A ghost story
Elloise was reading her favorite book 'Goosebumps' before drifting off to sleep. It was a daily routine for her. Every night she would read before going to bed. Today, she was reading a story of an old woman being hacked to death by a troll and then how she came back to haunt her murderer till he went insane and jumped off the bridge.
After finishing off the story, Elloise turned off the lights and and tucked herself inside her blanket. No, not today, she wouldn't be scared today. She was one of those people who are fascinated by the stream of ghost studies and yet are scared. If you think she was brave enough to read a ghost story and then go off to sleep dreaming of fairies, you can't be more wrong. So, Elloise spent next 2 hours checking every two minutes there isn't a shadow lurking in her room or a stranger looking at her through the window or a face staring at her if she opened her eyes. After a while, she drifted off to sleep.
Elloise woke up all of a sudden. She was sure she had heard a noise. She checked the time on her bedside clock. It was half past two in the night. The house was all still. Yet she was sure she had heard something that woke her up. Slowly, she got out of bed, put on her night gown and walked to the door of her room. She unlocked the door and peered outside. No sound of anything inside the house.
Suddenly, she felt someone or something had brushed through her hair from behind, like a cold drought or something. But the windows were all latched. There couldn't be any wind. She quickly turned around. But there was no one. She hadn't felt more scared in her life. Silently, she tiptoed out into the hall. Looking around for any signs of intruder. But the doors were locked, no windows were broken. The room was exactly as she had left it in the evening. And then, someone whispered in her ears, "Elloise!"
Elloise woke up next morning to find herself in her bed. Looking around, she saw her flatmates were back. They looked worried and when Elloise asked them what happened, they told her she was lying on the drawing room floor when they came back and right next to her was next-door-grandma's shawl. Grandma had past away last week. They all have been to her funeral. She was a kind old lady who would sit outside in her courtyard and greet passing people. Elloise and her flatmates were her favorite. They would visit her from time to time and she would give them cookies. She would always be dressed up same, a pink gown and a beige shawl.
How her shawl ended up over Elloise, nobody knew. As far as they were aware, grandma was buried covered in the shawl. Elloise narrated her last night's experience to her flatmates and they looked all the more worried. They decided to observe if any such thing happened again before contacting the neighbor and the priest. As the night fell, they all camped in the drawing room in their sleeping bags. They all stayed up the whole night but nothing happened. They repeated the same thing for two nights in a row and yet nothing. So, Elloise and her friends decided to let it go. Although the mystery of shawl was still unsolved, they did not find any evidence or unusual activity affecting their lives. So they moved on.
After about two months from the night the incident happened, Elloise was alone in her apartment again. Her flatmates had gone on a trek and would be returning late in the night only. Elloise was reading "Love Story" tonight. The book was so consuming that she didn't feel like going off to sleep without finishing off the story. At half past two, the doorbell rang. Elloise, still in the hangover of her book, went to check the door. It must be her flatmates. As Elloise opened the door, there was Grandma standing there holding a box of cookies and she said, "I want my shawl back". And Elloise screamed as she had never screamed before.
3 months ago...
Elloise was sitting on her bedroom window sill. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. As usual, she had a book in one hand and a mug of hot chocolate next to her. Life was just perfect at that moment. Since it was a Sunday morning, most of the neighbours and her flatmates were at church. She always thought of it as a bit pretentious, but today, she couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of solitude and calmness that prevailed. As she came out of her thoughts, she noticed grandma next door talking to Sheryl's boyfriend.
Sheryl was one of Elloise's flatmate. She was beautiful and happily committed to a guy named Jack. Although Jack was a brilliant intelligent man who worked as a Software developer in one of those big multinational firms, there was an eery air around him which always bothered Elloise. But Sheryl was happy with him and she loved Sheryl, so she never voiced her doubts about him.
Jack was a bit of a shady character. He used to hangout with grandma a lot and it was never out of love. He would crack his jokes, make her laugh and at the end of each conversation, would get away with something or the other from grandma. Once, he even took her ring with a big diamond studded on it. Nobody knew anything about this except for Elloise who spent the most amount of time with grandma and she talked of this on one of these days. From what Elloise heard, it looked like the guy was always looking for grandma's jewels.
On the day of grandma's death, Jack took grandma inside the house after a while, probably for her lie down. He left her house around noon, by which time people were about to return from their chores in church. In the evening, Mia, the youngest granddaughter, found grandma dead when she went to give her customary goodnight hug. Postmortem report said grandma had food poisoning. Her stuff was scattered messily and no one knew what was missing. They never found any precious jewelry in her almirah. Only Elloise knew Jack was the last person to see grandma. Jack has been missing since that day.
..All this came rushing back to Elloise as she opened her eyes. She was lying in the hospital bed, drapes shut and someone was asleep on a chair. She strained and saw it was Sheryl. Elloise checked the time on her watch. She had been out for more than ten hours. Now that she remembered everything, she could put two and two together and make sense. She got out of bed hurriedly, woke up Sheryl and told her everything, from Jack visiting grandma to her ghost haunting Elloise.
