The Strange House
There was this old house. Many stories had been flying around concerning it. The stories were so strange and fearful that many people passing there do so with their hearts in their hands. They pass, usually thinking that something unusual may happen any moment.
In fact, some children would not go near the house in the daytime, not to talk of nighttime. They stay far off and point at it.
Nobody was living in the house, and none could claim to have seen anyone entering or leaving the house in daytime. It had a twin door with one half damaged and always opened from morning to night, year in, year out. The paintings were worn out due to long exposure to the forces of the weather over the years. Even algae and mould had started colonizing the walls in a bid to devour the entire fabric of the building.
Some people claimed they often saw a weird old man wearing a white robe, with walking stick entering or leaving the house in the middle of the night. Some claimed they hear voices coming from the house when most people were already asleep.
None had ever given a good story about this house except that which instilled fear in the minds of people. One thing that cast doubt over the veracity of the claims about those seeing and hearing was that when you press hard to get to the root of the matter, the claimants will say someone else told them. They may even say someone told someone else who told another person that told them.
The house was said to be built by an old politician who was noted for his corrupt practices. He was so brazenly corrupt that his close friends and kindred dissociated from him at his very old age, and declared him a persona non grata.
The man was so rich that he used his money to buy his way to become a government appointee. It was equally thought that he was involved in witchcraft. The statement that he neither had a wife nor even a girlfriend gave credence to the accusation that he was involved in witchcraft.
For him to have built such a house way back in 1913 showed he was rich by those day's standard.
The story of this house changed in 2013, exactly 100 years after, when Captain Joe came back home. Captain, as he was popularly called, though retired, was among those that fought in the Gulf War.
As soon as he came home, he said he was going to knock off the mystery attachment on the strange house which he had been hearing of since he was a kid.
"Don't get involved in that house my son," his mother cautioned.
"Mom, don't worry. There's nothing in that house," Captain replied.
"That house has been there before your father married me," she said.
"Before I even said I'll quash the mystery there, I'd entered inside the house," he disclosed.
"Don't frighten me," she said with mouth wide open in shock. "Nobody I know had ever entered that old house since I came to this town."
"My mind is made up already," Captain replied. "The captain they call me is not by mere word. I'm a captain indeed."
"You insist you're going there. Remember you're my only son," she said, tears already rolling out of her eyes.
"If they say spirits are there... Well, I fought both human beings and spirits in the Gulf. In my town however, I'm not going to fight any man but, I'm ready to fight the spirits if they exist."
With that he picked a hammer and an iron rod, and went straight to the old house and knocked off the twin doors. He then paid some workers who came and demolished what was left of the house.
Thereafter, he engaged the services of a building engineer who erected a modern bungalow on the site. From that time, the house changed from Horror House to Captain House as the dreaded site became a happy home for Captain and his household.
Photo: https://pixabay.com/es/photos/puerta-casa-arquitectura-entrada-3340568/
