Valerie was very excited. Finally, she would have a room to herself. ‘What a bother it is! To always share with my younger brother!’ she thought. Her father had just been transferred to a new city and the family had chosen a roomy and pretty house to move into. Valerie’s mother was especially happy that the house had four rooms, which meant everyone would get a room, leaving one for a guest, too. Also, the house was enclosed by a lush green garden, which would be an ideal play area for the children. As soon as they moved into the house, Valerie started exploring it. She went around opening each room and peeking in. Finally, when she stood outside the door of her bedroom, she heard the yap of a dog. She entered the room and opened the window that looked onto the garden. However, there was no sign of any dog.
The Smell of Smoke
Valerie was sure she had heard a dog barking. It could not have just been her imagination. Suddenly, she heard the same sound from the hall. Valerie rushed to the hall hoping to catch a glimpse of the dog she had just heard. When again, she reached the hall she found no dog there! Thoughts of a ghost dog started haunting her but she did not mention it to anyone. In the evening, her father opened the garage of the house to clean it. He could sense smoke in the still musty air. ‘Strange,’ he thought, ‘I think this house has been lying unoccupied for years. So, obviously nobody would have been using the garage.’ He left the garage and was walking towards the house, when he heard the sound of someone coughing. He looked around but could not find anyone. ‘Definitely, a man had coughed!’ he thought.
The Threatening Voice
Just as Valerie’s father was wondering who had coughed around the garage, her mother was hanging the clothes in the cupboard in her bedroom. She hummed a happy tune, as she lay her clothes one by one. Suddenly, she froze. Someone spoke aloud. “How dare you touch my cupboard? You have no right to use it. It belongs to me,” the voice said. Petrified by the sound, Valerie’s mother turned around slowly, but was in for another shock. There was no one around. So, she resumed her work, but a few minutes later the voice spoke again. It was very unpleasant and had a warning tone to it. Not able to take it anymore, she quickly locked the cupboard and rushed to the hall to look for her family. Valerie was already in the hall and was animatedly talking to her father. They were both troubled. Valerie’s father kept pointing towards the garage.
The Missing Son
Valerie’s mother realised that they had had some eerie experiences in the house and were sharing them. So, she told them about what she had just heard. Shocked the family realised all was not right with their new house. “Oh no, where is our son?” cried out Valerie’s mother. The family quickly started looking for him. They searched the entire house but could not find him anywhere. “Maybe he is somewhere in the garden!” suggested Valerie, and the three of them dashed to the garden. They could hear a loud laughter. At a corner, they saw him running around and frolicking. Relieved, the mother asked, “Why are you laughing so much?” “It’s so much fun here. Look at all these swings here,” he said. The family looked around in horrified silence. There was not a single swing in the garden. Without wasting a moment, the family packed up and left the haunted house.
