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The Eclectic Pen - The House On The Corner

By: Elizabeth B. (meowysmiles) -   + 29 more  
Date Submitted: 6/4/2013
Genre: Literature & Fiction » Short Stories & Anthologies
Words: 772
Rating:

It all started when my family and I moved to CA last winter.There was an old house on the corner in a neighborhood where some of our friends had lived a few years back.It was quite large,although it's deep red color made it seem even larger. I had noticed something rather odd. All of the neighbor's windows facing the house were nailed shut with boards. Whenever the neighbors passed us by they made obvious glances away from the house,as if frightened to gaze into it's shadow. We finally signed the closing papers and moved into the house. The neighbors had rather peculiar ways of greeting us. Our welcomes were comments such as "I feel sorry for all of you!",and "Evil has always won.","Leave!". One night someone even tried to burn the house down by placing candles outside our windows,against the shutters. We didn't understand our neighbor's strange ways and prayed they would learn to mind their own business. One evening after we had settled in, we had our first horrible experience.Worn out from an afternoon picnic with some friends, our children went to bed early. The birds were covered for the night, and our cat had finally settled down on the furry floor pillow next to the warm fireplace. My husband was sleeping soundly next to me,but for some reason I wasn't sleeping well and kept waking up at the hourly chiming of the clock. As the 2 am chime began, I woke up with a start. Our dog Tootsie was whining so loudly that it echoed through the entire house. The sound was so mournful that I shook my husband from his sound sleep. Quickly, we ran down two flights of stairs to the storage room that had become Tootsie's bedroom. His poor body was on the floor in a pool of his own blood. My husband called the police, as I stood crying for Tootsie. The police arrived quickly and took him to the animal hospital to find out what had attacked and mangled him so badly. The strain of the night showing on his face, my husband went along. One of the policemen stayed behind to try to calm and comfort me. By this time the children had come downstairs to find out what was going on. They overheard some of the conversation with the police officer."Is Tootsie hurt?",they asked. I told them I would talk to them later. I walked the policeman to the door. Later, my husband came home with the bloody blanket which had been used to cover Tootsie's body. He told me Tootsie was dead, and the body was being kept at the animal hospital for lab work. Hearing the news made me weep. The following day we buried our dog in the animal cemetery. When we got back home we went out to Denny's,thinking that might cheer us up. It was very difficult for all of us that day because of Tootsie's terrible death.I was so relieved to be able to go to bed,but I knew or at least had a horrible feeling something was going to happen tonight. I told my husband to feed the cat and the birds while I tucked the kids into bed.When I finished with the children, I went downstairs where my husband was packing away all the dog's things. We both decided that night,we were moving as soon as possible. Exhausted by the difficult day,we went to bed. At midnight the house began shaking furiously. I heard dishes in the kitchen crashing to the floor. I ran to the children's room. Just before I got there,the door slammed shut and a red slime oozed from the locks above the knobs. I raced back to my room screaming for my husband. As I got to the door of our bedroom,the shaking stopped. I ran back to the children's room and kicked open the doors, bring them back to our room for the remainder of the night. Thank God that was the last day. Very early in the morning,my husband woke us and firmly stated we are moving now. We hurriedly gathered what we could carry. As we were packing, the house started to crack apart. My husband snatched the cat and the bird while I grabbed the kids and we got out just in time. The house began to explode. Running down the street I turned around in time to witness the entire home being consumed by fire and flame.

The Eclectic Pen » All Stories by Elizabeth B. (meowysmiles) -

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