Sunday, January 18, 2015

The Sound From the Attic


    There was a family who's name was Careheart. One night, they heard a sound from the attic. It was their youngest daughter Hannah who heard it first. At first, she thought it was nothing. However, she soon heard it again and then again as it passed in and out of her hearing range. The ten-year-old walked around the living room testing to see if the sound became louder or quieter. Finally she realized it was coming from the rusty attic hatch. This sound was not like what you normally hear a house make. It was not a bumping or rubbing. It was soft and gentle. It called to her in a strange way. For a second she stared up at it and then ran to tell her father.
    Soon the whole family had gathered around, straining their ears to hear the curious sound as they looked up. No one ever went into the attic except on rare occasions, and no one had been up there in a long, long time. The wavering sound had started so hesitant, but now it was growing louder as if it were trying to get their attention. They were starting to make it out in detail. It was almost musical. Yes, in fact, as fourteen-year-old Ruby stated, “It is music.” Indeed, there were clear notes as if someone was playing music in the attic. However, it did not sound like a band for it was a single instrument.
    “It sounds almost like an old piano,” seventeen-year-old Jenifer was saying. This is interesting because the Careheart's have an old piano in their attic, but of course no one plays it anymore. To add to that, there was only one person in the family who knows how to play piano and that is their twenty-one-year old son, Joseph. In the past, he would sometimes lower the dusty attic hatch ladder stairs, and lead Hannah up by the hand because the attic was scary. When they had moved their way through the clutter, Joseph would sit down at the piano and play simple, cheerful tunes for her. However, the sound in the attic today was not cheerful. Still it could be Joseph's playing Hannah thought. One strange detail was that Joseph was not with the family tonight. As a matter of fact he was thought to have been murdered last night in the Careheart's living room.
    The scene last night went as follows. Only Hannah and Joseph had been home. The criminal, who was named Daniel Brigsbe, had apparently crept in through a window into the living room. Hannah, rounding the living room corner, screamed when she saw him. Mr. Brigsbe had a gun in his hand and he was pointing it at her when Joseph rushed in. Joseph tackled Mr. Brigsbe from behind breaking the criminal's leg. Joseph managed to grab Mr. Brigsbe's gun and stand up, but things would not go well after this.
    “Hannah, go call 911,” Joseph said as he pointed the gun at Mr. Brigsbe who lay on the ground.
    Hannah was frozen in freight, so Joseph cautiously reached for his cell phone. Like a flash of lightning, Mr. Brigsbe pulled another gun out of his pants and fired it at Joseph. Joseph fell back and lay on the ground. Hannah screamed and ran to her room. She dialed 911 and then called her parents who rushed home quickly but not before the police arrived. They found Hannah shaking in her room. In the living room they found only a blood stain on the carpet, but both Mr. Brigsbe and Joseph were no where to be seen.
Right before she fled, Hannah remembered the living room clock reading 8:41. This is very interesting because when she first noticed the sound today she recalled that the clock had read 8:41. It was like the noise did not want there to be any mistake this was the aftermath of the horrific scene last night.
    As the family listened, the sound went on a long time. Finally, Mr. Careheart announced, “I'm going up.” There were a few objections from Mrs. Careheart and others. However, he knew he must ensure the safety of his family. So, he reached up and pulled down the attic stairs. As he did, the stairs made a loud creaking, and at this the music abruptly stopped. Mr. Careheart froze with the stairs in his arms, and they all listened closely. The sound was indeed gone. After peering up into the darkness for a moment, Mr. Careheart started walking very cautiously up the stairs holding the flashlight that Ruby had fetched for him. He put a foot on attic's wooden floor and flashed his light around courageously. He noticed some moonlight creeping in through the attic window. He then started moving over to the piano slowly and cautiously. He was inspecting it closely when he noticed something very terrifying. On the music stand of the piano was written a word in the dust. Actually it was a name he realized. It said, “Hannah.” How had this appeared here? He rubbed it out with his hand and hurried back down the attic's ladder stairs. When reaching the living room he looked at them and shrugged his shoulders. He would later tell them of the writing on the piano. He was content for now seeing that the music had stopped. The family tried to go through their normal bedtime routines as they considered the strange sound. Of course they were all thinking of last night as well.
    The older sibling, Jennifer asked younger Hannah some questions about last night as they lay in bed. She was saying, “What did you hear while you in your room before the police came?”
    “I don't know,” Hannah cried, “I... shut the door.”
    “The police said that Mr. Brigsbe may have dragged Joseph out of the house,” Jennifer was saying for she had a way of being insensitive like this. “They even found blood out the back door and a ways into the woods.”
