July 26, 2003
County View
By
Jim Jones

It was Easter Sunday, the day that we made our new home in county View. All the neighbors were watching us intensely like we were going to go on some kind of killing spree or something. But we weren't, no!! Far from it.  We were more like the cute little couple that minded their own business and when things in the neighbor hood would get hectic, we just stayed inside away from all of the chaos.  
	I can remember that the man living next door to us came out for a brief moment to introduce himself.
	"Hey there, My name is Todd. How long do you plan on living here." His eyes were beauty as he looked at the boxes in the U-Haul.  "My last neighbor moved because of the all the rowdy people in the area." His tone was missing something, Like he wasn't telling the whole story. Like he was hiding something. He looked blankly down the street as he spoke.
	That's when I saw the flag hanging high above the giant oaks that surrounded each home. It was a white flag with the embroidering of a phoenix bird with a smaller bird hanging form his beak. Blood was dripping as his wings spanned across the Dixie Flag background.   
	Todd notice me looking at the flag. and said, "Oh you don't have to worry about that old man, He's lost his mind. He still thinks that it is the twenties and that he had the right to hang any niggers that move into his neighborhood." He gave a chuckle as I turned to finish my duties of moving. in.
	My wife Irene overheard the conversation and said to me. "I already don't like it here." Her Blue eyes flashed as the spoke her concerns. "I hope we don't have to stay here long. 
	Not even moved in and she wants to move already. I thought to myself  with the biggest of the U-Haul boxes in my arms.  
	 There stood a gloomy figure inside the home as I walked through the threshold for the seventh time that day.  It was towering before with breath of ice and Eyes of  fire.  It's milky white robe waved proudly as did his fire orange hair.  His words were loud yet discrete. "Stay here Not, So shall your soul parish within these walls."
	My heart pounded with the warning, and my hands trembled with fright.  I guess my wife didn’t see the Ghostly figure, She was still outside wrestling with the remaining boxes. But I saw it. It would remain with me for the rest of my days. Those fiery eyes were like tacky wallpaper plastered  against the wall of my memory block.  I thought to myself, this isn’t going to last very long.  either that thing has got to go or we’ve got to go. I know now that I should’ve been the one to leave that day. 
	I cursed at the ghost, and with the sharp words the Ghostly Figure vanished before my very eyes. 
	Just then my wife walked through the doorway.  my voice crackled as I asked , “Did you See that?”  
	She looked about the room with confusion. “See what?” 
	I realized that She hadn’t seen my daydream and dismissed the incident. 
	“Who were you yelling at?” My wife asked.
	“Oh, no one, I thought  I seen a Stray cat.”  I waked towards the kitchen with the box in my hand.
She set her box in the middle of the living room and went back outside. 
	I looked around the room to see if I could find a trace of the ghostly figure but no evidence was found.
	Later that night, after the long day of unpacking , We were settling into our antique canopy bed  when I my wife asked.  “Do you think it was a mistake to leave Vermont?”  
	I comforted her with, “I think that moving is the best decision that we have made in awhile.”
	She stared blankly at the ceiling.  She quietly said. “Do you think Jillian will like the house?”
	“I think she’ll absolutely love it here. Did you see how big her room is.  It’s three times the size of her old Room.”
	A tear formed at the crease of her eye and she said. “I think we should’ve brought her with us. I’m worried about her.” 
	You shouldn’t worry so much, Besides you just got done talking to her a half hour ago.”
	“I know, But I miss her so much.”
	“I know you do, But she’ll  be here in two days..”  I tapped her arm with love and said. “We should get some sleep now.” I turned off the light  and we turned to get comfortable. 

	I was dreaming of caramel sundaes when the noise roused me.  It was the faint noise of running water. I got out of bed to see where the noise was coming from. It led me to the bathroom in the hallway. When I opened the door I saw my wife lying in the tub with blood covering her body. It seemed to be coming from a slash in her throat. Her white gown was stained red and her opened eyes  turned black with death.   I rushed to her aid but it was too late. the water was boiling hot  and her flesh was bubbling I burnt my hand on the handle when I tried to turn the water off.  My hand blistered instantly.   I looked deeply into my wife's eyes and tears rolled down my face.  I thought that would be the end of my life.  I no longer cared how hot the water was and reached into the scalding fluid to retrieve the body of my wife.  Both my arms blistered instantly.
	I carried the body of my wife into the hall and I walked her towards the bedroom. The Hallway magically expanded as I waked and the end was always near but I never got  there. With every step another yard was added to the hallway.  It was hours before I finally had to stop for a rest.  As I rested the Ghostly figure appeared to me again,  It was at the end of the hallway  and approaching me with vengeance.  It’s voice had an unholy tone to it. “I warned once, I will warn twice, get out before I take your life.” And just as fast as it appeared it disappeared  with it’s icy breath and fiery hair. Only a fine mist remained. I looked  down at my wife and cried.
	I couldn’t stand, It was like I was strapped to a looney bed.  And finally after two days, I heard the door bell ring.  I knew that it was Jillian.  I just knew it was.  I thought about how I would explain what happened to her mother but I couldn’t even get up to answer the door. It was like I was nailed to the floor with huge steel spikes. The Bell rang and rang, Until it ceased.  
	I slept restlessly for the next few hours,. I was aroused with he sound of Jillian’s voice Screaming. “MOMMY!!” Her voice was like a speeding train that shot through  my heart.  I knew that some how she had made it inside and now she knows what happened to her mother,  “MOMMY, wake up.”
	I looked up from my slumber to look at my daughter but she was no where to be found.  I thought that I was having a nightmare And I closed my eyes.    Once I drifted back to sleep I heard her voice once again, but this time she was accusing me. “Daddy, what did you do to mommy?”  
	Again I looked up but this time she was standing over me with a butcher knife.  I thought she was going to stab me with it but when she trusted the knife It pierced her own trachea. The blood spattered across my face and I could taste it, It was warm and salty and  she fell atop of me.  I tried to move my arms but the steel stakes immobilized them.  Her head lay at rest in my lap.  I cried out. “Oh God. Please help me.” Right at that moment I thought he answered me with a real voice, but it turned out to be the voice of something horrid.  “Warnings are there for a reason.  But this reason is way beyond your conception, I warned you nicely three times and now you will pay the toll with your life.”  The figure Suddenly  Disappeared.
	I felt this feeling over me. I was suddenly energized with youth. I felt like i was ten years old agian And I stood up from the pile of death and began dancing, I couldn’t control it. I was like a puppet on strings and the ghost was pulling them.  I danced around and with the passing of every minute the faster my feet moved.  I could feel my heart pounding with exhaustion.  I tried to force myself to stop my the harder I tried the harder my heart pounded and the faster my feet would move.  and then suddenly the pain hit me,  It felt like someone stuck their hand through my chest cavity  and wrapped their fingers around my heart.  The hand started squeezing and then I felt the organ explode.  I collapsed in that very spot.  I could taste my own blood as I started to throw up.  My vision Grew black. 
	
	I woke up with a man that had a dust mask on hovering over me.  there was another man dressed in a blue uniform standing behind him. And they were talking.  the man over me said “Are you sure that you want me to save his life after all he killed his wife and ten year old child?”   

the end.