Grandma’s house had no carpets, just bare floor boards that scratched at your feet like cat claws, windows that rattled in the frames at night as if the glass was tapped by invisible fingers.
At home, Bren would lie in front of the fire, read her Beano till her eyes felt prickly from the heat. Here, the cold knifed under every door, made you tuck your feet up on the hard wooden seats.
Then there was the cupboard at the top of the stairs.
No higher than her waist, each door had a round window with slots in, eyes to see in through. Or out of.
Her sister Tally had dared her to look inside but the doors seemed impossible to open, the little catches always slipping and jiggling under her fingers.
Then one day as she was passing she heard a click, a sigh of well oiled hinges.
Written for What Pegman Saw, the prompt inspired by Google Street View. This week we are in Castle Bran in Romania. See here to join in and write your own tale.
Note
For those outside the UK, The Beano is the longest running children’s magazine in the country, its first edition being published before the Second World War in July 1938.
Word Shamble 
I don’t like the sound of that! 😉
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It can’t be good, can it?
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Oh my!
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Run!
Spooky and tense little story. Your writing is a confection, as always.
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Thank you Karen
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‘Bren’ sounds like a name created by Victoria Wood (especially her character in ‘Dinnerladies’) so I instantly predisposed to like her, even knowing this may not end well…
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Ha! Loved Dinnerladies! Happy memories of watching that, I must say. Dear Victoria Wood. Thank you Chris 🙂
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Great atmosphere in this. Sounds, textures, temperatures. Nicely done.
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Thank you very much Josh
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Hey, your grandma’s house was the same as mine. Except the cupboard doors at the top of the stairs had been painted a pale tint of eau-de-nil green. And I never heard a spooky sound. But then I only stayed there for Easter and summer. Maybe at this time of year … that house is certainly spooky when seen in my dreams.
Love the story.
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I remember sleeping at my nan’s and the house seemed to creak a lot, had a lot of weird ornaments my granddad brought back from China – black lacquered trays inlayed with mother of pearl, a small wooden temple with verandas and little figures, lots of tall, dark wood wardrobes and metal framed bedsteads – all very creepy in the eyes of a child of the 1970s used to plastic and fake wood effects! Nanna’s houses are creepy, but this is a good thing for those of us who grow up wanting to write. Thanks Crispina
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Indeed. An excellent reservoir for inspiration.
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🙂
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I always find those odd-sized doors to be a little spooky too — that, or magical fairy doors. But for this season, spooky is right on target!
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Ha! Spooky doorways always lead to something interesting. Thanks for reading Joy
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Wait, how is Google street view getting INSIDE places now. Talk about creepy!
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I know! There’s a lot of it out there, especially in the touristy places. Weird eh? Is there anywhere those Google folks can’t reach?
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Very spooky. The fact that the hinges were well oiled is so much worse than them creaking terribly from disuse. Great story, Lynn 🙂
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I’m really glad you noticed the hinges! I thought that too 🙂 Thanks so much Sammi
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Oooh, that’s scary! You build the tension expertly and I really jumped at the sound of those well-oiled hinges…
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Ah, thank you Penny. I liked the idea of well oiled – more sinister than creaking, I thought. That way, you can’t here them coming … Thank you for your kind words and for reading
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You even made the title creepy 🙂
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