Short Scary Stories

No Reason To Be Afraid

When my sister Betsy and I were kids our family lived in a charming little old farmhouse. We loved exploring every dusty corner of the house. But our favorite was the ghost.

We called her Mother because she seemed so kind and nurturing. Some mornings Betsy and I would wake up and on each of our nightstands we would find cup of milk that hadn't been there the night before. Mother had left them there, in case we would get thirsty. She just wanted to take care of us.

Among the houses original furnishings there was this old rocking chair. We kept it against the back wall. Whenever we were preoccupied watching tv or playing a video game, mother would make the chair come to us. We always felt bad putting it back against the wall. Mother just wanted us to be near us.

Years later, after we had moved out, I found an old newspaper article about the house. It said that there was a widow with two kids. She had murdered them by giving them poisoned milk before bed. She had hanged herself.

The article had included a picture of the farmhouse lining room. There was a woman hanging from a beam with the old rocking chair under her, knocked over. It was placed exactly where she would put the chair.