“The older ones aren’t too bad… What am I saying? Of course
they are. They sulk most of the time but when they make noise, it’s loud and
grating. The little ones are the worst, though.” The ghost kept up the mumbled
tirade as it paced in the attic of the old Victorian it had called home for the
last forty years.
It passed through the boxes, furniture, and studs of the
unfinished wall as it paced. Sheets rustled and dust bunnies ran in the faint
breeze it created, but otherwise its passing went unnoticed.
It had a need, a drive, to interact with the human tenants
of the house but five things were stopping it from its traditional role.
The children.
The ghost paused its pacing when footsteps raced passed the
door at the bottom of the stairs that lead to its sanctuary. The children
weren’t allowed in the attic alone and that rule gave the ghost a safe haven in
the otherwise terrifying house.
The sound of glass breaking and screaming filtered up from
the upstairs study. The ghost poked its head through the floor to see what the
little monsters had done now.
A tall floor lamp was laying on its side on the floor, its
antique glass shade was splayed around it in a rainbow of shards. The two
middle children were screaming at each other, deciding who deserved the blame
for the latest mishap. The ghost jerked its head back into the attic when the
youngest child toddled into the room. The two-year-old had a way of staring at
the ghost that was unnerving and it avoided the smallest human whenever
possible.
The ghost resumed its pacing, trying to figure out how it
could go back to its haunting ways while avoiding the children.
It didn’t notice the tiny footsteps on the stairs until it
was too late.
The tiny, redheaded toddler stood at the top of the stairs
with a blanket draped over her shoulder and jelly smeared across her face. She
stared at the ghost.
If it still had skin, it would’ve jumped out of it. The
ghost froze, unsure what to do. After a minute that felt like an eternity of
being stared at by the child, the ghost frowned. “Can you actually see me?” the
ghost asked before slowly shifting to the right. The child’s eyes followed the
ghost’s movement. The ghost glided behind the toddler, hovering over the
stairs.
The girl turned around, her eyes never leaving the ghost.
It shuddered, fully creeped out by the small human. It raced
away from the girl and hid behind a tall stack of boxes in a corner of the
attic.
It waited, hoping the child would leave the attic and it in peace. The sound of something scuffing against the dusty floor had the ghost turning around.
The toddler had found it.
“Stay away from me!” The ghost yelled before dropping
through three floors to the basement. It crouched in a dark corner, trying to
recover from its encounter with the little girl.
It froze when it heard the sound of tiny feet stomping down
the wooden stairs. “No…” It turned.
The small human was silhouetted in the doorway.
