Toby’s Secret – Part 2

Marie-Christine Castelazo Hidalgo

by Marie-Christine Castelazo Hidalgo

Story

Toby turned around to his bullies and replied “Whatever Marc. I bet you 10 dollars that I can enter the house and stay there for at least five minutes, while you three are really the ones that wouldn’t dare to step foot inside.” Marc stood there with his mouth wide open and looked at his friends in disbelief. Little Toby had never talked back to them before. But after a few seconds, he caught himself and took Toby’s bet.

“We’ll see about that,” he said. “You go first.” And Toby did. He entered the front yard and confidently walked closer to the old house. Once he reached the door, he knocked, waited a few seconds, and then stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Now, everything had to go fast.

Toby knew that neither of the three boys would admit they feared this house and everything associated with it. Not to each other and surely not in front of him, so his plan was to scare them a little, and maybe just maybe they would finally leave him be. Even if they didn’t, the laugh alone that he would get out of this was worth it. He had brought his old CD player along with a CD of spooky sounds of a “weeping ghost”. He hid the CD player behind an old sofa and hung up a tiny portable fan on a timber in the corner of the room where it wouldn’t be visible from the entrance, but it would still surprise the boys with a little breeze here and there. Toby was sure that these two things alone would make them come running outside.

Two minutes later, it was time to put his theory to a test. He walked outside towards Marc and his crew and exhaled loudly, “As I said. No problem at all. Now it is your turn.” Since their ego would not allow them to simply admit that they were still scared, the three boys slowly started walking toward the estate. Toby heard Jason whisper to Miguel that this was all Marc’s fault, but it was too late now. Once they reached the entrance, all three of them exchanged an unsure look but lastly decided to take a step inside.

Not two minutes had passed when the three boys came running and screaming back outside, leaving the door wide open. “Something touched me in there, I’m sure of it”, Miguel cried, and Jason nodded in agreement. Marc whined about someone grabbing his foot when he tried to leave, which apparently had made him take a fall. Toby just stood there, trying his hardest not to laugh out loud in front of them, but it would not have even mattered. The three bullies did not take any note of him and bolted straight past him and into their neighborhood. He was sure they would not bother him again any time soon.

Content with how everything had worked out, Toby decided that it was time to head home as well. Tomorrow, he would come back to get his fan and CD player, but right now his mom and dad were surely already beginning to worry. He had just started walking when suddenly he heard a slamming noise behind him. He turned around to find the door of the haunted house shut. “Surely that was just the wind,” Toby thought, because he knew ghosts didn’t exist… or did they?

© Marie-Christine Castelazo Hidalgo 2022-08-31