The Ghost That Haunted Your House
Trigger Warning: child abuse
Your family moved in. Your parents marveled at such a good house. Right next to the brick factory, yet empty. Through the roof was made of asphalt paper, the walls were temporary structures of corrugated cardboard. I sniffed each one of you. Familiarizing myself with your scent. Passed by you all. Although tempted to bite your legs, I preferred to watch the doubt on your faces. The workers showed signs of fear. The few nearby households lived at a distance. A small shop owner told your father this house was haunted. Your father laughed. Said there are no ghosts. That what’s scarier is poverty. Of course, I was not afraid of poverty-he was only interested in humans. Paid no attention to me. Only when you ate your daily meals of porridge with pickled radish would he glance at me with a sneer. Baring his blackened teeth.
On the first night, you were startled awake. The area around the house, covered in waist-high wild grass. The “da-da-da-da-da-da” sound, like knocking but not quite. Grew ever clearer in the stillness of the night. You held your sister’s hand, trembling. Your brother began to cry. I jumped into your nylon bag. Filled with faded clothes. Full of mold, microbes, and the lingering smell of sweat, sebum, and detergent. A smell of embarrassment. I tore at them, not caring if your clothes became more tattered. Even with holes, you wouldn’t throw them away. Your father turned on the flashlight. Holding a kitchen knife in the other hand. Patrolling the house. Passing through my body and shuddering. He found the source of the noise under the bed-your chicks, kept in a cardboard box, pecking at it.
You started keeping a dog. He barked at me. I bared my teeth. Growling. Circling him. He tucked his tail between his legs. Lowered his head. When the children from the small shop came to play, they always asked, Where’s the ghost? Have you seen it? You got annoyed. No. There’s no such thing as ghosts. You didn’t care whether I was in the house. Even though the people around you kept telling you I was terrifying. That I would seek revenge on humans. You were too scared to ask your parents. Fearing they would scold you. But you overheard your mother asking the shop owner, Is this house really haunted? She told the truth. When my mate and I passed by, the previous owners of this house -a man and a woman – teamed up to catch me. Hanged me here. As I was about to die, I saw my mate return. From afar. she bent her front legs, lowered her head, and raised her hips. “Kneeling” on the ground. They were terrified. Packed up to leave that very night. Believed my mate had a spirit and would come back for revenge. But the one who stayed was me.
You wondered why people would want to eat a dog. Searched for me under the bed. Only to find a coiled snake flicking its tongue at you. Looked for me at the bottom of the drawer. Only to see cockroaches scuttling around. Hunted me inside the cabinet. Almost got your hand bitten by a rat. Saw me in your dreams. Where I bared my sharp teeth. Screamed in your sleep. Your parents shook you awake and scolded you. Forgot you had seen me. Over and over. You kept screaming in your dreams. Your brother got up in the middle of the night. Trying to open the door. Your parents tried to persuade him not to. When he wouldn’t listen. Your father slapped him. He woke up crying. Yet, you still didn’t discover my presence. I witnessed your father throwing a plate of fried eggs into the grass outside. Because it didn’t suit his taste. I saw your sister being beaten by your father with a stick until her body was swollen. Because she didn’t want to eat. Amid your cries, anger, and arguments, I left my mark. You didn’t believe in my existence. But when you vanish in the flow of time, I’ll still be here. When you move away, my legend will continue to echo within these walls.
Huina Zheng, with her Distinction M.A. in English Studies, is a college essay coach and an editor. Her stories appear in Baltimore Review, Variant Literature, and more. Nominated three times for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, she lives in Guangzhou, China with her family.
