SHADOW OF UNDISCLOSED DOUBT

It was the night before the beginning of the latest nightmare attempt. Claire did her usual turning in by turning the lights down low, grabbing a small wine glass to relax, while sipping on her favorite wine. She began to feel a bit light headed and decided to go to bed. Walking into her room, what appears to be a shadow on the wall briefly and disappears suddenly. So, she shrugs it off as a little bit too much wine. Into bed and enjoy a good night’s sleep is the agenda for the late night. The next morning was an easy task to make a delicious breakfast and sit beside the fireplace before starting the day. She happens to think about the strange occurrences because this is not the first time it happened. A thought crosses her mind of maybe getting a dog may provide the needed company she longs for.

Early Afternoon

The day is spent shopping for the perfect dog full of life, but not to small to drive her crazy. She had a desire for larger dogs and at the last stop, a 3-month-old Great Pyrenees was sitting in a cage with a smile on his face. His fluffy body gave the appearance of a small teddy bear. He places his paw on the cage as if to say ‘Hi.” His name is Leo and the golden brown with tips of black on his fur made him too adorable to pass up. After purchase, the two walked away happily as if they both had been released in a sweet store full of goodies.

On the way home, Claire stops at the Pet Store to purchase a doggie dish, food, and a training mat. Off to his new home. When the pair arrived at the door entrance, Leo stopped and refuses to enter into his new home leaving questions as to why won’t Leo cross the threshold and what is going on with this fury animal? She opened the doggie food bag and tossed several pieces inside on the floor. Leo glanced up at his new friend and stood there without moving. Now, Claire was beginning to really get scared that something serious may be wrong with her new puppy. A demand to go get the food finally worked and they entered the beautiful cottage-style home. Playing in the back yard was a favorite pass-time and helped Claire to feel a need of providing assistance, which gave a sense of having a responsibility she dearly missed.

Night Fall

A glimpse of a dark small shadow flashed across the bedroom wall and this time Claire knew it wasn’t her imagination, but wondered what it was and how did this begin? The history of this home needs to be investigated in hopes of revealing the constant appearance of a shadow, especially at night. So, the next several days was spent on researching on her computer and paying a visit to the achieves at the local Historical Center. The Historical Center contained all of the previous owners to match these beautiful homes left for new owners. There seem to be several pages missing, so the research extends over to the Library once the date the home was built is revealed.

Claire: Thought to herself, “this is going to be harder than I suspected, so the extended search begins another journey in my life. I must find out exactly what is going on in the home I plan to spend the rest of my life with Leo.”

Claire decides to drive home because she didn’t want to be away from Leo too long. On the way home, she listens to the news on the radio and an announcement charmed in about a first-time event taking place on Friday downtown and she believes her mystery solver may be there in someone’s mind or the whereabouts of the missing information. What luck as musical tunes dances within her head on the rest of the drive home.

Homestead

Leo greets her at the front entrance as she walks inside.

Leo: “Bark, bark” out of gladness and a way of speaking to Claire.

Claire: “Leo, I am so glad to see you! How is my new friend doing today? Were you a good doggie while I was away?”

Leo: let out a slight “whine” as to answer.

Claire heads to the kitchen to check the bowls for food and water as Leo follow closely behind her wagging his tail. She fills the water bowl and open the back door to allow Leo to go out for a little while. She grabs a banana and decides to join him outback. The patio is a cozy place to relax shortly. Leo hurries out to his favorite area for release, then returns to the patio to investigate the food he smells. He sits for a minute or two and lay down to enjoy the evening air.

Thirty Minutes Later:

Claire and Leo enter the door to go in to chill some more before bedtime. Claire runs hot water to take a bubble bath and prepares clothing to sleep in. This maybe an early night after a good movie. After a relaxing shower, when Claire enters the living room, Leo is waiting to watch a movie as well. The movie is exciting with action. Two hours later, Claire noticed that Leo had left the room several times but thought nothing of it because dogs wanders into different areas. Upon waking into the bedroom, she is distracted by Leo staring at the as if he was listening to someone talking to him. His undivided attention was in one place and he didn’t hear her enter the room. She steps slowly into the room to try and find out what exactly is going on with Leo.

Claire: “Leo,” she asked, “are you in a trance?”

Leo: Let out a small “whine” as if to worry about something.

