Witches, Ghosts & Other Haunts

𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕿𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗

     "Rachel! Let's get going! You don't want to be late, do you?" called my mother from downstairs. We were going on vacation for the summer. I loved the beach, which is why I was so excited about this year's vacation. Usually we go and visit relatives in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. This time, we were going to Bermuda!

     The beach house we were staying in was awesome! It was more like a mansion than a house. It had five stories to it and big bay windows. I promised myself that I would get one of the rooms with a window seat.

     "I call the room with the balcony!" I called as we hopped out of the car after the long drive from the airport.
     "Nuh-uh! I called it first!" screamed my bratty little sister, Amanda. She's seven years old and she's always acting like she's royalty or something. I never did like her very much. When she was a baby, all she ever did was cry. She kept me up all night and when I say all night, I mean all night! Now that I think about it, I think that she did it on purpose just to make me late for school every morning because I was so tired.

     "Pipe down, you two!" called my mother. "Rachel," she said turning to me. "Since you're nine years older than your sister, you can have the balcony."
     "Yes!" I shouted and then I stuck my tongue out at my sister. I was so happy because it's a very rare occasion when my mother takes my side in things. It's always, "Oh let her have it, she's the baby, you know." If any of you know what I am talking about, you have my sympathy.

     I was upset when my mother wouldn't even let me take a swim after the long car ride. She told me that I had to unpack my things first and then she made me eat lunch. Then after half an hour of waiting after eating, she let me go. (I had to wait for half an hour because my mother is a firm believer in that old saying that if you go into the water any sooner than half an hour after eating, you'll get a cramp and drown. Actually, she wanted me to wait longer but I didn't give her the chance to tell me.)

     I was just putting on my bathing suit when I heard Amanda scream. I ran into the room she had claimed. It was a long run because my room was at one end of a vast hall and hers was at the other. I got into her room and found her standing on a chair. "Get it out! Get it out!" is what I think she was screaming. I asked her what she wanted out of the room and she pointed at her boot that had been thrown in the corner. I looked inside and discovered what she was talking about. I plucked the small brown and white mouse out of her boot and held it near her face.

     She shrieked again and I said innocently, "Amanda, its only Whiskers." My sister was a firm hater of rodents of all kinds and she shrieked at me to get it out of her face or she'd tell mom.

     I shrugged and walked back down the hall to my room scolding my pet. "Whiskers, don't you know that Twizzler will eat you if she finds you? Stay in your cage where it's nice and safe!" Then I put the hairy rodent into a large cage on my dresser and I told him to stay put. My mother says that I spoil Whiskers because his cage is so big. I bought one of those cages where you can connect it to other cages with colored tubes. It was now the size of an office desk. That's how much I bought for him. I guess he is a little spoiled.

     At dinner that night, I asked my parents how we had gotten the house for so cheap. They told me a story about it. My dad said that once a young girl lived in the house. One day, when she went swimming in the lagoon, she never came back. Nobody ever saw her again. But there are some accounts of a shark that started attacking people after her disappearance. The fishermen that have actually seen it say that it has the head of a beautiful young girl with ratty-looking blonde hair.

     Later that night, I asked my sister what had made her stand on a chair when she saw Whiskers. "Why not the bed or a dresser? Why a chair?" I should have known the answer before it came.
     "Cause that's what they do in all of the cartoons!" was her reply. I swear, she acts so much like the cartoon characters she watches, she is going to turn into one someday. That would be funny.