| The car slowly pulls off the road and stops. Bonnie Sue got out and looked around. The Rosedale Church was still on one corner. But the corner that had held the gas station and store was vacant. She looked at the old Rosedale Hall. No longer a hall, but now someone's home. Then her eyes fell on the place where the house used to be. The old two story farmhouse was gone now. But she could see it clearly in her memory. Bonnie Sue was a skinny ten year old. Small for her age,with red hair and bright blue eyes. Her father had bought a 400 acre farm, at a cheap price. He moved his family into the large, old farmhouse. From the first, Bonnie Sue felt there was something strange about this house. There was a place on the stairs, about half way to the second floor, that always seemed cold. Even in the heat of summer, she would feel chilled when she passed through this place. Then there was the occasional pounding on the wall, between the living room and dining room. It sounded like someone was hitting the wall with their fist. Yet, there was no one there. Bonnie Sue knew everyone heard the pounding,. Yet the rest of the family seemed to ignore it. When she would ask them about it, they would ignore her questions. Soon, she stopped asking. The front door of the house was never used by the family. It was kept locked. But sometimes it could be heard opening and closing. If anyone went to check, it was always found to be closed and locked. One evening as Bonnie Sue was going to bed, she saw a little girl. In the upstairs hallway a little girl in a pink party dress looked at Bonnie Sue. Bonnie Sue stoped dead still and stared. The little girl was young, perhaps four or five years old. She had blonde ringlets to her shoulders, and a pink hair ribbon. Sad, deep blue eyes looked directly into her own. She spoke not a word, yet seemed to want to tell Bonnie Sue something. Slowly she turned down the hall. It was then that Bonnie Sue noticed there was an old lady standing behind the little girl. The old lady looked small, and frail. Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a long gray dress with dark pink flowers on it. She never looked at Bonnie Sue, only at the little girl. As the little girl turned, the old lady took her hand. Together they walked down the hall, and went through the wall! For a few minutes Bonnie Sue stood froze to the spot, staring at the wall where they had gone. Then she hurried to her room, and closed the door tight. She quickly got ready for bed. She had not been in bed long, when she could "feel" someone looking at her. She opened her eyes and looked. Standing right by her bed was a man! He wore dark suit pants, white shirt, and dark tie. He had dark hair, and was looking down at her with dark eyes. To afraid to speak, she flung her arm out to push him away from her bed. Her arm went right through him! For a second his expression was that of surprise. Then he was gone! She did not sleep well that night. Nor did she ever sleep well, while she lived in that house. She knew he would be back. But on other nights that he did come back, he always stood well away from the bed. He would just stand and look at her for a while, then he would be gone. Sometimes when Bonnie Sue was in the barn doing chores, she would look out the barn door at the house. It was not unusual for her to see the old lady looking out the upstairs window. None of the ghosts ever spoke to Bonnie Sue. They never touched her, or harmed her in any way. But Bonnie Sue was still afraid of them. Especially the man that just watched her. When her father sold the farm, Bonnie Sue was glad. The people that bought the farm only lived in that house for a year. Then they built a new house elsewhere on the property, and burned down the old farmhouse. Was there a reason for this? Bonnie Sue did not know. The old house was in good condition. But still they burned it. Now, so many years later, Bonnie Sue still remembered the house. She remembered everything as if it was yesterday. She tried to learn about the house. She had been told that there was a tragedy in that house. A little girl had been raped by her stepfather. When the girls grandmother had caught him, he killed them both. Then killed himself. No one seemed to know, or would not tell her, when this had happened. Nor could they recall their names. Were these the ghosts Bonnie Sue had seen in that house? Bonnie Sue turned away from where the house had been. She got back into her car.In her mind, she now knew why they were there. She knew the little girl was trying to warn her. Now satisfied in her own mind, she drove away. She did not look back. The ghosts of Rosedale house would haunt her no more.! |
| music: Candyman |
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