The old house with its overgrown garden was secretive and fun to play in. We were just children then, no cares in the world, no concept of danger. Had we known then what we know now we would not have spent as much time there. Hiding it in its many rooms, pretending to have tea parties, no thoughts of its history or why it was empty.  We should not have used it as our playground.

The old house dominates our road. Large gardens with grass long enough to hide in, but also full of brambles and wildlife. It was a child’s paradise until one fateful day.

We had been playing hide and seek, shouting, laughing and screaming. We were happy until we lost Samantha. She was my best friend and we all suddenly realised that she was not hiding, she had vanished. For a while later we joked that the house had taken her. We were children not fully understanding the true possibilities of her disappearance.

Our parents now forbade us to play there. The police came and put their tape around the house. Now strictly out of bounds, there is talk of it being pulled down. Some people say its haunted. No one knows where Samantha went, some say she is haunting the building now.

This was twenty years ago. People have been too scared to venture in there for years. About ten years ago I did some research on the previous owners. I found that the Jeffries had disappeared as well. Leaving the house abandoned. So, what did happen to them? where are they?

* * * * * * * *
Samantha sat looking out of her window, drinking tea. Henry the cat sat on her lap and baby Josie was lying in her pram. Thinking about that day twenty years ago when she had gone to hide behind some curtains and found herself in a different world. Thinking of the story of Narnia in the wardrobe, she assumed she would be able to get back.

After looking around her, seeing clean fields and smelling the scent of lavender she turned around. Behind her was just air, she stepped back and nothing. No curtains and no house.

Standing crying, she was scared, only ten years old and she wanted mummy and daddy. Hoping this was a dream she tried to shake herself. No, she didn’t wake, where was she? An elderly couple walked up to her.
“Are you alright child?”
“I was in a house” she sobbed, “and now I’m here, I want to go home.” The couple looked at each other.
“Do you mean the large house on Cliff Street.”

“Yes, do you know it?”
“Yes dear, we lived there, we are stuck here too.” The elderly man then said,
“It was rumoured that the owners before us had strange mystical links. Right now you are stood in a different world and there is no way home.”
She cried harder now, “no way home, but I need to go home. My mummy and daddy will be worried. I want to go home.”
“Sorry dear, but you can’t. We are Fred and Edna Jeffries we will look after you.”
“I want mummy.”  She started crying harder. Edna put her arms around her and rocked her gently.

Turning to Fred she said,  “The best thing they could do is rip that old house down. However, I’m not if the portal will be ripped apart with it. The workmen might end up tumbling into here”.
“I want to go home”.
“Honey you can’t. We are here for you, you will be ok”.

Samantha was very scared, but she soon realised that Edna and Fred were telling the truth she could not get back. They had stuck to their words and had looked after her. She had attended school, she had achieved good grades and had gone to university. She was now a qualified architect, a job that she loved.

Baby Josie had been an accident but also a blessing. Nasty Jason had abandoned her soon as he heard of the baby. She had been alone. Fred had passed away when she was fifteen then Edna at nineteen. She missed them both terribly. Samantha had been through a lot but she had braved it, she still hoped that one day there might be a way home. She had missed so much time with her parents and friends and she thought of them daily.

* * * * * * *
Twenty years from Samantha’s disappearance and now the council were finally going to pull the house down. I sat stroking my terrier’s head, thinking of her. Were they going to now find her body? A lifeless skeleton abandoned. We had had a memorial for her but where her body was had remained a mystery.

A few days later as I walked up Cliff street I could see workmen and diggers. There was a line of protesters and fears for the workmen. I did wonder if the old house would claim their lives as well. The sound of machinery filled the air as the big excavator started moving towards the old building.

A few hours later the building was completely flattened and skips were full of rubble. I was now back home when the phone rang. I could see on the caller display that it was mum.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Rose.”
“Sorry, who is this?”
“Rose, it’s Sam.”
“Sam, oh my god, where the heck have you been? Why are you at mum’s?”
“Rose, I’ve been in a different world, that house had mystical powers. Can I see you? I’ll get your address from your mum.”
“Yes, of course.” I was stunned. She was alright and for all these years I had thought she was dead.

A little while later, my dad arrived at the door with a very excited Sam, a small baby and a cat.  We both started to cry. Faces wet, we hugged, it had been twenty years too long.
“Rose, I need to know, do you know where my parents are?  They are not at the house we lived in twenty years ago.” I thought how was I going to tell her this.
“Sit down love.  I will put the kettle on.”
“Please where are they?” she sat down, holding her baby close, leaving her cat to explore my kitchen.
“As far as I know your mum went to Scotland to live with your aunt.”
“And my dad?” I held her hand.
“Sorry Sam, about five years ago he got cancer and he then died about a year later.” She started to cry again.

“Something you don’t know, is after they lost you, they adopted a little girl. So, you sort of have a sister.”
“They replaced me?”
“No Sam, your parents were devastated. Losing you was the worst thing that happened to them. They needed to put their love somewhere else and for them, adoption was the answer.”
We sat quietly as Sam sobbed.
“Rose, do you happen to know if my auntie has moved at all?”
“Sorry I don’t. Tell you what, phone directory enquiries and see if they can put you through to your aunt.”

“Wouldn’t her phone number be the same as twenty years ago?”
“You could try, but unlikely.” I passed her the phone. She dialled the number but got the out of service tone.
“Directory enquiries?”
I input the numbers for her and a few minutes later she had her aunts phone number. Soon after I could hear her crying again as she spoke to her aunt and then her mum.

That evening listening to her story I was shocked at what had happened. I thought about Fred and Edna Jeffries. Sam and her baby had been sent back, where were the Jeffries? Were their bodies still in the other world? Where were their spirits?

I had not believed in other worlds until now. This was an incredible story and I was so pleased to have my friend home safe.

About a week later I said goodbye to her, her cat and baby Josie as they got on a train to Edinburgh. A one-way ticket, but we had agreed to phone every day and video message. We had missed out on so many years but right now she needed her mum and her mum needed her.

As for the old house, the council are now rebuilding. I really hope that the curse that was on the house does not affect the land. I now have Sam back, but who else has disappeared over the years? Then I thought about the other world and its existence. There is so much in this life that we really do not know. It then occurred to me that if there had been a curse put on that house, maybe there is a cursed house in the other world sending people to here. Are there people here now stuck, waiting for a curse to be broken? and who were the original owners? What is their story?  I set myself the task to find out.

I shuddered, when I have children they are certainly not playing in abandoned buildings, I won’t be letting them out of my sight. Thinking about this, I told myself to not be daft as I need to find a man first. Smiling to myself, all is okay. Sam is back and well and she has a gorgeous tiny unexpected bundle. I was pleased for her.

Sitting now at the kitchen table, I reflected. Time to focus on now, you never know when you might get sucked into another world. Narnia sounded like fun, this was not fun. Stuck with no way back. I sat grateful for today and looked forward to Sam messaging me tonight. So happy now that my best friend is home.

Written for Grammys Grid – using prompt – The old house with its overgrown garden was secretive and

For more see, Love and heartbreak, the two go together