Claire is surprised by a shadow flash on the wall again. This time, she is going to remain awake with her camera just in case a moment of photo taking is possible. The moment of truth never happened, so she drifted off to sleep.

Friday Event

Today is a good day for finding out what is causing the shadow on the wall to quickly appear and disappear. Conducting a thorough investigation may reveal somethings unexpected but is a must to know. Claire decides to ramble through books on the bookshelf, drawers, and cabinets in search of finding anything that will lead to solving a scary mystery. A shadow appears on the wall at the same time each appearance and seeing it is unsettling for a normal person as Claire. After taking a shower and getting dressed, a decision to head back to town comes into play so everyone can be reviewed before the crowd takes over. Arriving and taking a fold-up chair to place in a spot whereas everyone is seen is the appropriate action to take. She sits in the chair and cross her leg to get more comfortable. No one looks mysterious thus far but there is someone who knows exactly what has happened in that house with the shadow. The day come and gone with nothing happening out of the ordinary. Claire decides to head home after browsing a booth where old books are placed for sale. The owner was not present. Claire has a big interest in the owner of this booth and decides to wait.

Finally, the owner appeared, but is a petite very young-looking female. Claire thought quietly, “well, she may be a bit too young to answer any questions I may have.” She decided to try a few to find out if this young lady may have been told of any mysteries from her elders concerning the home in which Claire resides. After introducing herself and disclosing where she lives, a few questions were asked, but to her surprise the young female seem to have a small story to tell, while pointing to a particular book on the table. There’s a mystery that was never resolved and people tend to have forgotten through the years as the elders began to become deceased and the younger generation moved to this town. The story shared is in reference to the appearance of a shadow on the wall. Most people told the story as a peculiar, shaped tree close to the window forms the shadow on the wall, while some of the elders believed that something else happened inside the house.

Claire purchased a book called, Shad-ow with wonder of what information this book contained. When arriving back home to greet Leo, he was waiting at the front door outside wagging his tail. Claire thought out loud, “I know I didn’t lock Leo outside when I left. I saw him inside the door looking at me. My mind is not playing tricks on me. Shaking her head, a couple of time to remove the thought as her hand places the key into the lock to enter the house. A glass of wine is in order and reading this book will relax the moment and then to sleep. Claire opens the book and begin to read. This wasn’t a large noble, just a 100-page short story type book. There was no way in knowing whether the small book was fiction or nonfiction. Three chapters are read before drifting off to sleep.

The next morning is going to be a chill day to complete as much as the book and find out if anything is important inside through the word’s captivation of the focal mind. The book seems to be very interesting with a tale of a house, which describes a small family living with a slight dysfunction of two daughters born with a rare disorder. One disliked the mother and the other one disliked the father. The mother refused to allow her daughters to be sent to a home and be far away from the family. One daughter eventually kills the mother. The father grew scared of the daughters but died from total exhaustion due to lack of sleep.

The daughters were placed in a home under security to avoid escaping. Before dying, the father wrote this book after the mother was murdered. The authorities were told the mother died from natural causes to keep his daughter out of prison. The father buried his wife next to the window outside where the shadow appears. To keep animals from digging in that spot, he planted a small tree in the center and rose bushes all around the tree. He pruned and kept the roses looking beautiful. By the time Claire gets to the end of the book, she realizes what has happened and why the shadow appears on the wall at the same time. The author writes at the very end of the book, my wife had a beautiful soul with a loving heart. She wishes to cause no harm. Whoever gets this home and the opportunity to read the book. Please don’t ever destroy the tree and roses that shine through the window at the same time during every appearance. The shadow always gave me a comfort of joy as a remembrance of my wife.

Claire rushes in the other room to search the bookshelf and find the book written by the father. There it was, SHAD-OW. The book is dated 40 years before and the house had been maintained by an unknown person for years after it became vacant, then mysteriously was placed on the market for sale. Now, that Claire knows the truth behind the shadow on the wall, it doesn’t seem to as scary as before and Leo is not in danger. Claire decides to research the sisters name based on the author’s name on the book. His real name was used, which is a good thing for research purposes. The two sisters were found in another state home and they both died five years apart from each other. Claire wonders who have been taking care of the home all of these years but is happy to have solved the shadow on the wall mystery. That explains why Leo was so friendly with the shadow. Now to figure out how Leo got outside the other day!

THE END