Hannah was silent.
    “Hannah, do you believe in ghosts?” Jennifer asked.
    “I... I don't know. I...” Hannah replied.
    Jennifer added, “Well, we'll just have to see if it happens again tomorrow night.”
It was like Jennifer didn't even care that Joseph was gone. Overall, the family was indeed shocked from the experience last night, but there was a funny feeling among them as if they were not yet sure that he had left them. They still had hope. The music in the attic flamed this hope, and they were not grieving for this reason.
    Despite the events, the family was able to fall asleep. That is everyone except Hannah, for she lay in bed listening for a long time. She could almost hear that music again. Suddenly, she shot up, but carefully as to not wake Jennifer. It was the middle of the night as she crept out into the living room. Alone she stood below the attic hatch staring up at it.
    She didn't notice, but there was a shadowy figure walking towards her in the dark. It came at her from behind and reached out. When it touched her she jumped a little, but the voice was gentle and loving, “Hannah, it's dad.” He did not even ask her what she was doing.
    Hannah sighed. After she had relaxed she looked up at the attic and spoke, “Daddy, Joseph isn't dead is he?”
    He replied softly, “I don't know. I certainly hope he isn't. But I'm trusting everything is okay no matter what.”
    Eventually Hannah got too sleepy and went to bed. She feel asleep quickly.
All questions remained unanswered. What was going on in the attic? What has caused that mysterious sound? Why did it stop when they went up? Most importantly, were is Joseph or at least his body? Is he alive?
    The next day was a long one. Hannah was home all day and she kept passing by the attic wondering if the music might be heard again but there was no sound. At 8:41 she made sure she was in the living room. Sure enough it started in a glimmer just like the previous night. Hannah ran to gather everyone. They all stood below the attic amazed that the sound at reappeared for the second night in a row. More quickly this time, Mr. Careheart opened the attic hatch. Once again the music stopped when he did. When he made his way to the attic floor, he was more thorough in his inspection. This time he wanted to make sure there could be no one hiding anywhere in the cluttered attic. He thought maybe someone was playing a joke by playing the piano and then hiding when he came up. Not finding anything, he was just about to leave when he noticed that the attic window had been touched since last night. Yes, it surely had markings in the dust that weren't there last night. He slowly worked his way toward it stepping over junk. Not until he was right next to it did completely make it out, “Hannah.” Startled, he smeared it out. Once again he knew nothing more he could do, so he left the attic for the second night. The family also thought it very peculiar when he told them of the writing. Perhaps, he should not have told them, but Mr. Careheart had a certain way of trusting that it would work out. Once again, the family started making their way to bed.
    As they were getting a bedtime snack, Jennifer asked her younger brother, “Ruby, do you believe in ghosts?”
    “I don't know,” he replied thinking carefully. “I guess it wouldn't surprise me. But I'm not afraid of them. Fear is their best weapon. They can't hurt you you know.”
    “How do you know?” Jenifer answered. “What if it's Joseph's ghost in that attic?”
    “Well, then I wouldn't be afraid at all,” Ruby laughed. “He would be the nicest ghost ever.”
Jennifer questioned, “But why does he keep writing 'Hannah' up there as if he wants Hannah to come up. That's what this is all about right? That's why he plays the piano. You know it has to be him. He wants her to come up.”
    “I don't know,” Ruby hesitated.
    “You know what I think,” Jennifer continued. “Well, you know what the cops said.”
    “Jen, Dad said not to talk about that,” Ruby rebuked. “There's no chance that could be true.”
    “Isn't there. No one saw the scene take place. We all just believed Hannah's story. What if she did kill him and that's why he's calling to her. He wants his revenge,” stated the cynical Jennifer.
    “Shut up, Jenn!” Ruby replied defiantly,”Hannah would never do that?”
    “I've never understood her,” Jennifer responded.
That night everyone lay down, but Hannah lay awake. A long time passed as she lay motionless. What time was it? She looked at the clock and it was exactly the same time she rose the previous night. She thought she could hear that music in her head again as if it were traveling on some supernatural sound waves from the attic. She got up and traveled out of the room. Upon reaching the living room she soon was aware of a someone else close by. She expected to see her father, but he never appeared. She thought it was as if he wanted to stay out of the way. However, she knew he was there for her. She stood staring up at the attic again wishing Joseph would just come right down, but he did not. She had the strange urge to go up herself. Wouldn't her father stop her? She had a funny feeling he might not. It would take a lot of courage, but she had a sense that this story was revolving around her and maybe if she found that courage to go up it could somehow set Joseph free. She realized she was thinking optimistically. Still, she was getting to the point where she was ready right now to reach up and pull down the attic stairs. However, she was getting very drowsy, and soon she made her back to bed.
