The Ghost In The Attic posted 9/19/2008 1:52:06 PM | 13 kudos what's this?     report abuse tagged: choos

misschief

The Ghost In The Attic.

I had a small area plastered today, it was taking a long time to dry, so I asked the seven foot plus giant if he would venture up into the attic for me while he waited.

He agreed that he would rather be doing something than just waiting around. He started to pass the dusty bags down, I didn’t have a clue what was in them. Some of the things had been packed up over ten years ago. He carefully passed down the large dolls’ house with live spider attached, he was more scared of spiders than I. It’s a beautiful house, a three storey town house my dad made for the girls when they were very small. The hinges are a little loose on the front, but apart from that, it’s in good repair. I might decorate it and fix it up.

The heaviest bag to come down was a six berth tent, it’s only ever been used once, I’m not a fan of camping, I love my comfort too much, but I might consider it using it again one day.

After the plasterer left, I started to go through all the bags, throwing most of it away, wondering why on earth anyone would hoard all of this stuff? There are an awful lot of things that I don’t recognise, they must have belonged to the people who lived here before me.

In the bottom of one of the boxes was an old telephone answering machine with a tape inside.

I plugged in the machine, but it didn’t work, I tried to fathom why I had kept a piece of broken equipment. I found another machine to play the tape back on. I also remembered taking the answering machine into work one day, because the office machine was broken. I played the ‘office’ side first.

I listened to myself leaving a message at work over ten years ago on my graduation day, my voice isn’t as bad as I thought!

I swapped the tape over to the ‘A’ side and there was a sweet message from the ex, before he became less sweet. A message from the ex best friend before she slept with the ex. A lovely message from Loulou. Becky called to ask what time we were going out to dinner, Karen called and made a point that I had woken her up when I’d called her last, all these memories going on in my head.

As I sat patiently and listened, hoping that the batteries didn’t run out on this thing, there it was; The reason I had kept this old equipment and tape. ‘The ghost in the attic,’ a message recorded over eleven years ago, my husband’s voice.

A gift for my son, who has very few memories of his father. A gift for my girls too, to be able to hear his voice again.


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