Walker House Mystery (part 2)

Leslie peered into the dark building, but couldn’t see anything. Remembering her flashlight, she rushed to the car; pulled the light out and returned to the porch. She stood at the threshold and shown the light into the darkened house.

The beam illuminated dust specks floating in the air and a few cobwebs as she swept the beam across the open room. Just then, a rat ran from the old house, through the doorway and almost collided with her leg.

She yelped in surprise, but the animal was gone. "Probably heading to one of the old barns," she thought. But she was shaken; her heart beat wildly.

She stood in the doorway and heard nothing except for the wind in the trees behind her. She continued to shine her light into the house, illuminating its contents.

It was if someone still lived there. The furniture was in place, dishes in the curio and rugs were on the floor. She stepped into the house. Everything was covered in a heavy layer of dust, but the house seemed frozen in time.

She stood in an open entry way, stairs went up the left side wall. To her right was a small parlor with a fabric covered loveseat, a velvet side chair, a couple of spindly looking tables and a radio. Just beyond the entry was the living room with a large sofa and side chair clustered in front of an ancient TV. The coffee table still had an ashtray filled with cigarette butts on it.

The living room opened into what would have been the dining room. "This is obviously a remodel" she thought. She knew the original house would have had separate rooms for each purpose. The curio stood in the dining room with fine porcelain plates ready to grace a Thanksgiving table.

She began to change her mind about the old house. It seemed somewhat inviting. She stood imagining what it would look like cleaned up with modern furniture when she was startled by a sound. She jumped and turned to look back at the front door which had slammed shut.

"Must be the wind," she said aloud. "And now I’m talking to myself."

Feeling a little foolish, she went back to the door which was stuck tight. She pulled the knob for several minutes, but pulling with all her might, she couldn’t get the door to open. She reached for her phone, but realized that she left it in the car when she got the flashlight. She stood there wondering what to do, when the door finally creaked back open on its own.

Visibly shaken, she went back to her car. The old house would have to wait until daylight for further inspection.

(cont)