House Hunting

House Hunting

by KarLynn Erickson

A jagged bolt of bright light struck the dirt road in front of Carrie's Jeep.

She gasped and stepped hard on the brake.

Her eyes squinted to try and digest what she thought she saw in the split-second flash, but before she could focus an ear-splitting boom made her scream.

She gripped the stirring wheel and tried to slow her pounding heart.

"Was that a graveyard?" She asked herself out loud. "I don't remember a graveyard in the description of this house. There must be some mistake."

She was sure she turned on to the correct road. There was no sign, but the GPS lady told her to turn in 800 ft and her destination would be on the left. She said nothing about a graveyard being on the right.

Carrie wasn't normally skittish, but she was spending the summer alone in a new place and the storm was making her extremely jumpy. She hated thunder and lightning and now all she wanted to do was get inside!

She'd heard the thunder rumbling for about a half hour on her long car ride but hadn't seen any rain. She hoped the storm would pass before she arrived. No such luck.

The left turn took her down a short driveway and that's when the rain started to fall. The jeep came to a stop, but Carrie didn't turn off the lights. There didn't seem to be any working yard lights and she wasn't sure about the electricity with the storm passing through.

She swung open the car door and slid out. She peered behind her and in front of her and saw no ominous characters lurking in the dark. She didn't scare easily, but seeing those graves gave her a bit of goosebumps.

She flopped her hood over her head and trudged to the house. She hoped for a fireplace and a tea pot to calm her nerves and warm her chill.

There were only two small steps up to the covered porch. She remembered in the pictures the porch spanned the front of the house. It's one of the main attractions that brought her here instead of another rental.

What she could see from her flashlight the door seemed to be much more worn than the pictures had shown, and the paint looked like it was peeling off the exterior walls. The screen door creaked open and slammed behind her with a smack. The house was completely dark, so she raised her flashlight to see where the lights might be.

Another flash of lightning and a deafening snap made her jump just as she flipped the switch. Thank goodness the lights worked.

"Oh no," the gloomy sentiment quickly slipped from her lips as she looked on in utter disbelief.

The once beautiful staircase leading to the second floor had broken and missing spindles all the way up. The detailed emboss showed through the three inches of dust and grime.

The mahogany steps appeared grey instead of the shiny red she'd expected. In the middle of the room sat an oval table draped in a lace cloth. The yellowed fabric now deteriorated and decorated with what she guessed were rodent chewed holes.

What appeared to be a rose embellished tea set sat perfectly placed on a once silver service tray. The tarnished piece must have been magnificent in its day. Carrie's imagination took her to a scene where company was expected. The wife carefully laid out the tea service and cookie tray for refreshments. Why was it still there? Untouched by human hands for who knows how long?

A chair tipped on its side blocked the door to the next room. She righted the chair and found the switch to light a beautiful farmers kitchen. Cobwebs hung from the dark wood beams on the ceiling and a thick layer of dust sat atop the yellow tile counters on either side of the sunken sink.

A tall solid table stood near the sink with a mixing bowl left on it. Carrie knew that's where the wife would have kneaded her dough and mixed her batter. China plates were displayed on shelving above the counter. They had the same rose pattern as the tea set. A copper tea kettle sat on the wood cook stove. This kitchen would have been the envy of anyone who entered.

Carrie took a seat at the dining table and wondered what had happened here. How could everything be left as if the inhabitants had vanished? And how could this possibly be the rental she was going to stay in all summer?

She had plans to finish her manuscript and finally get it published. She couldn't do that here. Did she get caught up in a big scam?

There had to be some sort of mix up, but she suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. The long drive and stress of the night's events had her longing for a bed. She certainly wasn't going to find clean linens and a comfy bed in this house.

Luckily, she had brought along her camping gear and with it a blowup mattress. She could rough it for one night and head to town first thing in the morning to figure out what was going on.

She hoped the storm was nearly passed, so she could sleep in peace and not be startled awake by more thunder and lightning.

The loud smack of the screen door had Carrie sitting straight up in her bed.

Slivers of dawn shown through the tattered window coverings, and she realized it must be morning.

She struggled to stand up and get off the air mattress, once she found her footing, she looked around and shook her head again.

She packed up her jeep and pulled up to the end of the drive. She looked right and then she looked left and had a thought. She turned left and drove down the dirt road. It didn't take long for the beautiful, covered porch to come into view.

At the end of the drive stood a cute wooden sign with the words "Welcome to Morgan House" painted in beautiful script.

Carrie laughed to herself. If she couldn't find the words to finish the novel, she'd started she certainly had the makings of a new story to investigate and tell.