Shopping Alone

Shopping Alone

I enjoy getting things second hand. I never know what I will find. People drop things off worth more than they know. I never found such treasure myself.

It is Thursday and the clouds are orange. The air is humid, dense, and comforting. It is only 5pm, but the winter makes the night closer. I am fond of the night, perhaps because of my intuitive nature. The night is where I can think my own thoughts without worrying what is troubling someone else. The store is open, and it is quiet and peaceful. I see people shuffling along with their boots with snow being tracked around the store. I see a black notebook and pick it up. It is dark and it feels like velvet. I open it and it appears to be blank. I buy it and sit in my car and look through it again but this time slower. There is a gold-colored cursive address in it. After typing in the address, I realize it is only 40 minutes away from my apartment. I promise myself to drive to it tomorrow.

It is the next day at 11am. I drive to the address. I am thankful the roads are clear and there’s sunshine out. It seems blissful. The sunshine does not last long, only about 10 minutes later the scenery changes. The road start to look sketchy, unkept, with gravely roads. The sky become more windy and the road, narrower. I see a house in the distance. I drive closer and the grass looks like it has not been cut it ages. It is not abandoned though; it is for sale. I walk up to it and see a phone number for a real estate agent. I call the number. It is a man on the phone, “Hello! I’ll be right over to open the house for you.”

About 20 minutes later a handsome gentleman comes up to me. He has dark silky hair with emerald-colored eyes. “Would you like a tour?” We go around the house for 10 minutes. Immediately I feel an emotion I never felt before. It was a feeling of certainty. I thought to myself, “I can’t let anyone else have this house. I feel so at home.” I tell the real estate agent, “I’m ready to buy.” He looks surprised, “Are you serious? I never thought this would sell. I heard it is haunted. Are you sure? Wait, do you even believe in ghosts? My heartbeat lessened and I felt calm again. I replied “I do believe in ghosts. I had a feeling there was a ghost here before you even told me.” He replied, “You must belong here.”

The first night in that house I felt more nervous. I knew there was a ghost somewhere, but whether it friendly or filled with hatred and trapped here; those thoughts perplexed me. There seemed to be no way to know. I was fearful to google the address of the house, so I didn’t. I wanted to judge for myself and not rely on rumors. I heard knocking in the attic. "Yes of course, the most terrifying part of the house" I sighed. I was about to go upstairs, opened the door and kept hearing a wood peg sound down each step. There was no one physically there but it sounded like someone was walking down step by step. I ran out the house in the yard. I become terrified. Why did I buy this house? Regrets starting to consume me. I called the real estate agent. He said, “I’ll be right there.” I felt calm again.

He came over with a ghost detector and walked upstairs with me. He ran right up to the attic without hearing the sound on the stairs. The ghost must have moved somewhere else. I walked upstairs to the attic with him. A truck went by the house briefly and lit up the attic. I saw a red dot in the shadows. “What is that red dot?” He shouted “It could be a demon. We need to get out of here right now!” “Wait, no it’s a jewel,” I replied. I discovered a light in the attic and turned it on. The red jewel reflected beautifully and cast a red shadow on the window. It was a treasure chest! There are gold coins in this. It must be worth a fortune! I felt the heavy coin in my hand. Gold shine peaked out within the rustic circles.

We went back downstairs with the chest of real gold coins. I cannot believe we found this together. It must be would 20,000. He smiled back “You’re right. These days that amount of gold is worth $20,000.” I felt the intuition to read my black notebook again. I opened it and there were words!

“Thank you for finding my treasure.” I can now pass on to heaven. I spent my whole life looking for this gold and then got killed before I could use it. I was waiting until someone could find it. Thank you for following through my adventure, now our adventure. My life was not a waste. My legacy happened.” Signed Captain Jason Flint.

We hugged each other. He kissed me on the forehead and disappeared.

By,

Ashley Hegarty