BOO!!!

It was the eve of Halloween, I was sitting with one of my elders on a home healthcare assignment. Her name
was Mrs. Petrie, a kind, sweet but an unusual old woman who had a bad heart and was confined to a
wheelchair because she was paralyzed from her waist down. She was quite wealthy and was willing to trade
all that she had to be healthy and to be able to walk again. Nothing is more valuable than your health, she
would say. She lived in a beautiful aged 18-century-styled manor that had been in her family for generations.
Many had lived and died there, as the souls still roamed the spectacular premises I was told, but fortunately I
wasn't spooked by her ghastly presage.
She was one of my evening patients and when the day-sitter left for the day, I would sit with her for
several hours until her son arrived home around 9:00pm. It started to rain a heavy downpour then a
thunderstorm emerged and Mrs. Petrie became frightened by the lightning and refuse to get into bed.
Instead, she rather sit by the cozy lit fireplace where it was warm and comforting in her beautiful bedroom of
vintage Edwardian dcor with Scandinavian interior. I brought up some ginger tea with her favorite
gingersnap cookies and sat the tray on the table next to her when I poured her a cup and she smiled at me.
The lightning strike and the loud thunder flickered the lighting in the room when she panicked.
It's okay Mrs. Petrie, don't be alarmed! We're just having a major thunderstorm that's all! But it should
blow over soon. I consoled.
Oh my! Would you stay here with me? Please don't leave this room and go downstairs! I would hate
for the lights to go off and you're down there stumbling in the dark all alone! It would be quite horrendous for
you! I'm just so terrified of the lightning! She beseech.
Of course I will! I'll be right here by your side! I assured her.
"Oh thank you!! You must think that I'm a panicky, delusional old woman who should be ashamed of
herself being afraid of little lightning!
Oh believe me you're not the only one Mrs. Petrie, lightning gives me the willies also! It's very dangerous
and we shouldn't take it's power lightly besides, we all fear something so don't feel ashamed! I wouldn't! I
smiled at her then walked over to the bookshelf to get the candle holder.
Oh you're so kind and I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here with me!
Suddenly a loud thunder popped frightening her as she spilled her tea down the front of her clothing in a
panic.
Oh my goodness!! She quaked trembling as she held her cup.

Here let me help you! It's okay! I hurried wiping away the spill from the front of her satin robe.
Oh thank you dear! She approved when they both noticed the flickering of the lights.
Within a blink of an eye there was no lighting in the room, only the dim lit fireplace could be seen.
Oh my God! I can't see! I can't see!! She yelled out.

It's okay Mrs. Petrie!

I'm right here! I assured quickly lighting the candle in the candle holder I held.
Oh thank God!! Thank you! It's a good thing you had that candle holder in your hand or it would have
been too late! She informed.
Too late! Too late for what Mrs. Petrie? I chuckled lightning another candle in the room.

Oh it isn't funny dear!

In fact, I wish I can laugh about it and maybe it will go away!

I came over to sit near her and poured her another cup tea when I asked, Make what go away Mrs.
Petrie?
I've told you about all the souls that roam around this place didn't I?
Yes, you have!

Well they are the good souls, there has been a lot of good memories in this house. There was once
happiness and joy all around this place! The children and grandchildren filled this place with music and
laughter. You could hear the frolic of little feet running down these halls and the stairs. And they all loved to
be around me! She chuckled then added, It's not them that I fear, I do believe they are here to watch over
me! Why my dear they wouldn't harm a fly! But there is this evil sinister among them and it's filled with
vengeance and hatred towards me! And it wants to do me harm!
Oh Mrs. Petrie, do you harm! I can't believe anyone would want to do you any harm! And why?
My dear it's true! And I've come to realize who it could possibly be reflecting back all those years. You
see next to my sisters, I was my grandfather's favorite. He would always allow me to accompany him on the
horse and buggy rides down to the stables, which I enjoyed so much! He would always pack me on his
shoulders and bring me bags of jelly beans and fresh baked cookies from the bakery. He bought me my first
puppy, she was cutest little thing. I named her Muffin because she was so soft and fluffy. I remember

