The House on the Hill

Here's my latest short story, enjoy...

The House on the Hill
On the shadowy hill, there was a large, dilapidated, shadowy mansion, filled with items from a long-passed era. The mansion was the subject of many stories and tall tales, though none more prominent than the tale of “the winsome mansion spirits”.
This tale had first emerged nearly 80 years ago, when an old man had told it to some particularly annoying and frustrating kids to get them to go away. At least, that’s what everyone says, though some like to believe that it wasn’t as much of a joke as it seemed. Either way, the story he told them is still the same, and it goes like this.
“Many years ago, a man and his new wife lived in that mansion. Back then, it was a thing of marvel, that mansion was, with its large halls, elegant and ornate furnishings, and its glorious library, the best anyone had ever seen. There they lived in peace and happiness for their first year, but then the terrible fever struck, killing his poor wife, Maria. After that, exactly one month from the day of Maria’s death, the husband, John, was found hanged in an old caretaker’s cottage out behind the house. Ever since then, it has been rumored that their spirits haunt that mansion, weeping for their loss of life, pleasure, and happiness. On several occasions, mysterious things have been reported.
The first time, it was a man who had been walking by the house and swore he heard a ghostly wailing. He had suddenly felt very cold, even though it was the middle of summer and was sweltering outside. He had run away frightened, and never gotten within a half mile radius of the place again.
The second sighting came 2 years later, when a realtor came to check out the house and see if there was any hope for selling it or the property. When she went inside, she instantly shivered and felt like something was watching her. Thinking it was just paranoia, she calmly proceeded further into the house. The feeling that someone was watching her grew stronger, and the strange paintings that hung haphazardly on the walls seemed to be observing her every move. After a while, it became unbearable, so she turned around to go back, but when she reached the front door, she found that it had locked behind her. She reached to turn the knob, but it would not budge. For some reason it seemed to have rusted shut, even though it had swung open easily when she had first entered. Beginning to truly feel frightened for the first time, she whirled around, searching for another exit. That’s when she saw it. The strange shadow hovering over the staircase. The strange shadow that grinned at her and began making its way toward her. The strange shadow that caused her to have a fatal heart attack people would later claim was the result of underlying heart disease. The shadow of Maria.”
This is the story that was passed down from generation to generation, and has been hanging over the mansion ever since. It was never proven true or false, and many still wonder...



I hope you enjoyed it... :-)