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When the stropping cainated not inches from my face but from the house next door, and I leaned close to thescreen once more Between the houses stood an ancient sycamore in full leaf Perhaps because in its early years it had received too little sunlight or had suffered a bout with disease, the tree had attained a tormented architecture and did not entirely screen h the twisted branches, I saw laht bloom beyond a downstairs

The late Rupert Clockenwall’s only surviving relative was a brother who lived half a continent away Until the small estate was settled, the house could not be put on the market for sale, and there had been no activity at the place since the day that Mr Clockenwall died Naturally, having the usual fantasy life of a twelve-year-old, I soined draht have forced entry

Laround floor and, soon thereafter, also one on the second floor Through the sheers that hung over that upstairs , a sinuous dark for shadow is bent by light and by every surface over which it travels, this one sees of a race of a bird in flight

Overco the Clockenwall house, I waited at the openfor a while, breathing the warain or so more Eventually, when I was not rewarded by any phantasmic shape or further peculiar sounds, even my boyish desire for mystery and adventure couldn’t sustain lar nor a vandal was likely to announce his invasion of the property by switching on nearly every light

After returning to bed, I soon fell back to sleep I know that I had a bad dream in which my circumstances were desperate, but when I suddenly sat up in bed at 4:00 AM, I could recall nothing of that nightmare Little more than half awake, I went to the , not to observe the house next door, where lights still glowed, but to close the lower sash I also locked it, though the night was hot and a draft was age the lock, only that I felt the urgent need to do so

In bed oncehour of the su like a victim of malaria in a fever dream

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Most s, our old s on heavily buttered toast In bad weather, he stood at the sink to eat, staring out at the sh heaof coffee He held the sandwich in his right hand, a cigarette in his left, alternating between the two When witness to this, I always hoped that in error he would take a bite of the cigarette or attempt to smoke the sandwich, but he never became confused

Thethe activity at the Clockenwall house, he ate instead on the back porch When he descended the steps and went to work, I retrieved the e and ashtray that were balanced on the flat cap of the porch railing While I washed them at the kitchen sink, A roo interviewed by ato see who had the phoniest laugh Our mother had ordered fried potatoes, a cheese omelet, and a cup of canned fruit cocktail She and the old man rarely ate at the sa

When Amalia returned to the kitchen, she said, “I think soht My as open, and a voice woke hts in all the rooms over there”

Her bedroom was on the same side of our house as hts, so around over there, just a shadow But no Realtor has put up a sign yet”

“Maybe they decided to rent the place instead of selling”

“Moving in at three in theis kinda weird Was it just one person or a family, or what?”

“I didn’t see anybody”

“What about the voice?”

“Oh, thatunder ht someone called out fro and woke up, because when I got out of bed and went to the , no one was down there”

I put place mats and flatware on the dinette table While I s and fried slices of ham for our breakfast