The Hauntch Shop
Everyone had been so worried with their own trouble they never noticed the elderly woman in orange. Her hair was perfectly fixed, and she walked in a comical fashion. Had they seen her they would have forgotten for a moment they were lost. Now she stood behind them, and in a very vague and strange voice she addressed them. “Where did you children come from?” She grabbed Gregory by the vest and began buttoning him up, “Oh my, but you look a mess.” Then she took hold of Chillus and fixed his stockings and buttoned his pantaloons. “Goodness me.” She glanced up at the mist that was beginning to fill in east. “But you can’t stay here can you.”, she said to no one at all in the far distance. “Come quickly.” She motioned to Marco. “You will all be safe at my house.” A orange carriage raced towards them from out of the mist as she waved her arm.
Everyone piled inside, it was a tight fit, but no one seemed to have time to complain. As soon as they had entered the carriage, the outside seemed to whirl past them in a blur. And in less than three seconds time, they were in front of a small two story Victorian house. Everything was done in orange, even the flowers and trees that bloomed.
“Hurry,” she urged them inside. “Go inside and eat.”
Sandwiches were waiting for them on the coffee table, and iced tea on the running board. The house was warm and inviting, on the walls were paintings of various people, and scattered through the house were kick-knacks collected for at least fifty years. It smelled of mothballs and warm tea, mixed with a bit of fireplace soot.
“You can stay here for the night.” the elderly lady locked the door as night fell.
Everyone had eaten their fill of sandwiches and were getting drowsy, a small fire was blazing in the fireplace. The room had just enough seats for everyone to be sitting comfortably on one of the three couches that surrounded the fireplace.
The woman stoked the fire for a moment and reminisced. “When I was about your age. I had a group of friends like you.” She walked to the window and glanced out at the mist that was filling the air, “I lost them to the mist.”. She again seemed to be talking to no one in the distance. “It was so sad.” she continued her tale. “A woman found me and sheltered me. Here. In this house. Over time, she became my mother and we had many happy years here. I have never been so happy. I went to school and became a teacher, and I lived here with my mother until she died.” she turned around to Marco and looked him square in the eye. “I had never been so happy.” She vanished before everyone’s eyes, the curtain she had been holding fell back against the wall.
Everyone gasped, even Brian was completely taken off guard.
A cold chill ran across Marco’s back, a terrifying thought crossed his mind. Chillus had said Sarah was wearing orange.