The Room in Goose Creek Farmhouse

Especially entered for consideration in "The Dialogue 500"  October 2012.

THIRD PLACE in the Winter Round in The Dialogue 500 Contest, by Jay's debut novel is out now! April 2013

“You’re back ... so early.”

“Oh yes I am!”

“How did it go, Rami?”

"Well, I walked into the old farmhouse, you know, the one I was requested to go to, yesterday, in Goose Creek forest. I went into the ‘haunted room’. I closed my eyes and I … “

“Go on!”

“… I felt nothing. Adar.”

“I often wonder how you ‘know’ these ‘things’, Rami, and you are rarely fooled or tricked by the unearthly.”

“Well, it … happens. I am on guard for almost anything but last night, for the first time, I read --- nothing inside a house. I can detect mischievous spiritual entities, apparitions, lost souls, and especially angry forces in house readings but that house seemed to be ‘clean.’"

“But—but what ....”

“I know what you’re going to say, Adar, but the coldness and emptiness that usually envelopes me in a house reading, was not there.”

“So, the Goose Creek Forest farmhouse isn’t haunted?”

“I'm not sure.”

“Huh?”

“I know, I know, I must be objective and clear for the paranormal report.”

“Did you see anything?”

“No.”

Did you feel anything?”

“No.”

“Did you use the devices?”

“Yes. I know you need them for our clients.”

“Did you start the recorder beforehand?”

“Yes."

“So, you turned on the camera, and all the equipment, right?"

“Yes.”

“Did you turn on the Direct External Abnormal Data logging system?”

“Yes.”

“And what about the Temperature Data Logger?"

“Yes."

“There is always --- something in every house you investigate."

“It was about 4 a.m. My eyes were closed but my senses --- alert. I could hear the leaves blowing softly in the branches; I could hear the moon sleeping in the night’s sky. I could hear my heartbeat drumming in my chest. I could even hear a spider silently building its shiny cobweb by the window. You know that I don’t get fooled easily, and that spooky noises, footsteps and rattling of chains don’t scare me one little bit.”

“I know that but did you…”

“… Yes, I did. I always search for the 16 signs of a haunting or strange phenomena. I searched for lights turning on and off, items disappearing and reappearing, and yes, I used the DOPler Effect technique. I looked out for unexplained shadows, strange animal behavior near the house, psychokinetic phenomena, cries and whispers, cold and hot spots, unexplained smells, levitation, physical assault, apparitions, and other severe evidence. Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing. But suddenly, the room’s door opened violently and from the inside of the walls I heard a guttural, grotesque-like voice that whispered three words to me that made the hair stand on the back of my neck.“

“What did it say?”

“’I'm right here!’"

“What--what did you do?”

“I left the house – immediately!”

“Did you make the prayer, you know, the one to cast away evil spirits and protect your aura, after invisible encounters?

“Yes, I did, Adar, of course I did.”

“So … who--who is that man behind you?”


Count: 500 words dialog