A Dream House (2)

Lisa and Mark had been working tirelessly for the past few weeks to renovate their new house. The house, which had previously looked abandoned for years, now looked clean and well-kept, thanks to the couple's hard work. They were determined to turn it into their dream home, and every day they saw the progress of their efforts in transforming the house into a cozy and attractive place.

"Great, we're done," exclaimed Mark with joy as he put the finishing touches of paint on the living room wall.

Both were covered in paint and sweat, but their faces reflected unparalleled satisfaction. As they stepped back to admire their work, they couldn't help but laugh at their own clumsiness. Turning his head to observe Lisa, Mark noticed a small white paint stain on Lisa's nose and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Lisa asked Mark with a small smile upon hearing that little chuckle.

"You have a little paint stain on your nose, come here, let me clean it off," Mark responded as he slowly reached out his hand to wipe off the stain. But when Mark finally touched Lisa's nose to clean it, he realized that he had forgotten something - his hand was covered in paint.

Observing how Lisa's nose was completely covered in paint, Mark couldn't help but burst into an even bigger laugh. Confused, Lisa looked at herself in a nearby mirror and also let out a small giggle.

But the joy and fun they had been experiencing quickly faded when Lisa stopped and looked at the wall with confusion, pointing out a detail that was there.

"Where did that come from?" Lisa asked as she pointed to a black paint mark on the wall.

"I don't know, maybe one of us accidentally painted it while we were doing the details on the door frames," Mark responded, sharing the same confusion that Lisa had.

"That's probably it," Lisa responded, not entirely convinced.

"Well, let's not make a big deal out of it. Why don't we go eat something after this long day?" Mark said after dismissing the mark on the wall.

"You're right, we should celebrate that we finally finished this renovation," Lisa exclaimed happily, after remembering that they had finally finished the hard work.

Some days later, Mark had to leave suddenly on a work trip, leaving Lisa alone in the house. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lisa decided to undertake a titanic task: cleaning and organizing every corner of the house. Without Mark's presence, she felt free to move around and reorganize. With each object she found and each room she cleaned, Lisa became more immersed in her task, until she reached a study that neither of them used.

The house's study was a spacious room located at the back of the property. A large glass window occupied almost the entire back wall, allowing in a large amount of natural light. The ceiling was decorated with tall, white moldings that gave it an elegant and sophisticated touch. The walls were painted a light beige tone, contrasting with the dark wooden floor. In the center of the study was a

large carved wooden desk, surrounded by shelves and drawers full of books and antique objects. In one corner, a comfortable dark green velvet armchair invited you to sit and read a good book. The overall atmosphere was calm and serene, with an air of mystery and antiquity that enveloped the entire place.

This study was not too dirty except for the small specks of dust that were found in some places, so Lisa was able to finish the cleaning quickly. With the cleaning done, Lisa noticed that the day was a bit dark and that it would soon start raining, so she took advantage of being in this place and decided to read one of the old books on the shelves. After a little hesitation, Lisa chose a book at random and read it.

The book seemed to be a horror one, with some stories written about ghosts that cruelly tormented people. Although Lisa is not really a big fan of horror stories, she decided to finish reading it to find some interesting ideas and help Mark with his new story.

As she read the book attentively, something surprising happened when she turned one of the pages. Suddenly something came out of the book and fell to the floor. Slowly bending down and picking up what fell, Lisa found an old letter. The letter seemed old and worn and appeared to be written by the former owner of the house. This caused a strange restlessness in her, and she couldn't help but open it to read what was written inside.

The letter contained the following:

Dear future owner,

I hope this letter finds you well. If you're reading this, I suppose I won't be in this world anymore, so I want to share with you the story of this house with the hope that you can appreciate and take care of it as much as I did before. This house was my home for many years. My wife and I bought it when we were young and newlyweds. It was a happy place, full of laughter and love. Every room was filled with happy memories of our life together. We raised our two children in this house and watched them grow up and become adults.

But everything changed on a fateful night. We were returning from a family dinner when a drunk driver swerved into our lane and crashed into our car. I lost my wife and my two children in the accident. My entire life changed in an instant and this house no longer felt like a happy home.

I tried to continue living here, but every room was filled with painful memories. I felt lonely and depressed. I became a bitter man, filled with resentment. My friends and family tried to help me, but there was nothing they could do to pull me out of my depression.

Slowly but surely, this house became a prison for me. Every room seemed to be filled with pain and suffering. I started having nightmares and hallucinations. I often woke up in the middle of the night, believing I could hear the laughter of my deceased family. I realized that I had to leave this house before I completely lost my sanity.

It was a difficult decision, but I finally resolved my problem. I hope whoever is living in this house now can make it their home and fill it with joy and love once again. I only ask that you take care of this house and make it your happy home.

With sincere gratitude,

Harold Watson.

As Lisa read the letter, she began to feel sorry and sad for the previous owner. No one should have to go through the pain of losing their family due to the mistakes of others. The world is truly unfair.

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker and the door slammed shut violently. Lisa felt a chill run through her body and was paralyzed in place. In that moment, she began to hear strange noises that seemed to come out of nowhere, as if someone was walking around the room. Lisa tried to turn on her phone's flashlight, but the battery was dead. The tension increased as the room plunged into darkness.

At that moment, a lightning bolt illuminated the room, revealing a dark shadow moving in the corner. Lisa held her breath, trying to understand what was happening. But before she could process what she was seeing, the shadow vanished into the darkness.

Lisa approached the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She realized she was trapped in the room and panic began to take over. She tried to calm down and think of a solution. Suddenly, she heard a scratching sound on the door, as if someone was trying to get in. Lisa instinctively backed away, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

At that moment, the door began to slowly open and Lisa held her breath, waiting for whatever was on the other side of the door to appear. When the door was fully open, Lisa closed her eyes in terror, fearing the worst.

To Lisa's total confusion, nothing happened in the next few seconds, so she decided to open her eyes with fear and analyze her situation, but what she saw left her even more confused.

She was now sitting again with the book in front of her, the door was open as it was in the beginning, and the light had returned, only the soft sound of the rain hitting the window could be heard.

Confused, Lisa searched for the letter everywhere and even went back through the entire book page by page, but she never found it. Everything seemed to be a nightmare, but she had felt it all so real that she couldn't believe it. Finally, deciding and trusting that it was all a nightmare, Lisa decided to go back to her room to sleep, swearing to herself never to read any horror stories when she's tired.