    The next day was Sunday. This third day seemed so long, and Hannah kept looking at the clock waiting for night to fall.
    The family was still clinging to the hope that the sound in the attic might be connected to Joseph still being alive. They were getting pretty on edge. Hannah was the only one who didn't have any hope that he was alive. She was convinced he had indeed been killed. She wanted to believe as her family did, but there was a good reason for her doubt. She had insight on this mystery that no one else had. This was because she knew Joseph better than anyone in the family. Over the last two days, she had slowly developed a theory, and it could indeed be tested. Joseph had spent so much time with her trying to bring her out of her shell. He really cared for her, and despite their age difference their relationship had started to reach the point were they could predict each other's behavior. Therefore, she knew exactly what he would have done if he was dying. In addition, her theory lined up with blood found in the back door way and the woods. Hannah's theory was that no one had found Joseph's body because he didn't want them to find it. Joseph always had a funny way of making nothing of death, and he always considered the formalities associated with death especially silly. Also, Joseph was one of the kindest souls on the planet and he would not have wanted them to find him in their house. Hannah wondered if he might have struggled his way out the back door and out into the woods to die alone. The scary part is, like I mentioned, the theory could be tested. This is because she knew exactly where in the woods he would have decided to rest. She was thinking of a certain place not far away from the house were a old fallen oak tree rests over a large ditch. Joseph used to take her to this spot, and they would slip in feeling completely hidden from the world. Indeed, his body would also be hidden from the police even if they followed his trail. It is very hard to find the entrance if you haven't been shown. This theory wouldn't explain the music in the attic at all, but Hannah would soon think up a pretty solid theory for the music as well. Hannah knew she would eventually have to go out and see if she might be right about Joseph. She would go out herself and if she found him she would go back and tell the family. Yet, she really didn't want to go until the music stopped. However, as night finally began to fall this idea was bothering her too much. She had to go out into the woods and test her fears. She figured if he were not in that ditch then she would be hopeful that tonight might be the night that he would reappear. She bravely started walking through the misty woods, but she started to realize how frightened she would be to see his body resting in the ditch. Maybe she would be able to smell it from far enough away not to have to look. She shuddered wondering if maybe she should have asked her father to come with her. She had told him she was going for a walk in the woods. She never lied to anyone. Hannah slowed as she approached the spot. She was only ten-years-old, and Joseph had always been so much security to her. It was very hard to be brave without him even if her father was so strong and loving. The last rays of sunlight shown through the leaves in a mystical way that just seemed to make Hannah feel more on edge. With Joseph she could do anything even if she was afraid, but right now as she was spotted the fallen tree, she really felt like running away. Hannah was inching forward so afraid she might smell or see something to confirm her fears. Her stomach churned as she saw the entrance. Her breath was fast and her heart pounded heavy as she knelt down to peer in. There was nothing.
    Hannah felt relieved as she raced the setting sun back to the house. She saw her house ahead a ways. Then she saw something very startling. You see, the window in the attic of the Careheart's house overlooks the woods that Hannah was in. When Hannah was still a ways away thought she might have seen a shadowy silhouette walk across the view of the attic window. She panicked and ran towards the house so worried that every step might bring some kind of disaster. When she was safely inside, she began to wonder at the meaning of the shadow in the attic. If Joseph were in that attic alive, why didn't he just come down or at least show himself when her father went up. This was all so odd. It was a murder mystery were no one knew where either the victim or the murderer had ended up or even if there was a murder. True, she had seen with her own eyes that Joseph fell at the shot of Mr. Brigsbe's cruel bullet, but nothing made sense after that.
    Then suddenly a new theory seized her. This was by far the most horrifying idea yet, and it would so perfectly explain the piano music every night. It would also explain why her name kept appearing in the attic. She would not dare tell them, but she was sure she had cracked it and it was the worst possible outcome indeed.
    When the music did indeed start right on time at 8:41, she thought back to shadow in the window she had seen. Hannah tried not to wear it on her face as the rest listened to the music play. Mrs. Careheart had suggested that they see if they try to wait out the music today. How long would it last if they did nothing? So they waited and waited. The sound quieted a few times and sounded like it might have stopped, but then it would rear back up. It was the same melody every time although it changed slightly. The Carehearts stuck with the plan and a few of them even started to get ready for bed as they waited. It was 9:30 and the music played on. If someone was playing that sound they were obviously desperate to be noticed. This was no practical joke. It was as if this were a life and death matter. Hannah was worried she knew why. The music had beaten them in this battle of patience because Mr. Careheart was lowering the stairs, and once more the sound stopped immediately.
