Worn out I look back on my work, after 2 and half-hours only the roof lights are up. With an exasperated sigh I begin to untangle the lights for the bushes. The crunching of footsteps on the snow behind me pauses me for a moment as I turn to see who it is.
“Hey there Ms. Smith you want some help with those lights?” It’s Turner the 14-year-old boy from across the street, whom is always eager to lend a helping hand.
“Why that would be lovely Turner, thank you.” I say as I hand him another set of lights waiting to be detangled. In a few moments Turner has already untangled his lights watching as I try and wrestle with mine.
“Here uh why don’t you begin wrapping the bush while I try my hand at these lights.” Turner trying to save me from any further embarrassment relieves me.
“Thanks for all your work Turner, if it weren’t for you I’d probably be working on my lights till new years!”
“No problem Ms. Smith, I was glad to get out of the house Shermia was really starting to spook me.”
“Shermia who is that?”
“Shermia is… well your not going to believe me.”
I turned and looked at Turners face; he was well grown for a 14 year old probably 5 foot 9 thanks to a recent growth spurt. His jaw had become more defined in the past year and his shaggy hair had darkened to a mud brown. He was a good-looking boy. His clear pale blue eyes were always sparkling even now in the icy air. He was very mature and intelligent for his age. I’ve known him for about 4 years now and we have sparked a kind of friendship he told me about his troubles and the stress of having to take care of his 12 year old brother who was very badly behaved and in all these years never once had he lied to me. “Of course I’ll believe you! What is it Turner?” He looked up from the lights and peered deep into my eyes to a point that I became frightened and worried about his well being. Who was this Shermia and what were they doing to my Turner?
“Well you see a couple of weeks ago when my mom had taken my brother to his doctor appointmen and my father was still at work I began to hear these noises. At first I dismissed it to the wind and continued on with my homework but after awhile these noises heightened and went from howling to a sort of eerie shrieking. I became scared and then embarrassed at my childish behavior after all I am 14 and the fact that I was getting scared at the wind was a bit humiliating. So I went downstairs to investigate. I looked everywhere but could not find the source of the noises. Outside the air was still and no wind was blowing yet the shrieking continued! Just as I was about to surrender and call my mother it suddenly stopped and after a few moments my father pulled into the driveway.”
Turners eyes had widened as he was telling the story, in fact mine have too for it was only yesterday that I heard shrieking in my own house on a windless evening, of course I had blamed it on an earache that must be coming in. But now I wasn’t so sure. “Turner, these noises, how are they related to Shermia?”
“Shermia is the source of these noises. She is the ghost that haunts my house and when I am home alone she comes out and makes a ruckus. We have spoken a few times, she refuses to tell me why she is in my house or even why she only comes out when I’m there. On Christmas though she is telling me to expect a nice gift. And apparently today is the last day she will be at my house she has already been present at another home and once again she won’t tell me whos. She is very creepy luckily for me she didn’t find what she was looking for in my home so I will be left safe and alone. I feel bad for the next house she goes to because if she finds what she wants there, well let’s just say that person should surrender. Shermia is not a ghost to mess with”
I can hear the shrieking in my head, the chills that sometimes over takes me and I can almost hear Shermia’s voice, “Its your turn.”