Poltergeists' Embrace

It was a tempest that reigned supreme as the extreme fantasma in the old house. Books flew, shoes were moved and beds were unmade. At times, a faint laugh could be heard throughout the house. 

Yet, despite all of the rumours and legends about the haunted house, Tommy and Pauline bought the house from Tommy’s mother. 

Tommy and Pauline, young and swanky thirty-year-olds, had the world by the tail when they moved into the house with their three children. The threshold had barely been breached when Granny decided to play with them. Granny was the spectre who owned the house with her husband a generation before Tommy’s father. She was an outcast with her inlaws, yet she held her head high back then. 

It was her son, Mack, who caused her the most grief. She lived with him and Frances and kept her part of the house clean. Her son never addressed her and treated her worse than a dog. When she died. Her heart was broken, and she passed with unresolved issues. 

Tommy, did you see my outfit that I hung here for work today?” Pauline asked. 

“No. Why would I know about that?”

“Because there’s only you and me in here, and I know I didn’t move it.”

“Look, after my shower, I’ll help you look for it, okay?” Tommy promised as he headed to the bathroom. “Honey, I think I found your outfit. It was hanging on the bathroom door,” Tommy said. 

“Really? I have no idea how that got there. I certainly didn’t put it there,” Pauline said. 

“Okay, maybe you thought you did, but you hung it here instead.”

Pauline bit her tongue, as she didn’t have time for a prolonged argument. She was exasperated since she bathes at night and would never have hung her work outfit there. She shook her head, got dressed and woke up the kids. 

“Good morning, kids; time to get up. Your clothes are waiting for you on the chair next to your bed. As soon as you get dressed, come downstairs for breakfast. I’ll meet you down in the kitchen.”

The kids got up and did as they were told. They made the kitchen as Tommy did. Pauline was flabbergasted and had her hands in the air. 

“Tommy, would you look at this?” 

“What the hell happened here?”

“That’s just it. I haven’t got the foggiest,” Pauline said. 

“Who would empty the cereal on the countertop like that?” Tommy asked. His glare on the three kids. 

“Is the cereal still good to eat?” the kids wanted to know.

“Oh, yes, of course it is kids. So sorry,” Pauline said.

“I’ll get the milk,” Jacqueline said. As she made her way to the refrigerator.

“Mom. Dad. The pitcher is empty in the fridge, and there are no more bags of milk left either,” Jacqueline reported. 

“What?” Tommy said. 

“Look, here it is,” Jacqueline said. 

Tommy made his way to the sink to fill the kettle with water and found the empty milk bags.

“What is going on in this house? Is someone playing a joke on us?” Tommy asked.

Well, there’s been a change of plans for breakfast. Everyone gets eggs today,” Pauline said with a smile. 

The kids were delighted. The spectre frowned as she watched the two swanky ones make breakfast work with the challenges she had placed in their path. 

When they returned from work and school, they saw what damage a demon could do in one day. 

“I found the dirt all over the couch when I went to lay down. Someone had shaken the dirty shoes together, so the dirt went all over the place, covering the couch,” Tommy told Pauline. 

“Really? Why would someone do that?” Pauline asked. “When I went upstairs, all of the beds were a mess, and the drawers had all been emptied,” Pauline told Tommy. 

”Every single drawer? That’s just mischievous behaviour now,” Tommy said. “The Christmas catalogue was ripped apart and scattered all over the place too.”

 “What if this is related to your job, Tommy?” Pauline asked. 

No, babe, it’s nothing like that,” Tommy assured her. Jesus H. Christ. I sure would like to know who is doing this to us,” Tommy said as he gritted his teeth.

“Maybe we should call the police,” Pauline said. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll call them, but let’s have a drink while we wait.”

When the police showed up, they couldn’t make heads or tails of what they saw. No matter how long they looked at the disturbed items in their home and no matter how many photos the police took, neither of the two could fathom a guess about who could have done such a thing. 

A tapestry woven together of movements combined into a poltergeist's story with Tommy and Pauline severely agitated by its presence But all they could do was clean up after it again and again. 

“Mom, I’ve been thinking,” their youngest child said, “Let’s name the ghost and include it in our daily goings-on. Maybe that will stop the bad behaviour?” 

“I like that thought. Let’s discuss it at dinner.”

Once the table was set, the family of five sat down to eat. 

“Daddy, mom and I talked about including the ghost in our lives so it wouldn’t disturb us and disrupt our lives anymore.” 

“Well, since I was a kid, there was only Granny who died in this house,” Tommy said. 

“Okay, what if we call the ghost Granny?” The girl said, “Then it’s settled. Granny it is!” 

The kids addressed Granny, saying, “Come eat breakfast with us, Granny.” And they would leave an empty seat for her at the table. “Goodnight, Granny Ghost,” they would say, making a space for her in their beds. And so it went until it didn’t. 

The tamed tempest responded with great happiness and strong emotions of love. And rather than being an adversary, she became an ally. 

Mack, Tommy’s father and Granny’s son, came back to the house as a ghost. 

“You shouldn’t be here, mother,” Mack would say. 

“Oh, so now you want to talk to me? Is that it?” Granny said. 

“Get out!” Mack said. 

“No, you get out,” Granny said. She crossed her arms and stood her ground. She no longer had fear or meekness. 

“I’ll do no such thing. Whatever you do in this house, I will undo, mother.”

“What happened to the chairs? Granny must be mad with us; she toppled over all of them when I came down for breakfast this morning, Tommy,” Pauline said. 

“I think so too,” He agreed. “The kettle became unplugged after I knew I had plugged it in,” Tommy said. 

“Mom, I found the cereal bowls overturned with cereal in them,” the only son said. 

The family pleaded with Granny: “Please, Granny, let us know what we did so we can correct it so that things will go back to normal around here,” Tommy said. 

“You know, Tommy, I’ve been thinking that maybe we should sell this place and move on,” Pauline suggested.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I am feeling the same way.”

In desperation, Granny called out to her son, “Son, where are you? I need to speak with you, please.”

“I’m right here. What do you want?” Mack asked.

“I need you to come over here and look at this,” Granny said.

“What is it?” Mack said this with a huge escape of air from his mouth.

“Right there,” Granny said.

He looked more intensely, and Granny shoved him into the closet and locked the door. 

“Let me out, mother,” Mack said. 

“Not a chance, Mack,” Granny said. 

“Please, mother, I will stay out of your way; just let me out,” Mack pleaded. 

“This closet is the only one that you cannot get out of Mack. It used to be the old chimney, so it is fully contained; even the door is impenetrable. If only you were more adept at your poltergeisting,” Granny said.

“You must’ve been figuring this out while I was busy undoing some of the things you had done in the house; can you let me out now? Please?” Mack said, trying to figure out where he had screwed up to be caught this way.

“Well, someone had to do something. You have misguided anger, and it’s disruptive to the routine of the house, son.”

“Are you going to let me out now?” 

“Why should I?”

“I won’t be disruptive anymore. Scouts, honour, can you let me out?” mother 

“We’ll see; I’ll give you another chance, but if you break your word, you can lose your spectership, son.” 

“I’ll do whatever you want me to. But you have to let me out, please.”

“Are you scared there?” 

“No. Kind of. Yes,” Mack said. 

When Granny heard that, she opened the door and embraced her son. 

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Granny whispered, and she hugged her son.