#missysmadchallenge #114
Your challenge for this week
Every night at exactly midnight, someone whispered my name from inside the abandoned house across the street.
Missy’s MAD Challenge # 114
The House That Knew My Name
#missysmadchallenge
Every night at exactly midnight, someone whispered my name from inside the abandoned house across the street.
At first, I blamed the wind.
The old house had stood empty for thirty years. Its windows were broken, the garden had swallowed the front steps, and nobody could remember who had lived there last.
But the voice was unmistakable.
“Maggie…”
Soft.
Almost affectionate.
The first night, I closed my curtains.
The second, I turned up the music.
By the seventh, I was standing at my bedroom window with a cup of coffee, staring into the darkness.
Yes, coffee at midnight.
Some habits are stronger than fear. 🤭
At precisely twelve, the whisper came again.
“Maggie…”
This time, a light appeared in an upstairs window.
A candle.
Impossible.
The electricity had been disconnected decades ago.
I decided enough was enough.
Armed with a torch, my phone, and the questionable courage that comes from being thoroughly annoyed, I crossed the street.
The front gate opened before I touched it.
“Very welcoming,” I muttered.
The front door creaked inward.
Inside, the air smelled of dust, old wood, and something strangely familiar.
Lavender.
My grandmother had always smelled of lavender.
I followed the faint candlelight upstairs.
At the end of the corridor stood a bedroom door.
On it, someone had scratched a single word.
MAGGIE.
My heart began hammering.
I pushed the door open.
The room was empty except for an old wooden chair, a cracked mirror, and a music box sitting on the windowsill.
The music box began playing.
I recognised the melody.
It was a lullaby I hadn’t heard since childhood.
Then the mirror clouded over.
Letters appeared slowly across its surface.
YOU FINALLY CAME BACK.
“I’ve never been here,” I whispered.
Behind me, a woman laughed softly.
“Oh, darling. You’ve said that every time.”
I spun around.
Nobody.
The mirror changed again.
This time, instead of my reflection, I saw a little girl standing in the same room.
Dark hair.
Wide eyes.
A purple ribbon tied around her wrist.
She looked directly at me.
And smiled.
“Who are you?” I asked.
The little girl tilted her head.
“Don’t you remember?”
Suddenly, the room seemed to breathe.
The walls shuddered.
The floorboards groaned.
And memories flashed through my mind.
A birthday cake.
A staircase.
A terrible scream.
Then darkness.
I stumbled backwards.
“No…”
The little girl pressed her hand against the glass.
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
“We?”
Behind her, figures began appearing.
A woman.
An elderly man.
Two children.
All staring at me.
All smiling.
The clock downstairs struck midnight.
Again.
But that was impossible.
It had already struck twelve.
I ran towards the door.
It slammed shut.
The music box stopped.
And from somewhere outside, across the street, I heard a woman scream.
My scream.
I turned towards the window.
There, standing in my bedroom across the road, was a woman holding a cup of coffee.
She looked exactly like me.
She stared at the abandoned house.
Then closed her curtains.
The little girl giggled.
“See? You always forget.”
I looked down.
The purple ribbon was tied around my wrist.
And slowly, terribly, I remembered.
I had never lived across the street.
I had always lived here.
The house wasn’t calling me inside.
It was reminding me that I had never left.
And tomorrow night, at exactly midnight…
I would whisper my name again.
#missysmadchallenge #TheHouseThatKnewMyName #GhostStory #SupernaturalFiction #OctoberWriting #TheAfterloveVoice
DJ Maggie is in the house 🎧
My two new songs are out .
With love, coffee, poetry, and stardust,
— Maggie The Afterlove Voice 💫
My song is out on streaming platforms 💜
https://ditto.fm/silenced-but-not-broken
If you want a reading, send me an email:
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