Chapter 3 Crying Curtains
My Grandmother's house was one of those that sat off the road in the country side just beyond a small farming community South of my birthplace in rural Ohio. She was my Dads' mother who had several children as well as grandchildren. The car ride to Grandmas house seemed to take longer than it actually is now that I have driven the route myself. My family and I would get together with whichever relatives lived close enough to visit easily. You could see across the corn fields for what seemed like miles after each harvest. The houses were few and far between. I couldn't see Grandmas house until we turned onto her road and got within shouting distance.
Come to think of it I was such a little guy back then that it would have helped if I didn't get told to sit back in the seat so often by Dad or I could have seen her house sooner. I would stand up in the back floor of our car and stand on my tiptoes to see ahead of us. This was back before the seatbelts and laws we have now of course. We would turn off the road onto the dirt paths made by cars before us and probably by the horse drawn buggies before Grandma. The horror movies must have had her house in mind for some of them because just seeing it from the car was down right spooky. The two story house had windows all the way around on both levels. White paint chipped off in places. The metal rods on the roof rusted from the weather seemed like warnings rather than for use against lighting strikes. The house was the kind you would drive up to then suddenly decide it was a bad idea and leave as fast as you can.
Grandma hadn’t always lived there. She lived in a few different places that I can remember. This particular house sat on a few acres. There were other buildings on the property as well including a small smoke house, a horse barn and a large barn that was falling in from any number of things. The horse barn was a close second on the spooky scale. On this visit we were going to be spending the night and this wasn’t unusual but it would be my first night in this house. We had left as it was getting dark on our previous visits. What an unexpected adventure we were in for tonight. Maybe some hide and seek or catching lighting bugs after dark. Or so I had thought.
I liked the ghost stories Dad would tell us and not much scared me as a kid. I was surprised by things but not the jump into Moms arms or the hide your eyes and scream kind of reactions. However it’s when the adults around you are frightened that gets your attention as a kid. We walked into the kitchen and Grandma was sitting at the big kitchen table smoking a cigarette as Dad walked over and gave her a hug. Mom asked her if she needed any help and began to help with the stuff that was already cooking on the stove. I could see the steam coming from the top of a large pot boiling on the gas stove. My Aunts and Uncles were setting around the table smoking as well. There was so much chatter I don’t know how they ever heard what one another were actually saying. The only specific words I heard was what the kids always seem to get told which was “you kids go on outside with the rest of them and play”. My cousins had already been told the same thing as each arrived so my sister and I did what we were told. We found my Grandpa in the back yard trying to catch a chicken.
Yes in deed he was chasing chickens but not franticly. He was methodical about it. I just had to ask “Why are you chasing the chickens?” because I had never this done before. Grandpa said” Well boy your Grandma is going to cook it for dinner. Do you know how to kill a chicken?” I should have known I had made a mistake by being curious. “No” I replied. He said “Let me show you”. When he grabbed that chicken by the neck and spun its body around until the body fell and ran around bouncing off of the different things in the yard I thought my eyes were going to pop put of my head. There was blood everywhere. Grandpa had a smile on his face and the head of that chicken in his hand. He looked at me and said “Now pick that up and take it to your Grandma for dinner”. I stood there like a statue. I watched him pick up the body and throw the head in a metal wash tub on the ground. I didn’t bother to look in the tub to see just how many more heads were in it. I didn’t eat the chicken and dumplings that were made for dinner and still don’t to this day. My sister had disappeared from sight. I took off running around to the front of the house to find her. I wasn’t successful in my efforts. I didn’t see any of my cousins outside until I noticed one of them running in through the front door as the wooden screen door slammed behind him. That sound could wake the dead. The wood frame smacking shut gets your attention quickly and it was going to get someone in trouble. Sure enough it was me. I was the last one seen coming through the door looking for whomever it was I had just followed into the house.
It was finally dark outside and I couldn’t wait to spend some time with my Grandma. Mom and my sister went upstairs and I sat down beside my Dad at the kitchen table. Grandma and Grandpa were discussing what card game to play when I heard my Mom say “Go upstairs and get you some blankets out of the bedroom and bring them down”. Reluctantly I went. I climbed the old staircase and I noticed that I could hear the echo of every step I took as if I were in a tunnel. There was no carpet on the stairs or on the wooden floors of the second floor. I could only imagine how many other kids had run up and down those stairs and that hallway. I hadn’t thought to ask which bedroom I was supposed to go to before I had started. The light switches were from the early days. The cover plates were copper in color and had two buttons of black plastic. They all seem to be higher than I could reach. I couldn’t find a light switch as I walked the hall past closed door after closed door. I finally reached a door that I could see the handle well enough to bother trying to open. I didn’t hesitate to go right in and begin my hunt for blankets. The room was surprisingly bright from what I thought was moon light through the only window of the room. Sheer curtains were hanging effortlessly on each side all the way down to the floor. I noticed those curtains right away because they were moving so slightly.
I saw a big bed with an afghan bedspread of white material and colorful flowers all over it. The vanity and dresser matched each other. They were painted white with gold trim around the edges and gold knobs. I was wondering around my Grandmas picture perfect bedroom when I began to shiver. I looked around for any blanket other than the one on the bed. I knew enough not take Grandmas blanket from her bed. Mom had kept blankets folded at the foot of her bed but there were none to be found on this bed. I heard a female from behind me begin to cry softly like it was coming from outside of the room. I thought I should find those blankets before I get into any more trouble. Now it was time to check out the closet.
Again I shivered from the chill in the room as I reached for the door handle when I saw out of the corner of my eye that the curtains were flowing into the room as if the window was open to the night air. I was even colder now and determined not to be anymore. I headed for the window and pushed away the curtains blowing in my little face. I reached above my head for the bottom of that window as the sound around me turned into that of a woman crying louder like a high wind. I realized then that the window was in fact shut. I began to push away the curtains that now showed no signs of parting. Franticly I smacked at the curtains until I made it past them and into the center of the room.
A hand touched my shoulder and I turned around in anticipation of meeting the crying woman. I quickly looked up to see my Mom looking down on me with a disappointed look on her face. The crying had stopped as well as the curtains just as suddenly as the moment I realized I wasn’t alone anymore. “Your not suppose to be in here” exclaimed my mother in whisper. “I can’t find the blankets” I replied. I asked “Did you hear the lady crying”? She put her hand on my back and hurried me out of the room as closed the door behind us. Mom led me to another door and said “Stay right here”! She went into the room and returned to the hall with a blanket and a pillow. Mom gave me a nudge to begin walking and said “This is your Grandmas room not that one and don’t go back in there again”. We walked cautiously down the steep stairs back into the kitchen and back into the bright lights of a room full of life.
Now I was back in familiar t
erritory. Mom followed me into the living room where my sister was already on the floor under her blanket for the night. I was hoping to catch lighting bugs outside instead of lying on that hard wood floor. Mom told us goodnight and returned to the lively kitchen. I wished Mom had let us watch the television until the channels went off the air because I don’t remember sleeping that night. I would have preferred to hear the static sound of the TV over the crying curtains I relived in my head until the sun came up.
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A Haunted Lifes Travels Page 3
