“Bridgettttt!!!”…. Mrs Miller called out her daughters name
“Yes mumm!”. Bridget called out from her room.
“Dinner is ready”. Mr Miller said.
“I’ll be down soon”. Bridget replied
Dinner by 7:30pm
The Millers were a rather small family. They had just one child, their precious jewel, Bridget. They were a family of three.
“Bridget honey, your mum and I would be going on a vacation this weekend”. Mr Miller said while they were eating
“Yayyy. I get the house to myself!!”. She said enthusiastically.
“Hahaha very funny. You’ll be staying at grandma’s while we’re away”. Mrs Miller said to her daughter.
“What! No!!! Can’t I just stay at our neighbors until you’re back or at my friends place or at uncle Desmond’s. Anywhere at all asides grandma’s”. Bridget cried out.
“Sorry dear. But Grannie insisted you come over while we’re away. She probably wants to spend time with you”. Mr Miller said again.
Bridget was not happy throughout dinner. She hated going to Grandma Paula’s place, it always gave her the ‘creeps’ as she would say. Grannie lived in a five bedroom duplex alone while she had a cleaner that would come over twice a week to clean up the place.
At this point she accepted both her fate and defeat. She was really going to spend the next few days over there. She didn’t have the luxury of using school to escape during the day because they were on a mid term break.
Friday Morning
“Bridget hurry up. You’re gonna make I and dad miss the flight”. Mrs Miller called from downstairs while Mr Miller tried to put their bags in the trunk of the car.
Bridget hurriedly came downstairs with a small traveling bag containing her belongings.
She sat at the back with her bag, her mum in front while her dad drove. Grandma’s was like an hours drive away. They would drive there, drop Bridget off and an Uber driver would be there waiting to take them to the airport.
Both parents knew their sixteen year old daughter wasn’t happy so they tried to cheer her up. Dad tuned in the radio and one of Bridget’s favorite song came on; “Get Lucky” by Pharrell Williams and Daft Punk.
Dad started singing alone, mum joined in few seconds later and then Bridget knew she couldn’t stay mad forever. She joined in the karaoke too:
“She’s up all night ‘til the sun! ..
I’m up all night to get some!..
She’s up all night for good fun!..
I’m up all night to get lucky!…
We're up all night 'til the sun!..
We're up all night to get some!..
We're up all night for good fun!..
We're up all night to get lucky!..
We're up all night to get lucky!..
We're up all night to get lucky!..
We're up all night to get lucky!..
We're up all night to get lucky!..”
They all sang along while dad drove. This brought back so many memories. When last did they have a road trip?
An hour later
They had arrived Grandma’s.
Paula was already downstairs excited to see her son, daughter in law and grandchild.
“Good morning mum”. Mr Miller said to his mum after he got down from the car.
“Ohh good morning Roger”. She said with a smile
“Good morning!”. Bridget and her mum greeted simultaneously.
“Aww my girlssss. You all look so good. I’m so excited to see you all”. Grandma Paula said while she grabbed and stretched Bridget’s cheeks.
Just then the Uber arrived.
“Well mum we have to get going now so we don’t miss our flight”. Mr Miller said while bringing out their bags to put in the Uber.
“You love birds should enjoy your mini vacation. I’ll take care of my grand daughter”. She said.
Mr and Mrs Miller placed a kiss on the foreheads of both Bridget and Paula and off they went.
“Honey, take your bags upstairs. I already arranged the first room on the left for you. There’s lunch in the kitchen. I won’t be back till late this evening. I’m off to play bingo with my girls at the civic center”. Grandma Paula said as she entered her car and drove.
“Don’t have too much fun”. Bridget called out.
She was happy to have the house alone and decided to make the most of it before Paula comes back and starts drilling her with questions about her personal life.
Few hours later
Bridget was done unpacking, she had lunch, spoke to her parents because they had reached their destination. Now she was wandering around the house, going through photo albums and snooping around.
