Boy On A Farm

Part 1

The barn was old and dilapidated. One strong gust of wind would surely bring it tumbling down. Rumor had it that the barn was haunted. Ruth could see why. It was the biggest barn she'd ever seen. It dwarfed the barn on her Grandpa's farm.

Light filtered through the barn as dust motes floated lazily through the air. The air was stale and smelled like decaying hay and dirt. Piles of debris laid on the floor and cobwebs hung from the ceiling.

Ruth jumped and had to bite back a scream as something went scurrying overhead. She peered up at the loft that was in danger of falling on her head. Her gaze found a ladder that led up to the loft. It was old and rickety, but Ruth still walked over to and placed her hand on one of the rungs. It didn't appear very steady and it creaked alarmingly underneath Ruth as she climbed. Ruth poked her head up into the loft and looked around. More sunlight poured in from the warped boards. The floor was littered with bird dropping and skeletons of mice. A flutter of wings signaled that birds were present in the loft.

"Did you find anything Ruth?" Her best friend Rachel shouted up at her.

Ruth peered down to where Rachel stood on the ground by the ladder peering up at her. Ruth shook her head as she carefully made her way back down the creaky ladder. She dusted her hands off once she was on solid ground.

"Nothing of interest except bird droppings and bones."

Rachel sneezed and rubbed at her nose. "This place is creepy and it's making my allergies worse. Can we go now?"

Ben draped an arm around Rachel's shoulders. "Don't tell me that you're scared."

Rachel elbowed her cousin in the ribs. "I'm not scared. Why would I be scared coming to an old barn that could fall down at any moment?"

Curtis let out a snort as he stepped forward and pulled a cobweb out of Ruth's hair. Ruth blushed slightly. Curtis gave her a warm smile before he punched his friend on the arm.

"Rachel's right. This barn is in more danger of falling down than of some ghost being in here. We should go."

"Come on man." Ben gave his friend a disappointed look. "We should have come at night."

Curtis shook his head. "Don't be stupid."

"Don't call me stupid."

Rachel slipped away from her cousin. She slipped her arm through Ruth's and whispered in her ear. "Let's get out of here before those two get into an even bigger pissing match."

Ruth giggled. "I agree."

The two friends walked out of the barn with Ben and Curtis bringing up the rear. The sun was bright as they exited the barn. Rachel breathed in clean air before she sneezed again.

"Gah, I'm going to be sneezing all day now."

Ruth laughed as she picked her way through the knee high grass that surrounded the barn where it sat in the middle of nowhere. "Come on. Let's go to town and eat. I'm starving."

Rachel turned and shouted at her brother and his friend. "Are you two coming? Ruth and I are hungry."

Ben grumbled something. Curtis shoved him lightly. "Yeah we're coming."