Up On The Housetop (SCC2016)

Nell peeked out of her front door window. The white glow of the sun polished snow outside caused her to cringe away and cover her eyes. Though she saw nothing, she couldn't brush off the feeling that someone was there. That damned sound just would not stop!

She made her way back to her recliner where she had been working on a crossword and slowly sat back down. After the second round of clicks she heard coming from her celling she had paused and listened a little more closely. She mentally listed the possible reasons behind the sound: it's snowing, it's windy, this house was old and old houses tend to go bump in the night. But this clicking sound was new and what really got her attention was how it seemed to occur in sets of three.

Click Click Click.

It was as if something, someone, was walking up there! And although Nell was not the type to scare easily, this particular sound made the hairs on the back of her neck stand tall and chills run up her spine. She waited, unmoving, for the sound to come again and, like clockwork, it did.

Click Click Click

She bolted to her feet and shouted to the empty room. "There it is again! Did you hear it?" She looked around frantically as if someone was there to answer her but there was no one. Only a glass dolly she had owned since early childhood. The dolly had once been able to laugh and cry but over the years it no longer did anything but sit there and bring back long forgotten memories.

Nell chuckled to herself as the dolly stared ahead, unmoving and quiet. She then realised how insanely overdramatic she was acting. Surely the sound had a reasonable explanation behind it; a tree knocking against the house in the wind.

With a sigh, she relaxed back into her chair, grabbed her crosswords and started focusing on those again, pushing the creepy thoughts aside. It was getting late. But as she began to sink into the comfort of her chair, eyes drooping, a different sound occurred. Instead of the set of clicks it was now a set of three taps followed by a peal of childlike laughter and then her name. Nell's name.

Her breathing became shallow and quicker and her heart beat began to pump faster than it ever had. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately found the dolly, still sitting where it had been. But there was something different about her. Her head was now facing Nell's direction. Her smile was much more......sinister. And it seemed to be growing wider as Nell stared in horror. She couldn't move. Her heart felt as if it were going to burst from her chest.

"NELL!....NEELLLLL!....NEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL"

TapTapTapTapTapTapTapTapTap

The sounds were not coming from the dolly though. They were coming from her front door.

She found herself bolting towards it in hopes of catching a glimpse of the person who had been screwing with her before they hid again. She reached for the doorknob and yanked on it to no avail. She looked down in confusion and found that it was locked not from the inside but from the outside. She continued to twist the knob, pulling at it as hard as she could. With her other hand she began pounding vigorously on the door. Screaming as loud as she could as if she had lost all control.

"Let me out," she screamed, tears began following down her cheeks. "Now! You can't keep me here like this!"

Just then a figure stepped into her view and she stopped cold. It was an older male and she couldn't help the but think she knew him from somewhere. She slowly backed away from the door.

"Nell," he said slowly, comfortingly. "Nell. It's me. It's Nick."

He smiled gently at her and she felt the overwhelming sense of fear slowly being replaced with one of comfort and she began to relax a bit.

Confusion rolled over her as she recalled the last five years. She took a look around her room. The walls were white. The dolly. She was gone. Nell's chair was replaced with a barren bed. Shackles attached to the four posts. She looked down at herself and noticed the straight jacket. She looked back up at the man.

"Nick? Saint Nick?"

He chuckled. "Yes, Nell, old Saint Nick." He lifted a small plastic cup into view and shook it, making a rattling sound. "Time for these again, hun. Are you going to let me in this time?"

She took a few more steps away from the door and slowly shook her head.

"Yes," she said slowly, glancing around one more time for her dolly. "I guess i should."

a reply to: PageLC14

Great story s/f

a reply to: Jdennis10

Thank you!!

a reply to: PageLC14

You are welcome!

a reply to: PageLC14

LOVED IT Page!
Well Done You.


G

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. I thought it was a pretty good twist on the theme.

a reply to: PageLC14

Nice Job on this Page!!! Very well done indeed!! Syx...

a reply to: SyxPak

Ty Ty! I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty darn proud of myself.

Good job Hun!

a reply to: PageLC14

Awesome! Good work!

a reply to: PageLC14

LOL I hear Ya there!
I felt the same way when I entered My first Real Story piece, for The Shed.
Makes Ya feel right with the World when they,
(Stories/Poems),
come out the way You had intended!

Good Job there pages

I enjoy your story

Oh, well done Page. Good pacing and tone - really enjoyed this.