Elloise and Sheryl together went to police station and recited their story. As they left the police station, Elloise felt content that now the real culprit would be caught soon. She glanced back before getting into her car and saw an apparition lot like grandma and felt it was smiling.
After finishing off the story, Elloise turned off the lights and and tucked herself inside her blanket. No, not today, she wouldn't be scared today. She was one of those people who are fascinated by the stream of ghost studies and yet are scared. If you think she was brave enough to read a ghost story and then go off to sleep dreaming of fairies, you can't be more wrong. So, Elloise spent next 2 hours checking every two minutes there isn't a shadow lurking in her room or a stranger looking at her through the window or a face staring at her if she opened her eyes. After a while, she drifted off to sleep.
Elloise woke up all of a sudden. She was sure she had heard a noise. She checked the time on her bedside clock. It was half past two in the night. The house was all still. Yet she was sure she had heard something that woke her up. Slowly, she got out of bed, put on her night gown and walked to the door of her room. She unlocked the door and peered outside. No sound of anything inside the house.
Suddenly, she felt someone or something had brushed through her hair from behind, like a cold drought or something. But the windows were all latched. There couldn't be any wind. She quickly turned around. But there was no one. She hadn't felt more scared in her life. Silently, she tiptoed out into the hall. Looking around for any signs of intruder. But the doors were locked, no windows were broken. The room was exactly as she had left it in the evening. And then, someone whispered in her ears, "Elloise!"
Elloise woke up next morning to find herself in her bed. Looking around, she saw her flatmates were back. They looked worried and when Elloise asked them what happened, they told her she was lying on the drawing room floor when they came back and right next to her was next-door-grandma's shawl. Grandma had past away last week. They all have been to her funeral. She was a kind old lady who would sit outside in her courtyard and greet passing people. Elloise and her flatmates were her favorite. They would visit her from time to time and she would give them cookies. She would always be dressed up same, a pink gown and a beige shawl.
How her shawl ended up over Elloise, nobody knew. As far as they were aware, grandma was buried covered in the shawl. Elloise narrated her last night's experience to her flatmates and they looked all the more worried. They decided to observe if any such thing happened again before contacting the neighbor and the priest. As the night fell, they all camped in the drawing room in their sleeping bags. They all stayed up the whole night but nothing happened. They repeated the same thing for two nights in a row and yet nothing. So, Elloise and her friends decided to let it go. Although the mystery of shawl was still unsolved, they did not find any evidence or unusual activity affecting their lives. So they moved on.
After about two months from the night the incident happened, Elloise was alone in her apartment again. Her flatmates had gone on a trek and would be returning late in the night only. Elloise was reading "Love Story" tonight. The book was so consuming that she didn't feel like going off to sleep without finishing off the story. At half past two, the doorbell rang. Elloise, still in the hangover of her book, went to check the door. It must be her flatmates. As Elloise opened the door, there was Grandma standing there holding a box of cookies and she said, "I want my shawl back". And Elloise screamed as she had never screamed before.
3 months ago...
Elloise was sitting on her bedroom window sill. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. As usual, she had a book in one hand and a mug of hot chocolate next to her. Life was just perfect at that moment. Since it was a Sunday morning, most of the neighbours and her flatmates were at church. She always thought of it as a bit pretentious, but today, she couldn't help but appreciate the beauty of solitude and calmness that prevailed. As she came out of her thoughts, she noticed grandma next door talking to Sheryl's boyfriend.
Sheryl was one of Elloise's flatmate. She was beautiful and happily committed to a guy named Jack. Although Jack was a brilliant intelligent man who worked as a Software developer in one of those big multinational firms, there was an eery air around him which always bothered Elloise. But Sheryl was happy with him and she loved Sheryl, so she never voiced her doubts about him.
Jack was a bit of a shady character. He used to hangout with grandma a lot and it was never out of love. He would crack his jokes, make her laugh and at the end of each conversation, would get away with something or the other from grandma. Once, he even took her ring with a big diamond studded on it. Nobody knew anything about this except for Elloise who spent the most amount of time with grandma and she talked of this on one of these days. From what Elloise heard, it looked like the guy was always looking for grandma's jewels.
On the day of grandma's death, Jack took grandma inside the house after a while, probably for her lie down. He left her house around noon, by which time people were about to return from their chores in church. In the evening, Mia, the youngest granddaughter, found grandma dead when she went to give her customary goodnight hug. Postmortem report said grandma had food poisoning. Her stuff was scattered messily and no one knew what was missing. They never found any precious jewelry in her almirah. Only Elloise knew Jack was the last person to see grandma. Jack has been missing since that day.
..All this came rushing back to Elloise as she opened her eyes. She was lying in the hospital bed, drapes shut and someone was asleep on a chair. She strained and saw it was Sheryl. Elloise checked the time on her watch. She had been out for more than ten hours. Now that she remembered everything, she could put two and two together and make sense. She got out of bed hurriedly, woke up Sheryl and told her everything, from Jack visiting grandma to her ghost haunting Elloise.
Elloise and Sheryl together went to police station and recited their story. As they left the police station, Elloise felt content that now the real culprit would be caught soon. She glanced back before getting into her car and saw an apparition lot like grandma and felt it was smiling.
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