It Came With The House

•Chapter Three• Not All Is As It Seems

About a week later, I had to put Timmy down for a nap an hour after lunch. This was our daily routine, so I could see Timmy's eyes becoming droopy as he sat in front of the tv watching an educational show he loved. Turning off the tv, I carried him up to his room and laid him down.

Lady sniffed Timmy, her tail wagging before she followed me out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen to grab a can of soda. I was about to go to the home office to get back to work when I decided I should take a break so I changed course toward the living room.

Once there, I grabbed the remote to turn on the tv. I was channel surfing when a loud crash reached my ears and startled me so badly, I jumped in my seat. Lady, who had been sleeping at my feet, jumped up and raced to the kitchen barking to warn any intruders.

Climbing to my feet, I race after her wondering what in the world was going on. Not once did it occur to me to proceed with caution, it never entered my mind that someone could have broken in. Upon entering the kitchen I found just Lady, sniffing around the empty room.

Nothing seemed out of place other than a glass pitcher that should have been inside the cupboard above the stove but now lay smashed, a good two feet away from the cupboard. I stared at it mystified, unable to understand how it got out of the closed cupboard to land where it had.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the broom as well as the dustpan and after shooing Lady out, I cleaned up the mess. Once I was done, I grabbed a plastic cup and did my best to recreate what happened. But the cup always landed on the stove before it bounced and hit the floor. I was confused.

Someone would have had to open the cupboard door, given the fact that it does not swing shut after being opened, for the cup to tumble out. Then when it would hit the stove, making a lot of noise, before crashing to the floor near the stove, not two feet away.

Not knowing what to think, I decided to chalk it up to an old house and forget it. I had no evidence to explain what happened so it wouldn't help to overthink it. It could have been a vibration or even a mini earthquake, though I was certain I hadn't felt a thing.

I went back to the living room and made myself comfortable again. I found a great tv show I love to watch, Unsolved Mysteries, but hadn't seen it in a long while. I was thoroughly engrossed in the show when the doorbell rang, making me groan.

I made my way to the door on swift feet and threw it open to find, no one. I looked all around but found no one in sight, completely mystified, I closed the door and was halfway to the living room when the doorbell rang again. Running to the door, I opened it again but once more found no one.

This happened another two times. On the last time, I grabbed a baseball bat and I closed the door behind me, as I went to check the perimeter. I found absolutely no one around and I was left confused. Shaking my head I thought it had to be a short in the wiring.

Making my way to the door, I looked up to see what looked like a disheveled woman standing in the window of the nursery. Thinking someone had broken in, I threw open the door and ignored Lady as she came to greet me, to race up the stairs, then into the nursery.

Upon opening the door, I found no one. I ran to the closet door but found nothing other than a few hangers swinging back and forth. Thinking that a breeze could have caused that, I closed the door, then ran out of the room to search the rest of the house.

I plopped down at the edge of the couch after my search. There was no evidence to show that anyone, other than I, Timmy, and Lady, had been in the house. Having no explanation for why I saw a woman in the window, I began to question my sanity. Could I be losing my mind?

About thirty minutes later, Timmy came down saying he was hungry. "How about some cookies and milk?" I asked him.

"Ok!" Timmy replied with a big smile.

Picking him up, I carry him into the dining room, set him down on his booster seat, and walk into the kitchen to grab three chocolate chip cookies, then pour milk into his favorite cup. "Tank you, mommy!" Timmy cries out happily and comb my fingers through his soft hair with a smile on my lips.

"You're welcome baby," I tell him. "Mommy is going upstairs to get the laundry, stay here. Ok?" Timmy nods as he takes a bite of his cookie.

I walk out of the dining room, not minding one bit when I notice Lady is not following me. I knew she would stay with Timmy now that he was awake. Walking up the stairs I walk into my bedroom to grab a laundry basket and fill it with dirty clothes.

Entering Timmy's room, I quickly make his bed, straighten up some items and grab his dirty laundry, which isn't much. As I leave his room, I notice I left the nursery door open so I walk over to it and caught a glimpse of something out of my peripheral that stopped me cold once the door is shut.

Quickly, I throw open the door again and look around wildly but saw nothing. I close the door again completely baffled by what I had seen. Shaking my head I tell myself there was no way I had seen the figure of a woman, crouching on the ceiling and looking down at me with malicious intent.