times when he'd push me on the swing while we talked. They were fun times, I loved my grandfather but he
didn't have much luck with woman though. He had married a few times, my original grandmother died when
I was just five years old. When I turned age seven, he remarried but I was told within six months she ran off
with another man. Then he remarried for the third time, I was about eight and a half years old. She was a
mysterious woman, always quiet, never smiled hardly. She wasn't that attractive, just a basic looking woman
compared to the prior beautiful women he'd married.
I often wondered what my grandfather saw in her.
She had a frigid spirit and when we came to visit, she kept her distance and only spoke a few words to us that
was mainly hello and goodbye. She chuckled.
We would run and play but she kept her eye on me because she envied the attention my grandfather
gave me for some reason! One day I was sitting on the porch playing with my dolls and I felt a little uneasy
when I noticed her evil stare at me from a window. Her eyes got bigger the more she stared at me, it was
quite eerie so I went to play with my sisters out in the yard. I remember laying awake in bed in a room with
my three sisters one night, I watched her shadow beneath our door as she would stand there and listen. I
guess to make sure we were alseep. Oh I'll tell you she was very strange! She wasn't a very good cook
either and I swear she tried to poison me! I became sick and had to stay in bed for a day of rest and she
literally starved me. I didn't get anything to eat until my grandfather fed me and that was some soup and
fresh baked peanut butter cookies he bought me. I still remember her stare of resentment. My grandfather
made me feel better and before long, I was back to playing outdoors then strangely, one day Muffin
disappeared and we all looked for her but never found her and I was quite devastated. My first assumption
was that someone had taken her because she always came when I called for her. My grandfather assured
me that she was just roaming around and that she would return but she didn't. A few days later, some of the
kids in the community came to join us in kick ball on the lawn and the ball rolled a distance into some brush
when one of the kids ran to retreive it, suddenly she screamed as we all quickly ran to see what happened.
To my surprise there was Muffin tied by her neck hanging from a tree within the brush. I was appalled and
instantly became so angry thinking, 'who would do such an evil thing' but I knew she did it. That evil woman
my grandfather married. For years I kept my distance from her, we never said much to one another but she
reacted differently towards my sisters eventhough they didn't care much for her neither. I always said her
evil mischief was going to catch up with her one day and that day came when she became terminally ill with
a disease that was quite contacious. No one in the house could go near her only doctors who wore mask.
Even my grandfather slept in a separate bedroom. Odd though, he didn't seem worried about her much,
they never displayed any form of affection toward one another. We all knew she was only after his money
and that failed. One night, she tried to get out of bed, she was too weak to walk and fell to the floor and died
instantly in that room. That was nearly sixty years ago and that's the evil spirit that lives here. That's why I
can't be alone in the dark because it comes in the night!
Oh Mrs. Petrie! Well have you seen it? I asked feeling a little uneasy.

My dear, I have seen several glimpses of it and immediately I flash a beam of light on it with a small flash
light I keep under my pillow! It doesn't like the light! It is a gruesome sight and I don't know what to make
of it in the dark! All I know is that it's got big, wide, glowing, evil headlight eyes! My dear it's so ugly, the
sight of it may just kill you! She confirmed.
My heart skipped a beat and I grasp, as if I couldn't catch my breath from fear when she said that! Then
strangely, a brisk wind rushed into that room and blew out all the candles, even the fire in the fireplace went
out! It was completely dark! I called out to Mrs. Petrie and heard a slight grasp but she didn't say a word as
I felt her slumped body. Promptly, she had a heart attack and I panicked stumbling over her feet falling to
the floor in the darkness. I remembered the large bookshelf when I crawled over reaching for the base of it to
pull myself up. I could not see anything in the gloomy midst, not even my hand in front of my face. I was so
scared, once up on my feet, I immediately turned facing this egregious, hideous looking thing in the darkness.
I was petrified by the sight of it as every hair on my body stood, my heart escalated as I trembled in fear
when it bellowed a loud, piercing, BOO!!! Leave this place!! I couldn't move, my eyes began to water and
as I shivered my hands felt a lighter that was in my pocket and on an impulse, I quickly grabbed it and flicked
it exposing a quick flash of light and an awful cry echoed as the sinister dashed out of the room. I took a
quick glance at Mrs. Petrie checking her pulse and she was dead. I panicked using that lighter to rush down
the stairs grabbing my handbag and I rushed out the door down the winding sidewalk in the drizzling rain
when I ran into her son. He had just arrived home.
Heey there now! Hold on! Are you alright Miss? He asked trying to calm me.
I was speechless, I shook with fear and he could see it in my eyes.
You've seen it haven't you? He asked.
I was stunned by his question when I avidly nodded.
Is she dead?

Yes! I teared.
Good! Everything will be fine now! He replied.
I looked at him thinking, 'he is crazy to talk that way about his mother'. He had no sympathy!
You go on home Miss. I'll handle it from here.
Instantly, the lights came back on as we could see through the windows of the manor.
Oh, I guess we won't be needing your services any longer. I'll call the agency in the morning. Have a
good night! He smiled then whistled as he ambled along the sidewalk towards the entrance.
I quickly hopped into my vehicle and sped away! Along the way I tried to shake off the daunting but I
couldn't help but think about Mrs. Petrie. She was such a nice lady and it was so sad the way she died! Who
knows how long she had been haunted by that gruesome thing! Well she's at peace now and nothing can
harm her ever again.
It was about a week later, I had taken some much needed time off and while reading the morning
newspaper, there was a shocking new article that Arthur Petrie, son of millionaire Agnes Petrie found dead
hanging from a rope with a disturbing grimace as his eyes were wide-opened in his bedroom suite at the
Worcester Manor on Worcestor Drive two days ago. They think he committed suicide but I know differently.