The next day I got up late. All the cleaning I’d done the previous day had taken a toll on me.

Groaning, I went about my morning jobs, and walking into the kitchen with a hand on my back, like an old woman would.

“Why is my sixteen year old daughter walking like she’s a hundred and sixteen?” Dad perked an amused eyebrow at me.

“Because she literally feels like she’s hundred and sixteen. I aged a hundred years, cleaning that house yesterday.” I complained, flopping down in the chair and digging into my breakfast.

“Hey Charles! You’re late today!” Tracy said as she opened up the door for me. I checked my watch, and it was almost eleven thirty.

“Sorry, Trace. I was really tired,” I moaned.

A worried expression crossed her face.

“You aren’t going to leave are you?”

I smiled at her innocence. “No, silly! I’m not leaving so soon!” I grinned.

“Oh okay. Jack’s already made me breakfast though, so you can just get on with your stuff if you have something to do.”

“Where is that idiot?” I asked her, remembering to admonish him for leaving her alone yesterday.

“He’s not an idiot!” she argued, frowning. “And he’s on the couch.”

I strode into the living room, a woman on a mission.

Jack Gardiner was relaxing on the couch, his legs hanging over the edge, too long to fit in.

“Oh hey,” he smiled at me, an uneven crowding of his teeth showing.

“Hey yourself, you moron!” I walked up to him, pulling him up by his collar.

“WHOA WHOA!” He scrambled, trying to stand up with me still holding his collar. “Do you want to do this so early in our… friendship?” He asked, a playful glint in his eye.

I realized what he was saying, but stopped myself from reddening just in time.

“How dare you leave Tracy alone home at night?!” I yelled at him. “Are you crazy!? Anything could’ve happened!”

His eyes immediately cast down, looking at my hand that was on his collar. I let him go.

“Stop doing such dumb things, Jack. Take at least some responsibility. You are, after all, the eldest, or so you think.”

And with that, I strode back out of the room, making my way over to the storeroom for the last leg of clearing up.

I switched on the lights and walked into the small room where Mrs. Gardiner kept old or less- used items. Reaching behind the door, I searched for the apron that I’d hung up yesterday.

Except, it wasn’t there.

“Trace?” I called out. “Have you seen my apron?”

“No!” she yelled from back down the corridor.

Well that’s weird.

“Maybe the ghosts yesterday took it!” she yelled again, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“There aren’t any ghosts in this house, babe!” I yelled back at her.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the lights in the storeroom went out, and the door shut with a bang that resounded in the small space.

Or maybe there are?

Holy shit, could there actually be ghosts in the Gardiners’ house?

No, no, no, no! There’s NO WAY there could be ghosts in this house. Have you seen the inhabitants?! They’re likely to scare away even zombies. No ghost would dare stay here.

Who closed the storeroom door then? I thought.

The wind?

Right, because a draft of wind was so likely to hit the storeroom door which happens to be indoors and at the end of the corridor.

Maybe I should stop talking to myself and go try to open the door.

Shaking my head clear of dumb thoughts, I went over to the door, feeling my way against the wall.

Finally I reached it, and my hand touched the cold metal of the doorknob. I twisted it in relief.

Nothing.

I tried it again. Still nothing.

I’d just got locked into The Gardiners’ storeroom by no one.

And now, I could feel a hand on my shoulder.

Holy shit there was a hand on my shoulder!

I tried not to thrash around, knowing I’d just knock the things off their cabinets if I did that. I stood very still as the hand moved down my back, front toward my stomach.

Then, it started tickling me.

Have you ever been tickled by an expert tickler? Someone who knows exactly where your weak spot is, and has the exact touch that makes you scream and shout.

In the tickling way, of course. Not the dirty way, you know.

And when they tickle you, you just can’t help but thrash around and laugh? That was exactly what was happening right now.

As I thrashed and laughed and begged The Tickler to stop, the door flew open.

Instantly, the lights came back on, and I found myself standing in the storeroom, laughing manically, surrounded by old things that had fallen off the shelves as I’d thrashed around.

And in the doorway stood Tracy and Jack Gardiner, wide eyed.

