Stephanie went back to Utah to get her late parents’ house sold, but after taking a nap, she heard a sound coming from the attic. It was dark and dirty, but something shocking was up there, too.
“Ugh, that was a long drive,” Stephanie said to herself while exiting her car and stretching her arms above her head. It was an eight-hour drive from Denver, Colorado to Utah, and it had been hard. She could have flown there, but she wanted to take her car in case there was something she wanted from the house.
She was there to clean, oversee some repairs, and get her late parents’ house on the market for sale. When her father died years earlier, Stephanie took her mother to Denver with her. But the older woman died recently, and it was time to sell their abandoned house.
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Stephanie knew it would need tons of improvement before it could be listed, but she was ready. Luckily, real estate prices rose in the area, and it should fetch a reasonable price once it was ready.
Opening the trunk of her car, she grabbed her bags and went to the porch. It took a bit of force, but she managed to finally jingle the keys enough to open the front door.
The ambiance was terrible. There was a stale smell in the air, cobwebs, and dirt. But at least all the furniture had been covered in blankets to protect them.
It looked like the fridge was on and working perfectly for some reason. “Mom must have left the fridge on. The power bill must be astronomical,” she said to herself, wondering why the power company hadn’t cut it off. But she would worry about that later.
She decided to take out the new blankets she had brought with her and replace the ones in her old bedroom. If she was going to stay there for some time, she needed fresh new sheets on her bed, which looked pretty enticing afterward. So she lay there for a second and fell asleep quickly.
She woke up a few hours later feeling groggy. Something had woken her up. There was a small cry coming from somewhere. But where? she wondered, and suddenly, a loud thump made her look toward the ceiling.
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Obviously, old houses creaked every once in a while, but this was different. Something or someone was up there. Although she was fearful, Stephanie had to investigate. Grabbing a flashlight from her bag, she went upstairs quickly to check things out.
“Hello?” she asked into the air, hoping nothing would answer her as she walked into the attic. “Is there someone here?”
There were boxes and even more cobwebs around, and she could barely see anything. But she moved her flashlight around, and suddenly a face looked at her directly with wide eyes.
“AH!” she screamed, and a baby started crying.
“HELLO! WHO’S THERE?” she bellowed.
“Hush, please. I’m here. I’m here,” a woman’s voice suddenly said.
Stephanie finally found the light switch and turned on the lightbulb in the middle of the attic. Sitting in one corner, she saw a woman holding a crying baby in her arms.
“Who are you?” she asked, still breathless from being frightened.
“I’m Sarah. Please, I don’t mean any harm. But please, don’t yell again,” the woman begged.
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“Well, you did scare me. Hi, Sarah. What are you doing here?” Stephanie asked, lowering her voice to avoid disturbing the baby once again.
Sarah stood up from her place in the corner and approached Stephanie. “It’s a long story, but I basically invaded this house when my loser ex-boyfriend kicked me out,” Sarah explained, trying to sound funny.
“Oh.”
“I saw this place, and no one was inside. I’ve been living here for a while,” Sarah continued.
“So you must have turned on the fridge?” Stephanie wondered.
“Yes, luckily, the electricity is still working just fine.”
“Well, good. Come down. I don’t mean no harm either,” Stephanie offered kindly.
Downstairs, Stephanie surveyed the kitchen and found a couple of teabags. They were old, but they would work. Sarah sat opposite her after leaving the baby in another room to sleep peacefully.
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They talked for a long time. Sarah told Stephanie everything about her life and how it had gone downhill, especially after the birth of her baby. Her boyfriend threw her out because apparently, he didn’t like babies anymore, and she had nowhere else to go. Stephanie nodded, understanding the woman’s predicament.
“I’ll leave tomorrow morning,” Sarah said.
Stephanie shook her head. “No, no. You can stay here. But I have an offer for you. I need to clean this house and get it up to code because I’m selling it. How about you help me out? I can pay you a bit, and you can stay in one of the rooms with the baby,” she offered.
“That’s too generous,” Sarah breathed, her eyes watering.
“It’s not, really. There’s a lot of work to be done here,” she replied and laughed. Sarah joined in her merriment.
Over the next month, Sarah helped her get the house ready. She was also good at repairs, especially plumbing, which saved Stephanie tons of money. Afterward, she got a remote job that allowed her to earn from home while helping Stephanie get everything ready.
For illustration purposes only. | Source: Pexels
However, when the house was ready, Stephanie decided to rent it out to Satah. She realized that she didn’t want to sell her parents’ home and trusted Sarah completely. She went back to Denver, and Sarah paid her promptly every month.
