HORROR OVERLOAD

III. A Happy Day

"Katie... Katie... Where are you? Momma's gonna find you!" A tall beautiful lady with a long red frock calls out loudly, eagerly eyeing the waist-high bushes around the backyard for any sign of her little daughter.

A giggle that sounds directly behind her grabs her attention but stops suddenly with a silent hush.

The woman slowly turns around walking towards the now shaking shrub with a huge smile on her face.

"Arrrgggghhhh!" The child shouts in a gleeful tone as the woman parts the bushes and lifts a squirming child of eight throwing her into the air and hugging the child to her chest.

"I've found you!"

"Mommy! That's not fair. You can't find me until Daddy comes to play."

"Ah hah! But I am here to play, ain't I?" A rough yet smooth voice interrupts from behind the woman. "So that means..... you were ready to be caught."

The handsome man tickles the child earning well-placed punches from the child's tiny fists. Placing the child on the ground and kissing the woman's pink-tinged cheeks, he ruffles the child's hair playfully.

Katie harrumphs and swats her father's hand away from her dark hair and searches for something on the ground.

Both of them laugh at Katie's little antics as they run around the garden while she chases them with a small branch. 

Ding!!! A bell rings inside the house reminding them of a forgotten lunch.

The man carries the child back into the house letting his wife lead them through the back door.

Kate wakes up with a smile on her lips after a long time. After her morning routine, she dresses in her usual black jeans but opts for a light blue top that brings out the dark colour of her eyes.

Whistling cheerfully she climbs down the stairs with a happy smile and an enthusiastic jog in her steps and meets an equally happy Laura sipping a soda with her laptop still open, humming a melodic tune.

"Hey! Were you up all night watching videos?" Kate asks, eyebrows raised, while she plops down beside her.

Wiggling her eyebrows she pins her unblinking gaze at Kate.

"Hmmm... Mmmm... You look happy today." She says but goes on without waiting for an answer. "And nope, not watching videos. But I've found a house for you. Just like the way you like it."

She then turns the laptop towards Kate and scrolls through the pictures and details of the house and explains in an eager voice.

"I almost thought that the cunning old lady would keep my house off the net after I died as a remembrance. But I guess that was not the case. It was by chance that I found listed on the sales page. I emailed her right away and booked a telephone appointment with her this morning." Hesitating for a minute she continues a little less enthusiastically. "Hope you don't mind my interference. If you don't like it you can just cancel the booking via email."

"Oh, Laura! Thank you so much for doing this for me. I'm so glad to finally find a house. And you can even stay with me there." Kate says happily. "Do you think she will sell it for the price I insist on her?"

"Don't you worry about that. It's all taken care of. All you have to do is speak to her through the phone, fix a price then deposit the money and then by this noon, it will be yours." Twirling in the air she bows down with dramatic flare. "Then you can go home tonight as the owner and set up the place."