I stared at our house; only the kitchen light was on and the patio light outside, the rest of the structure shrouded in darkness. An owl hooted in the distance, breaking into the silence of the evening. I continued to snap beans, my bowl almost full.
A coldness rippled through my body, despite the stagnant heat of the night. Goosebumps prickled my arms, and an awareness came over me. I lifted my eyes.
A light was shining from the attic window.
I dropped the beans I held and stood up. The round, white, spider web attic window had been dark only a few minutes before, but now it held a dim light, bright enough for the entire intricate design of the window to be seen.
My heart stilled.
Who was in the attic?
I jabbed my hands into my denim overalls, pulling out my pocketknife. I hesitated. Did I really want to confront whoever it was? I pulled out my phone and texted Archie.
Will you be home soon?
Three dots.
Ten minutes.
Okay, I’ll meet you outside.
???
I didn’t answer. I’d talk to him when he got home. I looked up from my phone.
The window was dark again.
I stared and trembled. What was going on? I just saw a light on inside the attic. I was sure of it. It wasn’t my imagination.
I stayed in the yard, staring at the house and waiting for Archie to arrive home. Finally, headlights came up the lane. I hurried to the garage.
“You have to check the house!” I told him. “There is someone in the attic! There was a light on and now there’s not. Someone is in there!”
“Woah slow down, okay, don’t worry, babe,” he said in a calm voice. “I’ll check it out. Are you okay?”
I followed him inside the house and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
“Take this with you,” I whispered.
“Okay,” he said, giving me an odd look, but he took the knife and went upstairs.
I debated following him or staying downstairs. I decided to go to the second floor but did not follow him up the attic stairs.
We locked eyes before he pulled the string to light the dark stairway leading to the attic. I gripped my pocketknife and stood at alert in the hallway, listening to every sound in the house.
Archie’s footsteps creaked above me. He slowly moved across the room, then silence. I strained to hear anything. Nothing but the tick tock of the hallway clock.
The minutes ticked by. Then, Archie’s footsteps traveled down the attic stairs.
I raised my eyebrows. “Well?”
Archie wiped his forehead. “Nothing, except I walked into a spider web.”
“Are you serious?” I brushed past him and ran up the stairs. I pulled on the light string and surveyed the area. Nothing looked any different. I walked over to the wardrobe and looked behind it, seizing the door handles, poking my head inside. Thankfully, nobody was in there.
I turned off the light and traveled back down the stairs to Archie, who now stood waiting in the hall.
“Nothing, right?” he asked.
I raised my eyebrows. “No, but we’re checking every inch of the house right now.”
“Are you sure you saw a light?” he asked gently. “Could have been something weird like moonlight streaming in from the front window and it looked like a light in the back window.”
“Then why did it go off?” I asked.
Archie shrugged. “Maybe the moon moved. I don’t know. Look, let’s check everything out so you feel better.”
So, we did. Every nook and cranny of the house was examined by us, even the damp stone-walled basement under the house. Nothing and nobody was discovered. Thankfully.
Later, after we locked up the house, showered, and Archie quickly drifted off to sleep, I lay wide awake in bed staring at the ceiling. All I could think about was the attic above and the light shining through the spider web window.
I did not imagine the light.
Someone was playing games.
Again.
“Maybe we should install a security system,” Archie suggested.
