CLOSET SKELETONS III

Settling into a new home could always be a stressful time but that wasn't what twenty year old Darlene and her thirty year old girlfriend of two years, Cherie were expecting as they moved into their new home. It was the start of October and the pair wanted to get settled in before the weather turned cold. The place they were moving into had been newly renovated but was still quite old. Back two hundred plus years ago this house had been a stage coach stop for one of the presidents of the United States. Thanks to a lack of pride and gratitude in the history department, noone could any longer remember the name of that president. Red brick covered the outside shell of the manor. A concrete front porch spread across the whole front of the house and a balcony above that protruded from an upstairs bedroom. The house was two stories high with kitchen and dining room downstairs in the west wing and sitting room and parlor in the east wing. Center if the wings was a wide hallway leading straight through the house from front door to back.along the hall was a stairwell that led to four vast bedrooms and an attic room. A bathroom had been built on to the back of the house recently and a garage barn in the yard next to the house. An outhouse in the back yard was tell tale of the propertys age. Each room had it's own fire place. the floors were hardwood and even the doorknobs on all the doors were the origionals with pearl handels and skeleton keyholes. Still the place was sturdy and exactly what newlyweds Darlene and Cherie desired for their home together.

Dropping a box of their belongings onto the floor of the kitchen, Darlene looked up at Cherie who was making sandwiches and told, "That's the last of everything." Cherie smiled and gave her a kiss. "I have our bed upstairs all made up and a fire going in the fireplace of our room."
Darlene beamed at her wife. She was perfect!

After a good night's sleep, Darlene awoke early the following morning to begin the unpacking process. She was heading out the back door to the barn with an armload of emptied boxes when her two year old black pet cat ran out with her. "Midnight! Don't stray!" She called after her dear feline. Midnight responded by pretending to pounce on things in her path. Darlene chuckled. This was an action he only did with her and she loved him for it.


Cherie awoke some time after Darlene had gone to work at the furniture factory. She had a cup of coffee and got dressed for the day. She was going to scrub the house from top to bottom before they moved their furniture in place and began unpacking all their things. Getting started, Cherie went downstairs and in the kitchen sink filled a bucket full of warm soapy water. Wanting to start upstairs, Cherie climbed the stairwell careful not to slosh her suds. She got to the top stair and paused to catch her breath. Cherie was the only one in the house besides Midnight the cat so it was a real shock when suddenly Cherie felt someone shove her shoulders. Cherie remembered the icy feeling of hands on her as she was shoved backward and how it felt as her heart leapt in her throat at the sensation of her body lunging back down the stairs. Then just like that everything went black.

Sometime later, Cherie came to experiancing immense pain in her ankle. She was soaked and the floor around her puddled with the spilt contents of the bucket now laying on it's side next to her. Feeling sick, Cherie crawled to the sofa and clambored onto. She would rest before going to the hospital for medical treatment. No doubt she had broken her ankle.

By evening, Cherie awakened and instantly knew something was off. Her ankle didn't hurt. Checking it out the woman found her extremety had no swelling. She wiggled her foot and it didn't hurt. Cherie's ankle was not broken. She didn't know how when it was obviouly broke before but now it was fine. Figuring she should at least get up and clean up the mess of water, Cherie heaved herself up and padded through to the base of the stairs. Stopping dead in her tracks, Cherie's jaw dropped. There at the bottom of the stairs sat the bucket upright and full of warm sudsy water.

Cherie gazed up the stairs in disbelief. She had fallen down the stairs. Broke her ankle which was now fine and spilled the entire bucket of water which now sat there full. Searching the house, Cherie thought perhaps Darlene had come home early and cleaned up the mess. After a thorough search, Cherie found it was still just her in the house.

When Darlene got home from work she was devastated to find her dearly beloved pet cat Midnight had gotten out while she was away and had gotten run over in the road in front of their house. Darlene performed the depressing task of scraping his black furry form off the pavement and disposing of his quite flattened remains.

Next morning Darlene was leaving for work and as she walked across the yard something extraordinary happened. A black cat identical to her Midnight scampered up to her and to Darlene's astonishment it began pouncing in front of her.

Walking back in the house, Darlene found Cherie in the kitchen looking out the window. Before Darlene could say anything about their pet, Cherie pointed outside and murmured, "Babe. There's a team of white horses in the yard." Stunned, Darlene looked at where her girlfriend pointed. There wasn't anything there.

Darlene and Cherie gazed at each other dumbfounded. "Darling. I think our home sweet home is haunted." Darlene announced.