“Perhaps this is silly, but I feel an obligation to you that I write this.
If I were you, I would want to know.”
April flew by, but thankfully it took the last of the chilly weather with it.
Instead, I fold the blanket neatly and hang it over the railing at the foot of her crib.
While doing this, I notice the mail lady coming up the sidewalk.
I tiptoe out of my daughters room and run to the door to greet her on the porch.
Youve got something for me?
I ask, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.
She says, handing me a plain-looking envelope.
I accidentally snatch the envelope out of her hand and then apologize immediately.
Im sorry, Im just a little excited.
This is the first piece of mail that Ive received at this new address.
I just moved in a couple of days ago.
The mail lady smiles patiently.
Have a nice day.
She turns and walks toward the next house.
Anxiously, I begin to read:
Hello,
You dont know me.
Perhaps this is silly, but I feel an obligation to you that I write this.
If I were you, I would want to know.
I shift uncomfortably on the cement step of my front porch.
I used to live in your house.
I grew up there, from 1993 until December of 2010.
Well, thats certainly not the case with me.
When I drive past 17201, my eyes dont flinch from the road in front of me.
Like I said, there are some things that you should probably know.
Who would write such a thing, I wonder.
And why would they want to make me feel uncomfortable here?
In a way, she found comfort in seeing them.
My mother said that they made her feel safe, but my dad thought they were a little weird.
Of course, this upset my mother because she thought he was teasing her.
They never did find them.
I place one between my lips with shaking fingers.
Why are my fingers trembling?
After I was born, my sister and I shared the master bedroom.
My sister would always say how she felt ill in our room like there was something bad in there.
We were always seeing and hearing strange things in that house.
He was worried that someone had broken in and been hiding in the house.
Of course, neither he nor his baseball bat found anyone upon further investigation.
A lot of strange things happened in that basement.
At one point, our cousin moved in with us, making a room down there.
During his second week of staying there, he was awoken by the sound of humming and rustling bags.
When I got to the stairs, I froze.
Naturally, I dropped my clothes and ran like hell.
From that day until the day that we moved out, I refused to go into that basement.
This strange phenomenon continued into my high school years.
While doing this, I would usually listen to music through my headphones to help wake myself up.
I took my headphones out to see where the noise was coming from.
Everyone else was asleep, and the knobs in the bathtub were really hard to turn.
I struggled to turn the knob with both hands to shut the water off.
By the time I finished applying my mascara that morning, I had convinced myself that it never happened.
Luckily, we didnt live in that house long enough to find out.
A couple months later, a week after my 17th birthday, we moved out.
At this point, you probably think that I am crazy.
Or maybe you dont.
Maybe there is a reason why you read this letter to the very end.
Maybe you have experienced some unexplainable things for yourself.
Well, I am here to assure you that it wasnt all in your head.
Anything that you have seen or felt was very real.
Just know that you are not alone.
I will continue to pray for you.
After reading the letter, I continue to sit on the front porch step.
I look at the pile of cigarette butts on the sidewalk in front of me and laugh out loud.
I havent smoked this many cigarettes at one time since I was 18 years old.
Too bad I dont believe in that stuff.
I crumple up the letter and toss it into the trash can under the kitchen sink.
In her doorway, I freeze.
I turn my head and look.
The wall is bare.
Where did my grandmothers crucifix go?
