The Witch and The Ghost

Freya's point of view In today's society, it's hard as f**k to buy a house and even harder for a single mother of two. After months of debating and special offers from the realtors, I decided on a fixer-upper. Now, I know what you're thinking, how is a single mom of two going to find time between work and taking care of her kids going to find time to fix a house? To be honest, I have no idea, but I didn't have a choice. All new homes were way out of my budget and at least with a fixer-upper I could budget and fix it little by little. The realtors took me by many homes, but the one that caught my eye was the one they showed me last. It was an old plantation home from the late 1700s to early 1800s. It was two stories, white, with dark green shutters and a dark green door. Anyone could see it was run down and needed work, but there was just something about it that drew me in. It was on 10 acres of land and had a barn and pasture. I guess that is what sold me on it since I had always wanted horses. The realtors practically gave it to me stating that they were glad to finally sell the place. I thought that was odd, but I didn't dwell on it since the home had running water, heating, and air. When I got a good look around I could tell the electrical was shot and needed to be replaced, but my dad was one of the best electricians in the state, so I didn't worry about that. What worried me was the wood floors, a lot of boards would bend underneath you as you walked, which also made me worry about the structure. I decide that it just needed to be fixed one room at a time starting on the second floor and then down to the first. At first, it was easygoing, we got two rooms finished before things started to go missing. First, it was little things, like screwdrivers and measuring tapes, and we thought nothing of it. I tended to lose things anyway since I have ADHD, and often would find them in weird places. Then later, it turned into big things like boards, ceiling fans, and lights, but those were not as easily explained away. Often at night at would hear a man singing all the pretty little horses. My daughter said there was a man, a nice man, who would sing to her at night to keep the bad ghost away. I thought it strange that she talked of this man as if he wasn't the one taking my things. My retired mother usually babysat the kids when we were doing big things, so we knew it wasn't them, and the nearest neighbors were 2 miles away in any direction, so we knew it wasn't them. Finally, after 3 months of the disappearing act, I cried out in frustration at the house. "For the love of God and my sanity, please stop taking my things. I can barely afford to buy them in the first place much less replace them every time stuff goes missing around here." I had never expected a reply to this, but I received one and was quite shocked. "Then quit trying to replace perfectly good items. I will allow repairs, not replacements." Now, I knew ghosts existed and I knew they followed me. I had seen many family members long since dead watching over us in our family home as a child, but they never spoke or moved things. My daughter also had this gift, to see and interact with, but not like this. I had thought it was maybe a little mischievous ghost child or something, but boy was I wrong. The man before me was at least 6ft tall, muscular, black-haired, and had the most haunting emerald eyes I had ever seen. He wore a southern gentleman's suit, kind of like the one Clack Gable wore in the movie Gone With The Wind. He was very attractive for a ghost and fit my dream guy status, but I was angry and lashed out. "I cannot work in this dim lighting and I am fixing this home and restoring it, not changing it. This is my home, I bought it, so even if I did want to change it I could." Leave it to me to start an argument with a ghost. My d**n temper would be the death of me someday. "I will run you off my land just like everyone before you. You are no different from the rest." He had replied with equal anger as if it was my fault he was here. The nerve of this guy, it was my house now not his. "No different, no different you say. How then can I speak with you and not only that but communicate with you as well? I can't afford to leave, so you can work with me or I will get rid of you. Trust me, I can get rid of you any time." "You hard-headed woman! You don't think people before you haven't tried to cast me out. I am bound to this home, why do you think you got it so cheap? They couldn't sell this place to anyone because I approve of no one. I especially don't approve of you." "You obviously approve of my children. Not once have they been scared in this house, and at least one night I heard a lullaby being sung to my daughter." He said nothing just turned away and disappeared. I had won the argument, but at what cost? I had angered a spirit and angry spirits have no mercy. A month went by and all was quiet. My daughter missed her lullabies sung by the nice man. I couldn't understand why he was taking it out on her, so I decided after 6 months of living in this house to finally do some research.