Footsteps in the Attic

I was glancing through our local newspaper on a beautiful spring morning when I saw a for sale ad of a Victorian syle home in Blueberry Hills, Illinois. The house had four bedrooms, two baths, a modern kitchen and a wall to wall library. There were other amenities that were inclluded in the advertisement, but they were not of real importance to me.

I told my husband Jim about it when he came home from work that night and he agreed that we should go see the house. I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and living in a cramped two bedroom apartment in downtown Chicago and we had both worked hard to save our money to buy the house of our dreams. So the timing could not have been better. I called the number posted in the paper and set up an appointment with the realtor to look at the house that following Saturday. We fell in love with the house and made an offer which was immediately accepted by the realtor.

The realtor explained that the house had been vacant for over five years and for some reason had been abadoned by its previous owner. So the house had also come furnished.  "You are free to do anything you want with the furnishings or we can help you find a carting service to help you dispose of anything you don't want" said the perky young realtor. "

That is not a problem for us", I replied. "We hardly have enough furniture to fill just on of those bedrooms".

Jim and I were ready to move in that July. From the first day. I knew that we would stay there for the rest of our lives, and we would fill each of those rooms with the sound of little footsteps running through the house.

We had been in the house for about three months when I awoke from a sound sleep to hear the sound of footsteps above me. I turned my head toward the sleeping figure of Jim beside me, lightly snoring.  I knew that the house was quite old, with a lot of the wood rotting, and we would always here the sqeaking of the steps when either of us walked around the house. But this sound was very different.

"Jim," I said, wake up, wake up, I think there is somebody up in the attic."

Jim looked with groggy eyes, looked at me, and shook his head as if to say I was crazy and I should go back to sleep. So I reluctantly went back to sleep and forgot about the noises above me.

I was a perfectionist, almost to the point of being obsessive. Everything had its place, and its place for everything. So it won't surprise you when I decided to go up to the attic and explore what was up there. I gingerly walked up the seven steps that lead to the attic on the second floor. As I opened the door, which was hard to open from its non usage, I was surprised to see a large wood floor, and a room sparsely furnished with some childrens furniture, toys, and a white rocking chair. There was a yellow cushion on the rocking chair with little cartoon figures included. The cushion had a human indent where a mother would naturally sit and rock back and forth with a baby in her arms. The room was spotless. 

The window was slightly ajar, so I went over and closed it, I thought to myself that the noise that I heard the previous night was just the wind, pushing the rocking chair into a forward motion. That had to be what I heard last night. There was no other possible explanation.

I turned around to leave the room and close the door when I suddenly noticed some footprints on the floor, from dust that has been accumulating on the floor from years of unuse. I immediately went down the stairs, retrieved a mop, a pail of hot soapy water and proceeded up the stairs again into the attic. I scrubbed the floor until there was no more dust and the footprints had disappeared.

I thought I had solved my mystery and everything was copacetic from that time on. My nights were filled with sweet dreams and I heard no further disturbances from the attic.

Jim and I were preparing for the barbie's birth when I remembered the attic and the furniture I had seen. I said, "we don't have to buy any furniture for this baby. the attic has all the furniture that we need.

My parents had bought us a crib with yellow and white sheets (my favorie color) and Jim's parents had given us a bassinet, so we set up the baby's room right next to ours. We planned to keep the door open, so that if the baby woke in the middle of the night one of us would hear her and we would be able to take care of her right away.

A week before I was to deliver, I woke in the middle of the night to hear those footsteps that came from above us in the attic, Footsteps, that walked back and forth; as if someone was pacing the floor, unable to sleep.

I was again startled. We had cleaned out the attic and all the items were now in the bedroom next to ours. This time i decided not to wake my husband and proceeded to explore the attic again. I wasn't so sure if I had lost my mind, as much as the fact that I was overwhelmed with curiosity.

This time when I opened the door to the attic, it opened easily. I walked in and was blinded by a very bright light and the scent of a flowery perfume in the air. The window that I had closed just a few months before was open again.

I was so overcome by fear that I found myself unable to move. That is when I heard the sound of a young voice calling out my name.  I looked beyond the light, found my voice and asked "who is in here and what do you want"? "Please don't hurt me", "I am about to have my first child, and I need to be there for her".

From the light, came a soft laugh and a voice that answered "you must fear no harm from me". "I am your angel", the one who has been standing over you since you took your first breath". I am the angel who planted your dream of this fine home that you dwell in now", "I planted all the dreams that you had while growing up, including you husband Jim". "Everything that has been a force in your life has been fullfilled in your life has been brought to bear by me".

"It is now time for me to leave your soul and become an angel for your firstborn".  "You will name your child Nadine". That name stands fore hope and stregth, which she will have in her life". And just as I was for you", I will remain with her until she bears her firstborn". The cycle will always continue".

The tears ran down my cheeks as she spoke and I listened to her with lhe deepest love in my heart. I was sorry that she would no longer be my angel.

"You will not remember this conversation when you awake, but you will always know that I was with you, looking over your shoulder".

I left the attic and returned to my bedroom with a healing heart. 

A week later I gave birth to a healthy girl, weighing seven pounds exactly (that was my birth weight). She was my perfect little angel.

"By the way", my husband asked", what are we to name her"?

"Nadine" I said. "The name means hope and strength".