The Haunted Playground

The Crenshaws just moved into the quiet small town of Fair Haven, just losing mom two years ago Sophia's dad had decided to move to this small town away from the metropolis hoping for some peace and quiet. The family just hadn't been the same since after the incident. The Crenshaw family now a family of four, a dad and three kids, Sophia the eldest, Luke the second and Freddie the third. Sophia was a quiet redhead who was always drawn to herself, 'always in a shell' as her dad is would always put it. Sophia had to live with the pain of being constantly taunted by her father for looking too much like her mom. Sophia was going to turn eighteen in six months but although she looked younger but was already endowed with features, if you know what I mean. Both Luke and Freddie loved Sophia and would usually console Sophia whenever father has thrown his tantrums but Sophia didn't care about the tantrums, she just wanted to turn eighteen so she could start a life of her own and when possible come take Freddie and luck to live with her in her mansion. The house was at the far east side of town. A nice , quiet, relaxing bungalow with three rooms. Sophia settled in her room after unloading the boxes and setting up the house with help from Luke and Freddie. She took out a photo of her mom and put it on her bedside table just beside the lamp as she let out a quiet sigh. Although the journey took it's toll on her she was finally relaxed, she could listen to her own thoughts now. She took out her phone and put some music on, laid back staring at the ceiling. "This is really calming", she thought. After sometime Sophia drifted off to sleep and just then, Dreamland set in. Sophia was taking a walk on the playground when suddenly she felt a gush of wind past her neck, so fast she would've sworn it didn't happen but the cold chill it sent down her spine could not be denied. Sophia continued to walk on when she heard giggling but still yet too fast to believe yet again, she tried to run back to the entrance but instead found herself in a dark room, wondering how she got there, she felt a dagger in her back, screaming she woke up, breaking into a cold sweat, she realized it was only a dream. Startled she got up to take a shower when she noticed a scar on her back on the same spot the knife had penetrated in her dream, she went closer to the mirror in disbelief, looked at it once again but the scare was no longer there. Still spooked, she took a shower and went out to join the family at the table for supper. "You look quite startled", Luke said "It's nothing, I'm fine", Sophia replied Luke kept blabbing about how excited he was to go to a new school and make new friends. Freddie teased and Sophia joined in the laugh, just as dad got in and the trio immediately became quiet. He sat at the table glaring at Sophia. "I thought I told you to lose your mom's photo Sophia, huh?", he said angrily. "But dad I can't, that's the only memory I have of her", Sophia pleaded. "Stuff it somewhere", he replied angrily Sophia was dumbfounded but she tried to understand the torture he must be going through but couldn't understand why he had to take it out on her. They all had dinner quietly and retired to their rooms, they were going to enroll at school tomorrow so everyone had to go to bed early. Dad sat in the living room drowning in a bottle of wine, Freddie and Luke had taken a shower, brushed their teeth and were talking about the event of the next day and what to expect. Sophia was thinking about the dream she had earlier, too scared to go to sleep. She tried to read a book to help her relax, she started drowning herself in the pages of a romantic novel, giggling at intervals over the writer's description of the book's main character, an alpha male who had all the ladies drooling over him, he was so dreamy it made Sophia blush. She was still enjoying the book when it began to rain slowly, she again drifted to sleep, landing in Dreamland, the same day, the same dream.