I started reading Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates Monday.

It’s a collection of short stories.

One of them is about a house that appears out of nowhere. Inside the house with it’s open doors and windows is a Christmas tree with unopened presents and boxes in the open garage that are all labeled toys or games.

A group of kids goes in and I won’t tell you what happens to them but I will tell a story about something that happened to me when I was a kid.

I lived right next door to my elementary school. There were very few kids in my neighborhood it was all older adults.

Across the street from the school were two houses one was a two story right at the end of the street and next to it a smaller house. Two older women lived in each house.

They went to my church and the woman who lived in the bigger house used to walk hunched over, I never saw her stand up straight.

I never spoke to them except for one time when I was going door to door selling candy or something for school. The lady who lived in the small house opened the door and I told her what I was selling. The other lady yelled from somewhere inside the house and the door lady yelled back that I was selling candy for school. The lady that lived there said, “We don’t want any!” so the door lady said, “We’re not interested.” and she shut the door.

Directly across from the bigger house was a gravel parking lot and a neighborhood kid and I had been riding our bikes. This was summer and it was hot so we stopped in the shade of this door that was at the end of these stairs leading from the gravel lot.

The neighborhood kid pointed to the bigger house and then the smaller house and said, “Witches live there, did you know they were witches.”

I didn’t believe her so I was asking a lot of questions about why she thought that and she could only tell me that they cast spells and stuff.

While we were talking some gravel in the parking lot started to swirl around. We both got quiet and watched it as it started to turn and get bigger and bigger and then it blew right in to the big house.

The neighborhood kid ran to her house and I ran to mine.

I found out several years later while telling my mom that story that my mom used to go visit those two ladies and bring them food and stuff like that, I had no idea.

I asked her if they were witches and she laughed and said no but the lady that lived in the big house’s stomach was twisted and behind her heart. She said that she was most likely born with it like that but she didn’t believe the doctors and wouldn’t get treatment.

Now I know why she walked the way she did. I can’t explain the gravel tornado in the middle of the windless summer day, but now I can explain why she walked the way she did, and why she was so cranky. She was in pain.

Ok well that’s enough from me. Everyone enjoy your Wednesday.