The Ghost in the Rocking Chair: a spooky mystery that offers an important lesson to be learned. The short story was written a few years ago, and reminds me of a Goosebumps meets the Brady Bunch episode. As you'll find out, the Smith family is a totally normal family. Paranormal experiences will not happen in this family home! But what can be said of the spooky rocking chair in the attic with invisible ghost that sits in it?
The Smith Family lives in two story home on a quiet street in the Atlanta suburb, Decatur. Husband and father, John Smith, works as an executive account manager for a highly established marketing firm. His wife, Mary, is a stay-at-home mom.
John and Mary have two children. They have a ten-year old son named Dan and a seven-year old daughter named Jill. Dan is in fifth grade elementary school. Jill is in the second grade.
***
It was a windy night in March when ten-year-old Danny was awoken from his sleep because of a banging noise. The banging noise seemed to be coming from upstairs in the attic. Curious of the noise, Dan got out of bed and quietly walked down the hall to the attic door. Opening the door provided an unfinished staircase to the attic.
The staircase and attic were pitch-black. This was certainly something that would have made a ten-year-old child uneasy. So before ascending the staircase, he switched on a light located on the wall which provided some crude lighting to the attic. Then he slowly and carefully ascended the staircase.
While climbing up to the attic, the banging noise got louder. Dan was scared! What could that noise have been? It wasn't until he reached the top step and looked over to the far wall of the attic that he could see what the noise was. Dan couldn't believe his eyes. An old rocking chair was rocking back and forth in the attic all by itself! Sometimes it rocked so hard that the top banged into the wall. That certainly explained the banging noise heard from the attic. But what could have possibly caused the chair to rock back and forth on its own?
There was only one rational explanation at the moment for ten-year-old Dan. He believed that an invisible ghost was sitting in the chair and rocking it.
Dan was terrified at the sight. He was so frightened that he ran down the stairs and closed the attic door behind him. But unbeknown to him, it didn't fully close. He also forgot to turn off the attic light. Dan jumped back into bed and pulled the covers over his head and tried to forget what he saw. But the rocking chair could be heard from upstairs in the attic. Dan put both of the pillows over his head to block the noise. It was some time before he could finally fall back to sleep.
***
The following morning was a Wednesday and certainly a school day, Dan dressed and went downstairs into the kitchen where Mother made breakfast and Father sat at the table reading the morning paper. Dan's younger sister, Jill, hadn't made it to the breakfast table.
Dan sat down in his seat and took a sip of his orange juice. From what he could see, it looked like Mother was making eggs for breakfast.
Just as Dan put his glass of orange juice down after taking a sip, Father lowered his newspaper and asked Dan a question. "Dan, I noticed this morning that the attic door was opened a crack and that the attic light was left on. Do you know anything about this?"
Dan was speechless at first and looked at the table.
Father didn't appreciate his son not being so quick to answer. "Dan, I asked you a question and I expect an answer. Do you know anything about that door being open and the light on?"
Dan hesitated for a second and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I heard a strange noise upstairs in the attic last night and I wanted to see what it was."
"So you went up there?" Father asked.
"Yes." answered Dan
Father was puzzled and further probed. "Well why didn't you shut the light off and close the door?"
Poor, frightened Dan did all he could to hold back the tears. "I saw a ghost up there and I was scared. I really thought I shut the door, and I guess I was so scared that I forgot to turn off the light."
Father gave his son a very, strange look. "Dan, you know that there are no such things as ghosts. Why would you be afraid of a ghost in the attic? Ghosts aren't real. They are just a figment of your imagination."
"I know" answed Dan. "But I saw it rocking in the chair. I saw it with my own, two eyes."
Father took a sip of his coffee and continued. "Son, sometimes the mind plays tricks on us. Sometimes you truly believe in some circumstance or some fact that you actually think you see something that really isn't there. That's just how the mind works. Like I said, ghosts are just a figment of the imagination. You were probably half asleep and dreaming while up in that attic. Doesn't that seem like a more reasonable explanation?"
Just then, Mother walked over and put a scoop of eggs on Father's plate along with two slices of buttered toast. Then she did the same for Dan. She could see the pouty expression on her son's face and knew that he wasn't fully agreeing with Father. "Your father is right, Dan." mother reaffirmed. "Listen to your father. There are no such things as ghosts." Then she smiled at Father while walking away to check on her daughter, Jill.
Father took a couple bites of breakfast and wrapped up the conversation. "You don't still think you saw a ghost in the attic, do you?"
"No sir..."
"Good!" answered Father. "Now after breakfast, turn off the attic light and make sure the door is shut."
"Yes sir..."
After breakfast, Dan did as ordered and returned upstairs to the attic door. It was now morning, and not so frightening to reach his hand over to the wall and switch off the light. But he was quick to make sure the door was closed and maybe walked away a little faster than usual. As he believed, perhaps a ghost was behind the door and just seconds from opening it!
