josh, the house is haunted

streak of bad luck

Foot traffic was beginning to slow down and Josh could finally catch a break. He retreated to the second floor of the music store and sat behind the desk near the drumsets. The name tag stayed on his green polo shirt but his feet kicked up on the glass display counter. A sigh came out of his lungs just as soon as his phone started ringing.

He answered right away. "Hey, Buddy."

Tyler's voice crackled through the speaker. "Hi. Are you busy at work?"

"Yeah, but I'm just sitting doing nothing right now. What's up?"

"Oh, um, I just wanted to know... did you lock the door when you left?"

Josh's eyebrows knitted. "No, I don't think so. I don't usually lock it during the day." The line was quiet. Josh could hear Tyler chewing on his nails. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just... I heard a noise."

"What kind of noise?"

"...The door shook."

"Which door?"

"The bathroom door. I was in the shower and it full-on shook like someone was trying to get in. I thought it was you but... Josh, I haven't left the upstairs and I'm holding a razor."

"A razor?"

"Razor blade for protection, Josh. What if someone is in here? What if they have a gun and I look like an idiot with-"

Josh sat up in the chair. "Hey, listen, have you heard anything else since then?"

"Uh, I don't think so. What if they are still in here?"

"Okay, call the cops if you hear anything else."

"The cops?" He whispered.

"Yeah, Ty, we are new to the area. Someone could think the house is empty."

"Oh, god." He paced around the room, stopping and checking out the blinds. "I haven't seen any cars come or go. Either they are gone, still here, or I'm losing it. I don't want to think ghosts because you don't think it is an-"

"Excuse me?" A customer came up to the desk and Josh stared at them like a deer in headlights. Tyler was still rambling on the phone. "Do you know how much the Ukuleles are?"

"Uh..." He had to rewire his brain. "Um, yeah. There should be a little paper that says the price."

"The one I'm looking at doesn't have one."

"Oh, okay... Can you hold on for a minute?" He held up a finger, "I'm on an important call. I'll be right over there."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay." The customer nodded and slowly walked to the ukulele corner to wait.

"Fuck," He put the phone to his ear. "Sorry, there was a customer. Okay, are you okay?"

"Yeah..."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I might go down there but can you stay on the phone?"

"I gotta get back to work..."

"But..."

"And I don't know where my manager is. I don't want to get in trouble but I don't want you to be hurt." He rubbed his face as he thought of what to do. "Okay, how about you stay on the phone while I talk to the customer? You can yell and I will hear it."

"Okay..."

"Just only yell if it's important."

"Got it." He nodded on the other side of the line.