Spooky Story
When Helen refurbished an old piece of furniture, it came with an unexpected addition
think we can make this liveable,’ my partner, Tom, assured me.
‘Sure we can,’ I said, gazing at the rundown, old, Edwardian, weatherboard house we’d just rented.
It was 1981, and there were none of the hard and fast rules about not making changes to properties, especially one as old as this.
If anything, home improvements were welcomed by the landlord.
The backyard was in a particularly sad state, with the remains of a chook run and some rubbish that needed clearing up.
‘Look, there’s an old daybed out there!’ I exclaimed. ‘I think that will clean up pretty well and t into the kids’ room – so handy when they have friends to sleep over.’
‘Good idea,’ said Tom.
So, we sanded it off, painted the frame, bought a new mattress and put it into their bedroom.
The house had a long hallway leading down to the back, with the children’s bedroom on one side and ours on the other.
‘I wonder who lived here before us,’ I said to Tom.
‘The owner told me an old man and woman shared the house,’ he replied.
‘Each had their own side, divided by the hallway. One died, and the other one went into an old people’s home.’
One night, I got up to go to the loo. I could see past the open door into the kids’ bedroom.
To my shock, there on the daybed, surrounded by a circle of light, sat an old man, wearing an old-fashioned grey hat and a check dressing gown.
Stunned, I didn’t say anything to Tom or my kids as I didn’t want to alarm them.
Plus, he didn’t seem like a sinister spirit!
We were in that house for two years. The kids had birthday parties and their friends stayed over, sleeping on the daybed. And nobody ever said anything about seeing a ghost.
But, as we were packing up to move house, I turned to Tom.
‘I want to tell you about something I saw one night,’ I said, revealing how I’d seen the old man
on the daybed.
‘You saw him too? An elderly man in a check dressing gown and an old-fashioned grey hat?’ he said. ‘He put his hand on my shoulder!’ Tom added.
‘Yes, that’s exactly right! Why didn’t you say anything?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t want to scare you,’ he replied. ‘And I also found out something else from the landlord.’ ‘What?’ I asked.
‘The kids’ room is where the old man lived. And that daybed we found in the backyard – that’s where he was found dead,’ Tom said.
My hand ew to my mouth. I couldn’t believe we’d cleaned it up and put it in the kids’ bedroom!
I couldn’t give Tom a serve, though – after all, I hadn’t said anything either!
When the kids were older, I told them about the ‘guest’ in their room, but luckily they weren’t freaked out.
Clearly, the old man was still very attached to the place where he’d died. I just hope he’s moved on now. ●
To my shock, on the daybed, surrounded by a circle of light, sat an old man