After climbing up, Mr. Careheart boldly strode his way through the attic. Could there be anyway someone could have avoided his inspection the previous two nights? He knew this would be his last night in the attic. He was starting to even get a little annoyed. He raised his voice and yelled at whoever or whatever it was. He was calm though and tried to reason with it, but there was no response. He thought it was strange that he had not seen Hannah's name written in dust tonight.
    He had been up there a long time when he finally tried something he hadn't yet. He pulled out the piano bench and sat down at the piano. After a moment, he carefully pressed a key with his finger and let the tone ring out. To his horror, he was shocked to hear the same exact note play again within the piano, yet the key hadn't moved. It was as if the hammer had struck the string inside the piano on its own. With great courage he calmed himself, and played a different note. Even quicker this time the exact note replied. He played a few more notes just to make sure there was no mistake. Every note he played was mimicked by the piano. He was genuinely starting to believe this was supernatural when something really crazy happened. He noticed a torn piece of paper flutter down and land on the piano. He quickly picked it up and shone his flashlight on it. On it was written, “Hannah.” He crumpled the piece of paper and flew down the attic stairs.
    When reaching the bottom he announced, “Tomorrow... we are going to take that piano out of the attic and take it to the dump.” After telling them all that had occurred they were all in agreement except that Hannah said nothing. This is because everything that had happened tonight confirmed her new theory to the point where she could almost guarantee herself it was accurate.
    That night she lay in bed with eyes wide open as they could be. She was fixed on the doorway of her room so worried that something would come through it. Everyone has been afraid. There is power in fear. It speaks of something more than our world. It cannot be dismissed for no matter how much we learn about our world, in these moments of fear it is though we know nothing. In those moments one can learn to trust in something. Hannah was learning to trust. She was learning to trust as her father trusted. His faith was a miracle. She was finding this faith tonight. It is a faith that everything will be okay, and that there is something greater than me and greater than the fear that will watch out for me. It was this faith alone that night that allowed Hannah to rise, although shaking, and walk right at her fear. It had been easy to walk into the living room when she hadn't realized what really might be going on, but now she was sure she knew what awaited in the attic. Every single muscle was as tense as it could be as she walked over to the attach hatch. It had begun to storm outside and a crash of thunder made her jump almost come out of her skin. She hadn't seen any sight of her father, but she knew he must be close. Even if he had started to believe that this attic adventure was something he didn't want to mess with he had enough faith to allow Hannah's story to play out. He could sense something that Hannah had not fulled sensed herself. The whole story was centered around her, and it would change her life.
    Yet, in this moment Hannah was not entirely sure she would live through it. The murder scene kept flashing through her mind. It wasn't the part about Joseph getting shot that was terrifying, but the part directly following. The question was how had both Joseph and Mr. Brigsbe both disappeared? She knew if Joseph were in the attic he wouldn't be playing this game. She believed he must have gone out in the woods and rested somewhere where Hannah would not look for him. Yes, whoever was in the attic had to be someone else. There could only be one explanation. It was the criminal. Mr. Brigsbe was in the attic.
She had to get a stool to reach the attic hatch, but she managed to get the handle and ever so quietly lower it to the floor. Forcing her body to move despite every fearful signal she put a foot on the first step.
    After shooting Joseph, Mr. Brigsbe must have climbed up the attic stairs to escape. He would not have been able to run away because of his broken leg, but while his adrenaline was still going he may have managed to climb the creaky attic strairs and pull up the hatch behind him. Hannah remembered how when her father first lowered the stairs they were not quite as dusty as should have been expected for having gone untouched for months.
The storm outside raged on as Hannah slowly made more progress up the stairs straining her eyes to see up into the dark.
    She knew where Mr. Brigsbe was hiding too. This was too simple. Sometimes on those trips to the attic Joseph would show her a funny trick with the piano. He would open the piano's cover and climb inside. There was just enough room for him to close the cover over his head. Then her amusement he would then play the piano's hammer's from the inside without the keys even moving. He had to play backwards because he was facing the wrong way so he couldn't get to complicated with his songs. Mr. Brigsbe must have been quick to realize he could hide in the piano too.
    Her head was above the attic floor now. She pause there for a second which may have been a mistake for it was hard to start again.
