Haunting

“Heidi, I think my house is haunted!”

“Well goodness, Jaq. That’s quite the way to say hello. Come on in then, and take off your coat. Would you like some tea? Peppermint, I think. It’s supposed to be good for the nerves. Yep, peppermint. Well now, how about you explain about your haunted house?”

“For the past couple of days, I’ve been hearing footsteps, bangs, thumps, and my diary keeps moving. Yesterday, someone emptied my backpack and threw the contents around the laundry room. Today, I was missing Mom, so looked through some old pictures, and . . .”

“And?”

“A freezing wind tore in from the closed window, and my pictures flew everywhere. When it stopped, these twelve pictures were arranged in three neat rows. In every single one, I found the faint image of a little girl. No little girl was there when we took any of these pictures!”

“So . . . You think she’s a ghost?”

“You don’t just think I’m a hysterical teenager, do you?”

“May I see the pictures?”

“Sure. Do you see her? She’s there, right?”

“I see her. I knew she would be there before I looked. I'm warnin’ you though, if we talk about this, your mom is goin’ to come up. You’ve never seemed all that keen to talk about her.”

“Please, tell me.”

“Okay. First of all, I don’t think you’re crazy. The girl in the pictures is Anna. She used to live in your house. We were the best of friends until she died when she was six years old.”

“How?”

“I was just a little girl, so I only recall that it was quick.”

"So, you believe your friend Anna is a ghost?"

"Yes, I do."

"If she’s a ghost, what does she want with me?"

"I don't rightly know, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I think death is just another stage in life. We step into it like goin' from one room to another. Most of the time, people don't want to come back through, but sometimes they do."

"So Anna just keeps wandering back through? Why?"

"Maybe she died so quick that she didn't have time to let go of her life. Maybe she just gets confused about where she belongs."

"No. This is all completely ridiculous! My whole life I have been raised to believe that when we die, we’re just gone. There is nothing but peace. Ghosts do not exist."

"Why is this makin' you so wall-eyed and frantic, Jaq?"

"You're kidding, right? Footsteps walk all over the house, bangs, crashes . . . my diary keeps jumping all over my room . . . Pictures attacked me!"

"I get you being frightened of all these weird happenin's, but I sense something else goin' on with you. Talk to me, honey. Tell me what's makin' you so terrified.?"

"I've got to go. I'll see you later."

“No, Jaq, don’t leave. Somethin’ is goin’ on here. You came over here to talk, so talk. Let me help.”

“Next week, it’s been six months since Mom died.”

“Yes, it sure has.”

“Do you think Mom is a ghost, like Anna?”

“Whew, that’s a tough question, honey. I don’t think so, at least not in the same way. I think she’s at peace and with God.”

“If she was a ghost, if she could come back, she would check up on me, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure she would.”

“They told me it would take time, but I would start feeling better. Instead every day seems harder than the one before. Every day I’m more tired. Every day I miss her more.”

“You’ve got to hang in there, sweetie. Give it more time.”

“I don’t think I can, Heidi.”

“I know that feeling all too well. When my Bill passed, I thought that the only thing left for an old bird like me to do was follow him . . . Wait a second . . . Jaq, when did you decide to do it?”

“Huh? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t be playin’ Heidi for a fool. When did you decide to quit fightin’?”

“I didn . . . “

“Jaq! Was it the same time that the noises and nonsense started in your house?”

“How do you . . . ?”

“Anna has a sense about these things.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I didn’t tell you the whole truth when I said I ain’t never seen Anna. I haven’t seen her, but I’ve heard noises and had my house rearranged. It started the day I decided to take a couple bottles of sleeping pills.”

“You wanted to kill yourself?

“Yep, I figured there weren’t nothin’ worth livin’ for with Bill gone. When Anna showed up and started causing trouble, I figured she came to let me know that Bill was still alive somewhere, and he’d be furious with me for giving up.”

“Hmmm . . . I don’t know, Heidi.”

“Well, how would your mom feel about you quitting on life?”

“She’d be angry, I guess. She’d definitely tell me that I couldn’t leave my dad alone.”

“Yes. Just like Bill would want me to keep going and look after our kids and grandkids. They’d want us to be happy. So maybe Anna has come by to remind us that life doesn’t end here, and it doesn’t end when someone we love dies.”

“So, maybe my mom sent Anna to make sure I know that she isn’t really gone? To tell me that somehow she’s watching over me?”

“Just maybe.”

“Going back to the house doesn’t seem so scary now. I’d better get home and help Dad with supper. He’s a really bad cook.”

“So, you won’t be quittin’ then?”

“I guess I can’t, can I? I wouldn’t want to let Mom down.”

“No, my dear, you certainly wouldn’t want to do that.”

ID: 631396   (Rated: E) Dynamic Dialogue Contest!  4th "Sorta Annual" Dynamic Dialogue Contest! by Jessiebelle™

Word count: 986