Prompt: A girl hears laughter downstairs - she's the only one home.
Lila had always been a bit uneasy in her family's old Victorian house. It was creaky and drafty, and sometimes she could swear that she heard footsteps in the hallway when no one else was home. But tonight was no different. Lila was home alone, her parents had gone out for the evening, and her brother was at a friend's house. She was in her bedroom, scrolling through her phone, when she heard it: laughter, coming from downstairs.
Lila froze. She knew that she was the only one home. She listened, hoping it was just her imagination, but the laughter continued, growing louder and more boisterous. It sounded like a group of people having a party. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She slowly got up from her bed and tiptoed to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. She opened the door just a crack and strained to listen. The laughter was definitely coming from downstairs, and it was getting louder.
Lila's heart was pounding in her chest. She knew she had to investigate, but she was terrified. She didn't want to go downstairs, but she also couldn't ignore the possibility that someone had broken into the house. She crept down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she got closer to the bottom, she could hear the laughter more clearly. It wasn't just any laughter, it sounded like children laughing.
Lila's heats was racing now. She took a deep breath and peeked around the corner into the living room. To her surprise, there was no one there. But the laughter continued. She slowly walked into the room, and that's when she saw them. A group of children, maybe six or seven years old, were running around the room, playing games and giggling. They were dressed in old-fashioned clothes, like something out of a picture book.
Lila couldn't believe what she was seeing. She rubbed her eyes, thinking that maybe she was dreaming, but the children were still there. They didn't seem to notice her as she watched them play. After a few minutes, the laughter began to fade, and the children started to disappear, one by one, until they were all gone.
Lila stood there in shock for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that she had just witnessed something supernatural. She slowly made her way back up the stairs and locked herself in her room. She didn't know how long she stayed in her room, but eventually, her parents came home. They found her sitting on her bed, pale and shaken. She tried to tell the what had happened, but she didn't know if they would believe her.
Over the next few days, Lila couldn't stop thinking about the children she had seen. She did some research on the history of the house and found out that it had been built in the late 1800s and had been owned by several families over the years. One of the families had lost a child, a little boy, who had died in the house.
Lila couldn't help but wonder if the children she had seen were the ghosts of the former residents, including the little boy who had died. She didn't know what to do with this information and felt scared and alone in the house.
As time passed, Lila began to notice other strange occurrences in the house. Doors would open and close on their own, objects would move, and she would hear strange noises in the middle of the night. She knew that the house was haunted, and she didn't know what to do.
Lila eventually confided in her parents about what she had experienced, and they decided to bring in a paranormal investigator to look into the matter. The investigator confirmed that the house was indeed haunted and suggested that Lila and her family move out.
The family eventually moved out of the house, and Lila never saw the children or experienced any supernatural occurrences again. But for the rest of her life, she would always remember the night she heard laughter downstairs and saw the ghosts of the children playing in her living room.