It was around 6:00 pm now and grandma wasn’t back so she decided to take nap before she died of boredom, there was no power in the house and her phone was really low.
8:00 pm
Bridget was abruptly woken up by a loud banging noise on the door. She was really afraid. After a few minutes the banging persisted.
“Grandma! Grandma!”. She called out but no answer.
Just then she sees a shadow from outside her window going round the house. She was alarmed at this point. Her phone was almost dead, 3%. She had to call someone, so she tried calling her parents but none of them picked their calls.
“Of course they won’t pick, they’re too busy having the time of their lives”. She muttered to herself.
She thought of calling her grandma but she didn’t even her number.
“I’m definitely receiving the ‘Best grand daughter of the year’ award”. She said sarcastically.
Just then the banging started again but this time it was at the back door. Fear crept in again.
She tried calling 911 but she didn’t even have the address to where she was. Bridget was beyond screwed at this point.
Just then something jumped on her legs and she let out a loud shriek. And immediately had to put on the torchlight on her phone.
Phew! It was just a wall gecko.
She tried to find a torchlight before her phone died. She did find one but there were no batteries. Luck was really not on her side.
Just then she heard something downstairs. How did it enter? Now it was climbing upstairs. It didn’t sound like footsteps so what was it?
Her room door was open, with the light from the neighboring house she saw a shadow pass by her door, a smaller shadow.
Something else jumped on her body right away. She screamed her lungs out while she ran out of the room. Just then she felt something around her legs. She screamed even louder and ran downstairs hoping to find a weapon.
The banging on the door resumed now. She didn’t know what to do now, her phone was dead. She should’ve just stood her ground about not wanting to come here in the first place.
While she tried to find a broom or a mop and a sharp object to protect herself. Something else ran across her leg but much bigger. She felt eight legs and heard whatever it was that touched her legs upstairs coming downstairs. There were multiple things in the house! What could have eight legs!
She immediately jumped on the kitchen counter. She was crying at this point. How could grandma leave her alone in this house!
The loud banging resumed. She heard things running around in the living room.
She knew no one was coming to save her, she had to wipe her tears and be a big girl. She immediately got down from the counter and got the broom she found and decided to race towards the front door since the last banging she heard was at the back door.
“Ahhhhhhhh”. Bridget screamed as she raced to the front door determined to knock out whoever the intruder was.
As she ran out of the door screaming she immediately saw Grandma Paula and ran to hug her while she started crying.
“Grannie someone was trying to break in. I saw things upstairs, I heard noises, I saw shadows, creatures crossed my legs multiple times, there’s no power in the house but every other person has light. Grannie your house is haunted. I told mum and dad but they didn’t believe me!”. Bridget said with tears flowing from her eyes.
Just then Grandma Paula started laughing.
“Grannie I promise I’m not lying”. She said with teary eyes.
“I was the person banging silly. I tried calling you to open the door but your phone was dead”. She said
“Why didn’t you just use your keys?”. Bridget asked.
“I have just one set of keys since I live here alone. I had to leave them for you since you were home”. Grandma said.
“But how come we’re the only ones with no light in the neighborhood?”. She asked
“I usually put the power on from the general switch which I forgot to tell you about. I’m trying to cut down on the light bills”. Grandma said.
“Okay! And the things that kept jumping on my legs. I know one was a wall gecko but one climbed the stairs and I felt it passed through the front door, I don’t know how! The other one had eight legs!”. Bridget tried to argue.
“Honey that should have been Mrs Miranda’s cat. I’ve had rats in the house for quite sometime now. That’s probably what jumped over your legs and the eight legged thing just had to be two rats running away from the cat. I’m also pretty sure it was the cat that climbed the stairs as well. It enters the house through the pet door”. She explained.
“Ohh that explains a lot”. Bridget let out a sigh of relief.
“Now come let’s go inside I bought takeouts for you”. Grandma Paula said.
They both went inside and put the power on from the switch and had a nice dinner while they watched “Do Revenge” on Netflix.
Bridget couldn’t wait to tell her parents this funny story.