The moon hung low and the owls hooted in tandem,
Then come the chill, so cold and sudden;
The mist seemed to have me wrapped in its embrace,
And from afar, the stone cherub hid its serene face.
High up above the hill stood a house,
And so I crept up to it, quiet as a mouse;
It loomed tall and foreboding in the night,
And then I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
All I saw was a piano silhouetted by the pale lunar light,
And believe me, oh, what a sight!
Around me were furniture draped in white and covered with dust,
All of them whispering tales of its terrible past.
From afar I heard a noise,
“W-Who is there?” I demanded in a squeaky meek voice,
I chased the sound up the stairs and caught a glimpse of a shadow,
And there she sat, shied away from the moon’s pretty yellow glow.
It is a girl of about seven or eight,
And quite bravely you told her that it was getting late,
Where were her parents and what was she doing there,
She stared at me and the sound of her tinkling laughter reached my ears.
“My parents are dead,” she told me then,
“Shot in the chests by very bad men”
“They were asleep, and so was I”
“And the moon had been round and full, just like tonight.”
I remembered then, all those stories that they had told,
About a family, surrounded by silver and gold,
I heard that on one cold night they were all shot dead
By several men, driven by jealousy and hate.
A mix of feelings settled in, fear being the worst,
“What are you?” I whispered, “Are you a ghost?”
Instead of answering, smilingly she said, “All I have left is my piano”
“Would you like to hear me play before you go?”
She floated to the piano and began to play,
Her eyes were merry and her laughter so gay,
And then from far ahead lightning lit up the sky,
And the wind howled and the skies began to cry.
I leapt a mile when the thunder boomed,
As I watched from the stairs another figure loomed,
It was a woman, her hair dark as the night,
And when she smiled at me, I stood there, frozen in fright.
Her lips were tinted blue and there was blood in her left eye,
And when she gazed at me her look was sly,
In a soft, raspy voice she whispered, “It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear Olive”
And she told me then, “You must stay here, you cannot leave.”
She swept down the stairs cackling mad,
And then with a scream I spun and fled,
Something caught my ankle and I fell to my knees,
And when I looked up there she was, right in front of me.
I pinched my eyes shut and began to cry,
As I prayed to God that I didn’t want to die,
If it weren’t for the stupid, stupid dare,
I wouldn’t even be inside here, I swear.
For a moment all was silent, all was still,
I crack open one eye to find myself standing at the bottom of the hill,
The tall and majestic house loomed in sight,
Bathed in an ethereal glow, blanketed by the night.
I gaped and blinked; was it nothing but a dream?
I must have stood here and zoned out, so it seemed.
Remembering now, I shivered and turned away,
But not before I spied a little girl standing by the doorway.
Mar 19
Mar 19, 2026 at 11:38 AM UTC
The moon hung low and the owls hooted in tandem,
Then come the chill, so cold and sudden;
The mist seemed to have me wrapped in its embrace,
And from afar, the stone cherub hid its serene face.
High up above the hill stood a house,
And so I crept up to it, quiet as a mouse;
It loomed tall and foreboding in the night,
And then I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
All I saw was a piano silhouetted by the pale lunar light,
And believe me, oh, what a sight!
Around me were furniture draped in white and covered with dust,
All of them whispering tales of its terrible past.
From afar I heard a noise,
“W-Who is there?” I demanded in a squeaky meek voice,
I chased the sound up the stairs and caught a glimpse of a shadow,
And there she sat, shied away from the moon’s pretty yellow glow.
It is a girl of about seven or eight,
And quite bravely you told her that it was getting late,
Where were her parents and what was she doing there,
She stared at me and the sound of her tinkling laughter reached my ears.
“My parents are dead,” she told me then,
“Shot in the chests by very bad men”
“They were asleep, and so was I”
“And the moon had been round and full, just like tonight.”
I remembered then, all those stories that they had told,
About a family, surrounded by silver and gold,
I heard that on one cold night they were all shot dead
By several men, driven by jealousy and hate.
A mix of feelings settled in, fear being the worst,
“What are you?” I whispered, “Are you a ghost?”
Instead of answering, smilingly she said, “All I have left is my piano”
“Would you like to hear me play before you go?”
She floated to the piano and began to play,
Her eyes were merry and her laughter so gay,
And then from far ahead lightning lit up the sky,
And the wind howled and the skies began to cry.
I leapt a mile when the thunder boomed,
As I watched from the stairs another figure loomed,
It was a woman, her hair dark as the night,
And when she smiled at me, I stood there, frozen in fright.
Her lips were tinted blue and there was blood in her left eye,
And when she gazed at me her look was sly,
In a soft, raspy voice she whispered, “It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear Olive”
And she told me then, “You must stay here, you cannot leave.”
She swept down the stairs cackling mad,
And then with a scream I spun and fled,
Something caught my ankle and I fell to my knees,
And when I looked up there she was, right in front of me.
I pinched my eyes shut and began to cry,
As I prayed to God that I didn’t want to die,
If it weren’t for the stupid, stupid dare,
I wouldn’t even be inside here, I swear.
For a moment all was silent, all was still,
I crack open one eye to find myself standing at the bottom of the hill,
The tall and majestic house loomed in sight,
Bathed in an ethereal glow, blanketed by the night.
I gaped and blinked; was it nothing but a dream?
I must have stood here and zoned out, so it seemed.
Remembering now, I shivered and turned away,
But not before I spied a little girl standing by the doorway.