“What on earth were you doing?” Jack frowned, looking at the mess.

“Um.” I cast an eye around the room and realized I actually had more clearing up to do now.

“You were laughing,” Tracy helped, the same quizzical frown on her face.

“Um,” was my elaborate reply- again.

Jack and Tracy kept staring. This was getting beyond awkward.

“I uh… I fell,” I finally said, not being able to come up with anything else. “Yeah! I fell from the stool when I was standing on it, and I brought down the whole shelf with me!”

“And you laughed?” Jack looked at me like I was the craziest woman on the planet.

“Well it was so funny! Hahahah! Fancy me falling off a stool! I mean come on, what’s funnier than that?!” I grinned and fake laughed.

“The fact that you’re laughing about it. That’s fucking hilarious,” Jack said with a deadpan expression that said he was anything but amused. He walked off, but Tracy stayed on, still looking at me with a weird look.

“You’re sure you’re okay, right?” she asked.

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, just a clumsy moment.”

“Oh okay. Call me if you need anything,” she returned the smile and slowly walked off, leaving me alone.

An eight year old just told me to call her if I needed anything.

This day was getting so, so awkward.

With one last shudder, I turned to start clearing up the mess I’d made, still feeling a creepy presence around me but choosing to ignore it.

I wanted to finish up early that day, not wanting to spend too much time in the house, because I felt a presence wherever I was going.

Did Tracy really mean it when she said there were ghosts in the house or was she just kidding around and it was just me?

I decided to talk to Mom and Dad about it when I got home. They’d been living next to the Gardiners before I was born, they’d know if there were any such rumors about the house.

That night at dinner, I posed a very mild question to Dad.

As mild as a question about ghosts in the next door neighbor’s house can get, of course.

Dad quirked an eyebrow.

“Why would you want to know?” he asked.

“So there have been some rumors before!” my eyes widened.

Mum and Dad shared a look before Mum sighed and nodded.

“There was something about Mrs. Gardiner- Neil’s mother- dying in that house a few months after her husband died. She was unhappy and pined to be with him. She died at a very young age, and no one could really figure out why. Most said it was because she couldn’t live without the elder Mr. Gardiner. But she died an unsatisfied woman, because she always wanted to see Neil happily married and settled down and didn’t get the chance to see that,” Mum said.

“When did this happen?” I asked, intrigued.

“I think when Neil had just passed out of college. He must’ve been about 23?” Dad said. He ought to have known, Neil and Mr. Gardiner had met in college and had been fast friends since then. And maybe Mom pretended to be perpetually annoyed with Mrs. Gardiner for letting Bruno loose, but one just had to watch them bond over the latest cooking recipes to realize they too, got along pretty well.

“He used to always say how happy his Mum would’ve been if she got to see Ellen. She’d have loved Ellen,” Mum smiled.

“Ellen, in some ways, is so much like Mrs. Gardiner. Ball of energy and happiness,” Dad laughed. “But she never got a chance to see all of it.”

“So the rumors are that, though passive, her spirit still lies in the house. But most people don’t believe that. There’s never been any signs of ghost residency in the place,” Mum said.

Really? Tell that to Mr. I Love To Tickle.

“I don’t believe the rumors too. I mean, sure one could think she may have stuck around to see Neil get married and live on and stuff if you believe in things like that, but not this long! It’s been almost eighteen years they’ve been living happily. She’s sure to have faded out by now, if she ever did stay back in the first place,” Dad said.

I didn’t know what to make of it all.

Could Mrs. Gardiner possibly be the one who had tickled me? Could there actually be ghosts in the Gardiners’ house, then?

My mind pondered all the possibilities as I lay on my bed that night, unable to sleep.

Pssst.

I turned my head slowly to the window, where the sound came from, a small chill running down my back.

“Psssssst!” someone said again.

Holy Bananas. Holy bananas there was someone at the window. THERE WAS SOMEONE AT MY WINDOW!

Oops, did I leave you guys with a cliffhanger there? xD

Feedbacks appreciated! This is my first paranormal-ish book :)