George

by 12 year old writer
(Bedford, PA)

12 year old writer with one of my last encounters, well really my parent's encounter. Before I was born, my parents were buying our 1800s home that went through the civil war. When they finally got it signed over, the man went to walk out the door when he said, "Oh, by the way, George comes down the chimney every once in awhile. But don't worry he won't hurt ya." My parents first instinct was to be a little cautious when sleeping that night. They slept fine until about 1:30 am when they heard someone walking on our deck, then through the front door, and then finally up the stairs toward the bedroom. My dad warned my mother to stay in bed, and not to move. My dad grabbed his gun and went to the top of the stairs, it sounded like they should have met there, but when my dad turned on the lights there was nobody there. Eventually they got back to sleep. My parents collect hand-turned clocks and other antiques, and when they woke up, all of the clocks were opened and ticking. Later they figured out that George was the man who they bought the house off of and his father-in-law drank and smoked himself to death.