    She was realizing that during the day Mr. Brigsbe must have exited his hiding spot to write Hannah's name on dusty surfaces for her father to find. Then he would conceal himself in the piano and begin to play at the exact minute that he shot Joseph so that Hannah would know it was him. After all, Mr. Brigsbe did not come into the house to kill Joseph. For reasons no one but he knew he had come to kill Hannah. The reason he had tried so hard to get her to come by herself to the attic was because he still wanted to kill her. All this she was thinking as she stood on the attic floor. She was facing the most imminent danger, and she was more terrified than she ever had been in her life but she felt that she was meant to be there even if it was to die. She felt that there was a life on the line that wasn't hers. This Joseph had known too.
    The lightning flashed in the window allowing her eyes to catch the silhouette of a man walking toward her. She could faintly see him now as he limped slowly. She stood her ground shaking. So seriously, he strode across the attic floor until she could see his face. It was a beaten, worn face. It looked like a face that had had enough of the earth, but he surely was no more than twenty-five. Hannah and the man stood there staring at each other for what seemed a millennium. She was waiting for him to do something. What was he thinking right now. Was he just taking his time? Was he going to kill her now? To her surprise, however, he seemly like he was trying to talk.
    He finally spoke in a horse whisper, “Why? Why didn't he shoot me?”
    Hannah was very incapable of answering, “Uh... I...”
He continued, “I was in his house trying to kill his sister. Why on earth did he not shoot me right there? I found that I wasn't prepared to die, but I thought it was over for me.”
Hannah swallowed and finally attempted to speak, “Maybe that's why he didn't do it? You weren't ready.” At her comment he looked puzzled. She tried to continue, “He always told me that he would die for anyone. He said it was because he had hope, but he wouldn't want them to die without hope.”
    “Is there really anything worth hoping in?” he asked.
    She almost started to cry saying, “Yes, I think there is. Joseph thought so.”
    “Why did I shoot him?” Mr. Brigsbe said looking away. “I didn't mean to kill him. I just thought he was going to kill me and I wanted to scare him,” he explained.
    Hannah was relieved at this amazing turn of events but now realizing that her hope that Joseph was still alive had probably been officially put to rest. “I was really hoping he would still be here.” she said. Then she added, “But I'm glad you...”
    He spoke because she couldn't finish, “I'm am so sorry. I have thought so hard the last few days. I need to find my brother. I just want to give my life for-”
    “Wait a minute!” Hannah exclaimed her eyes lighting up with a faint glimmer of hope. “You said... You said you were just trying to scare him?”
    “I could have sworn I missed him, little girl,” he said.
    Then her hope sank as she said, “But if you missed him then were did all the blood come from?”
    Then he his face lit up, “Uh, well, I badly cut my hand on the fireplace when he tackled me. But I-”
    “Did you walk out the back door and into the woods?” she questioned eagerly.
    “Ye... Yes, I... When I had limped out into the woods a ways I started thinking. I started wondering why he didn't end my life. I just had to know. I... I guess that's why I came back. I don't know how I climbed to the roof and through that window to make it here. I don't even-”
    “You climbed through the window!” she exclaimed. He was still clueless as to what she had considered, but he was glad she wasn't sad.
    He continued his revelation, “When I heard the music play the next night I wrote your name on the piano hoping you would come up. I thought you might be able to tell me why he didn't kill me. But I thought your dad would kill me for sure if he found me. When he came up I hid in the rafters up there where the-”
    “What! What! You didn't hide in the piano!” she exploded, “You didn't play the piano! You mean you didn't play the piano at all!”
    “No, I... I don't even know how to play. It was something supernatural I guess that played it,” he considered.
    “Or maybe you didn't shoot Joseph. Maybe he just faked it hoping you'd to leave the house if you thought he was dead. That was clever of him,” Hannah spoke. “When he heard you leave out the back door he climbed up into the attic to watch you from the attic window as you escaped through woods. He wanted to see you better. It must have been quite a shock for him when you appeared on the roof right in front of his eyes. He realized you were coming through the window right into the attic. He must have bolted for the one hiding place he knew was safe! The piano,” she whispered.
    His eyes lit up in a hilarious way.
    “Could it be?” she whispered. “That means the music was just a call for help because he thought that if he tried to escape the piano at anytime you would attack him again.”
Hannah walked over to the piano slowly. She slowly pulled the piano bench out and sat down. “Could it be? Please, please, please, please, Joseph, please, please, answer me, Joseph.” Hannah carefully played a key, and waited with heart pounding. There was nothing but silence. Then, finally, a hushed response of the exact note came from inside. Hannah looked up as the cover of the piano rose cautiously. She smiled as she saw his beloved face and breathed his name, “Joseph!”

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