The Toyota Land Cruiser with Maine plates and a prominently displayed biodiesel sticker on the bumper turned onto STREET, continued about fifty feet and slowed down, before turning onto a long gravel driveway to a carriage house connected by a covered walkway to a stately old two-story Queen Anne Victorian house. The mailbox at the drive was old and dented, and was sloppily painted with NUMBER on the side.
The vehicle came to a stop beside a large truck that was already parked there. The truck was decorated with the logos of a cross-country moving company, and was being unloaded by two of the four men dressed in coveralls with the same logos on the back. The two other movers were taking the furniture and boxes as they were unloaded from the truck, and taking them into the house.
“Well, what do you think?” Mr. Parker spun from side-to-side with his arms spread apart, gesturing at the house, as he stepped out of the vehicle. He was a tall, slim, man in his mid-fifties. A short-cropped head of hair, with salt-and-peppering at the temples, gave him a youthful but distinguished appearance.
He looked at his wife, then his daughter, as they joined him on the front lawn. The house itself had a covered front porch that wrapped around the corner which was accented by a cylindrical turret [Note: house has prominent features at four cardinal directions]. Four dormers lined the front of the upper story of the house. A large bay window next to the front door completed the look.
[MOVE] The house was nestled in the middle of a wooded lot. It had been built back at the turn of the previous century, by a XXX (who never moved in due to the disappearance of their son. The family had been devastated by the loss, and returned to XXX - NOTE: we don’t know this yet. Father was very superstitious. Created a circle of protection (salt?) under foundation to keep out evil spirits. Presence of the circle is what keeps Hals ghost trapped. Addition of sunken greenhouse by Mrs Parker breaks circle, allowing Hal's ghost to leave house).
Their real estate agent, who had been inside the house directing the movers, came outside and saw the Parkers. Waving enthusiastically, she walked over to them. “Welcome Parker Family! Are we excited about moving into our new home?” She dropped the house keys that she had been dangling into Mr. Parker’s outstretched hand.
Hailey rolled her eyes and muttered, “blah blah blah.”
“It’s gorgeous!” exclaimed Mrs. Parker. “I love it!” She smiled and turned to ask her daughter, “What do you think, Hailey?”
“It’s fine.,” Hailey replied, unenthusiastically. She wasn’t happy about moving away from her home and her friends. “It’s not fair” kept running through her head as she trudged to the front door where the others were waiting.
Hailey’s parents exchanged silent looks, turned their gaze to their daughter, and sighed quietly before turning back to the house. It was evident that moving across the country on such short notice was a shock to Hailey, and it was too much to expect her to be happy about suddenly being uprooted from the home she had known all her life, and separated from all her friends. The letter from a prestigious school inviting both the Parkers to join their faculty came as a complete surprise, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they could not pass up.
“What!?” Hailey demanded in a defensive tone.
Mrs. Parker ignored the question. “Well, this is home now. It’ll be nice once we get this place cleaned up, and we get settled in. You’ll see.” Then turning to look in the front door, she added, “let’s go in and take a look around. You can pick out your room. I think you might like the one with the large window. You can start to think about how you want to arrange your stuff,” Hailey’s mom encouraged. “If you can decide now, we’ll have the movers take your things into your room now. Otherwise, we can just have them take your things upstairs, and we can arrange them ourselves when you’ve decided.
