as her eyes deceiving her, or possibly light coming through the drapes in the wind.  It looked like a somewhat transparent figure of which she could not identify.  She remained calm and decided it was better not to let her imagination control her.

She walked down the stairs, not mentioning anything to her sleeping husband, poured herself a drink, and went upstairs to sleep without any further labors.  She managed to let herself find sleep despite the unnerving feelings which consumed her.

The apprehensive feel of the old house did not subside; however, with trepidation they assumed that it was simply the anxiety of living someplace new.  After a month, despite several instances which occurred that could be described as paranormal, they began to be accustomed to the strange happenings.

Upon assimilation into their new environment, they decided it was time to paint the house.  There were several pictures on the walls and drapes that needed to be removed.  Behind a Norman Rockwell print, they discovered an old, broken safe which was closed but not locked. 

The mystery to the seemingly supernatural activity which had been occurring was finally answered.  

There was an old, hand-written letter that read, “To whoever finds this note.  I wanted to let you know my five year old son, who died well-before his time, is remembered in this house.  His time had not passed and he is remembered by his presence in this house.”

The new husband and wife both looked over the note carefully.  The house had been abandoned and they had bought it from the bank.  They, through conversation with the residents of the small town, learned that the father and mother of the young child had lived there for another twenty-five years after the death of their son. 

The small boy, whose name they discovered to be Joshua, lived on with the house many years ago.  Upon hearing the story, Anthony and Courtney’s fear of the old house was transformed into comfort.  The strange happenings that occurred in the house in the years to come were accompanied with no apprehension.  Instead, comforting warmth was now all that they summoned in knowledge that a precious love had once existed in this house.