***
***
During the bus ride to school, Dan mostly forgot the previous night's experience. By midmorning, it was nearly purged from memory. But at recess on the playground, Dan spotted a plastic bag that had somehow blown into one of the branches of a tree. It was a gusty March morning which resulted in the bag blowing from side to side in the tree. It reminded Dan of a ghost and immediately called to mind last night's experience in the attic.
Now Father always stressed the importance of never standing out among peers or appearing different. Being different or having some unusual characteristic of uniqueness is not a good thing. This includes believing in things that go against the norm or what other people believe. As Father always explained to his son, it's important to be exactly like everyone else. That way, it will be easier to socialize and network throughout life and in a career.
But in that moment, Dan disregarded his father's wisdom and commented on the bag blowing in the wind. He pointed it out to his playground friends, "Hey, look at that bag! Doesn't it look like a ghost?"
All of Dan's friends laughed.
"Ghost?" asked one of Dan's friends. "You think that looks like a ghost? Everyone knows there are no such things as ghosts!"
Everyone agreed and chimed in laughter. Poor Dan was the butt-end of the joke for the rest of the morning. And it was a good lesson for Dan! He should have listed to Father and never said anything that might have stood out from the ordinary. Fortunately his ghost comment was forgotten by lunch.
***
The gusty winds of March died down and didn't return until Thursday evening. Dan was awoken late at night from the same noise of something banging in the attic. Despite the fact that Father advised him of ghosts being a figment of the imagination, a surge of terror rushed through him. As he believed, the ghost was up there and being just as noisy as ever.
At first, Dan pulled the pillows over his head to block out the noise. But for some reason, the sound seemed louder than on Wednesday and impossible to ignore. Lying there, Dan's imagination played all sorts of tricks on him. From what he believed, the ghost could easily open the attic door, come down the hallway and float into his room.
The dreaded fears were finally too much for Dan. He had no choice but to scurry into Mother and Father's room and whisper out to his father. "Dad? Dad?"
Father rolled over. "What is it son?"
"I hear that noise in the attic, again."
Father got out of bed and walked into the hallway. Sure enough, the banging noise could be heard from the attic.
"Hear it?" asked Dan. "That's the ghost rocking in the chair."
Father gave his son a strange look. "Now didn't I tell you that there are no such things as ghosts?"
Just then, Mother walked into the hallway where her husband and son stood. "What's going on?" she asked.
Father replied, "Dan woke me up because of a noise in the attic. I wonder what that is."
As the three of them approached the attic door, Dan's younger sister, Jill, quietly walked over in curiosity. Her presence startled Dan and momentarily caused him to believe that the ghost had vaporized through the door. He nearly screamed while quickly backing away from his sister.
Father was losing his patience. "Calm down! I don't know what's happening to you. See what I mean about your mind playing tricks on you? I'm going upstairs into the attic and get to the bottom of this so we can go back to sleep."
The family watched as brave Father opened the attic door, switched on the light and ascended the stairs. Banging could be heard, and Dan just knew that Father would finally see the ghost. But in a much unanticipated move, Father turned from the staircase and walked right over to the direction of the noise! Then he returned to the stairs and looked down the staircase to his son. "Dan, I want to show you something. Come up here."
Dan hesitated as he wasn't comfortable going up into the attic where he would encounter a possible ghost.
Mother encouraged her son. "Go ahead. Your father wants to show you something."
Now Dan knew that when Mother and Father asked him to do something, he was supposed to obey and do it. This included venturing into the attic where a ghost could be heard. Reluctantly, Dan ascended the stairs--maybe a bit slower than what he should have.
"Come on!" ordered Father. "I don't have all night. I want to get back to sleep."
Dan made his way up the final steps and took sight at what he believed to be the invisible ghost rocking back and forth in the rocking chair. Sometimes it rocked so hard that the back hit the wall.
Father gave his son a weird look while asking, "You don't think that's a ghost, do you?" Then he explained, "Now I want to show you something. See that window open near the chair?"
"Yes..."
"I was up here doing work last autumn and opened the window to get some air up here. Apparently I forgot to shut it. The wind is now blowing through the window and rocking the chair." Father walked over to the window and shut it. Immediately, the chair slowed down and finally stopped. "There's your ghost. Mystery solved!"
Dan was in disbelief! All this time he thought that an invisible ghost was sitting in the chair. Instead, it was the wind. How silly of Dan!
***
The following morning was a Friday as the entire family sat down to eat breakfast. Mother made waffles with bacon--Dan's favorite. As he took a bite of crispy bacon Father cleared his throat to speak.
"So do we have the mystery of the rocking chair ghost finally solved?"
Dan nodded his head. "Mmm-hmm..."
"Good!" said Father. "And let this be a lesson to you. You can't always believe what you see and draw inferences to create facts. If something mystifies you, there is probably some fact or truth that you are not aware of. There is always a rational explanation for some out-of-the-ordinary experience and it's best to get to the bottom of things before jumping to conclusions."
Dan continued to eat his breakfast. But unlike Wednesday morning, he believed everything that Father told him. The mystery of the ghost had been solved by Father.
THE END!
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