The Illusion

Christopher Raines still gets a chill thinking about what he saw four years ago. He admits that what he saw was neither dreadful nor horrifying. But even so, it is still creepy and has kept his grandparents and him thinking about it since then. Christopher had been enjoying himself at his grandparents house pigging out on the candy bars ans sweets which one's parents never lets one eat at home. During dinner just a while before, his grandmother had been telling him about how the faucet kept turning itself on no matter how many times she turned it off. People kept saying that they saw a little girl in a frilly red dress on the front porch every time they passed and the smell of cigars became a constant occurrence at the house even though none of them smoked. Going to bed a little unnerved, Christopher fell into a troubled sleep.

Christopher was sound asleep. Suddenly, something woke him. Waking up to a strange noise, he looked out of his window and saw a lady dressed all in white. She looked at him as if she had known he would wake up just then and look at her. Terrified at the look in her eyes, he dived under his sheets and did not come out till he heard the familiar noise of his grandfather waking up at half past four in the morning to make his coffee. Rushing over to the light switch, which was at his door and switching it on with much force, he scurried out of the room. The two were having coffee and talking when Christopher's mother woke up a while later and joined in the conversation. Soon they were all wide awake, talking about everything under the sun. Christopher wanted to tell them about what he had seen but refrained from doing so. Either way, by the time the conversation had run its course, he was enjoying himself too much to worry about it.

Just before six, Christopher and his mother saw his grandmother walking across the hallway. He had been facing her and his mother had noticed her when her nightgown touched her arm. They heard the water faucet come on and heard the refrigerator door opening. After a while, they were still waiting for her to come out but she did not. The asked Chris's grandfather what she could be doing and he was pretty confused, saying that she was in the room. The two informed his grandfather that she had come out and gone into the kitchen. 'Babe!' he called in the direction of the kitchen. After getting no reply, he called out again only to have the same silence greet him. So Christopher went into the kitchen... only to find no one there. In a panic, he came out and informed his mother that she was not there. Rushing to the bedroom, his mother found her sleeping soundly in bed. There was no way she could have gotten back without either of them noticing her. They shook her awake, nearly giving the poor old women a heart attack and began questioning her anxiously.

'Mawmaw, did you go into the kitchen and leave the water on?' 'No.' A chill ran through both the back of Christopher and his mother and they quivered as the reply came.