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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/891230-Fear
Rated: E · Short Story · Ghost · #891230
Emily conquers her fear of heights only to discover there are more thing to be afraid of.
The staircase at her grandmother's house had no railings. It was a least twenty feet up to the landing. On the landing, to the left, between the stairs and the wall, sat boxes of toys.
Everyday, Emily looked upon those toys, wanting to climb the stairs and play with them. And everyday she would start up the steps, getting halfway up, she would become dizzy, her stomach doing flips. She would sit down on the steps and go back down them on her bum.
Today, halfway up the stairs, her palms sweating, Emily decided to swallow her fear and keep going. One step at a time, she slowly made her way to the top. At the landing, she sat on the floor with her back to the wall, behind the boxes of toys. With her heart pounding a steady rhythm against her chest, she sat up on her knees to look into one of the boxes.
Suddenly she heard a noise coming from down the hall. She turned to her left. There were two doors on the left side of the hall, the first door was open, light filtering out into the dark hallway.
Emily stood up, and hugging close to the wall, she walked to the door. Peering in, she saw a large parlor. On the left wall was a window, the sun shining in on the room. Under the window sat a small table. To her right was a fireplace mantel holding an assortment of picture frames. Above the mantel was a large mirror. Just past the mantel was a second door that went out into the hallway.
In front of her were two more doors. The first door was closed. Emily slowly and noiselessly walked to it. Turning the knob, she found that it was locked. Turning to the second door, she found that it was slightly opened. Emily peeked in. It was a bathroom and a naked man was standing at the sink shaving. Blushing, Emily turned back to the first door when movement from the window caught her eye. Sitting on the table was a man dressed in light blue. In fact, his whole body had a blue glow about it.
"Hello Emily. I was wondering when you finally make it up here," he said in a friendly, familiar voice. Emily just looked at him.
"That door goes to your grandfather's room," he said, pointing to the locked door. "He keeps it locked because he doesn't think you are ready to see what's in there yet." The blue man smiled, "But sometimes the door is unlocked. Why don't you try the door again?"
Emily grabbed the doorknob and turned it. The latch clicked and the door opened. Emily looked upon a room full of treasures, antiques and toys. It was the most amazing place her eyes had ever beheld. Excitedly, she opened the door wider and started to walk in. A great gust of wind pushed her out, knocking her to the floor, and the door slammed shut. She heard the click of the lock as if an invisible hand were locking it. Emily looked back to the blue man.
"Your grandfather wanted you to get a peek at his room so that you will know that he's in a happy room. He said that you are not yet ready to enter this room." The blue man looked at Emily for a minute. "He said that your grandmother is on her way." The blue man then disappeared.
The phone began to ring. There was no phone in this room. Emily was back in her bed, and the phone on her nightstand was ringing. "Goodbye, Grammie," was all she said
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