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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Memorial / Tribute
- Published: 09/03/2021
Humming in the Attic
F, from Sydney, Australia.jpeg)
The faint sound of humming was coming from the attic! Sarah’s head shot up from gazing at the TV screen, to the ceiling. She tilted her head to one side and clicked the “mute” button on the TV remote control. Yes, it was there. Not a regular drumming sound but more of an ad hoc humming or bumping sound. Since she thought that she was alone, she quickly got up and grabbed a torch from the kitchen.
When she got to the staircase to the attic, she carefully climbed up the creaky wooden stairs until she reached the trap door. She moved up the stairs and pushed aside the lock until she could peak her head just inside the attic. The torch light threw eerie shadows around everything that was stored up in that dusty and cob webbed place. Since she couldn’t see the cause of the noise, she climbed up inside the attic and approached the window.
Outside the window was a colourful butterfly trying to get into the window. At first, she had thought that it was a moth that was attracted to the light of the torch but no, this was an insect in the order Lepidoptera. Feeling sorry for the insect, she opened the window, and it flew in immediately. By the light of the full moon, she could see that it had landed on an album cover. The album was one that she hadn’t listened to for a while. Taking the vinyl record carefully out of its’ cover and not disturbing the butterfly was a challenge but Sarah managed to do it. She placed it on the turntable and the lyrics of the “Earth, Wind and Fire” band rang out across the attic:
"Do you remember, 21st night of September?
Love was changing the mind of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away
Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night
Remember
How the stars stole the night away, oh yeah"
Tears started to run down her cheeks as memories flooded back into her mind. Then she started to sob as she remembered the man who had stolen her heart. They had shared this song many years ago.
The butterfly seemed to sense her heartbreak and came and perched itself on her hand in a delicate manner. Later, she heard running water and the song came to an end, as if the water had put out the fire.
She stared at the butterfly with sadness in her heart. It unrolled its proboscis and gently kissed her hand. Then it flapped it’s wings and left through the window.
Sarah realised that it was the 20th anniversary of the death of Jason and that he had always believed in re-incarnation. Could that butterfly have been him? She mulled it over as she closed the window and then locked the trap door to the attic. Had he visited her for a final farewell…
Humming in the Attic(Debra Widdicombe)
The faint sound of humming was coming from the attic! Sarah’s head shot up from gazing at the TV screen, to the ceiling. She tilted her head to one side and clicked the “mute” button on the TV remote control. Yes, it was there. Not a regular drumming sound but more of an ad hoc humming or bumping sound. Since she thought that she was alone, she quickly got up and grabbed a torch from the kitchen.
When she got to the staircase to the attic, she carefully climbed up the creaky wooden stairs until she reached the trap door. She moved up the stairs and pushed aside the lock until she could peak her head just inside the attic. The torch light threw eerie shadows around everything that was stored up in that dusty and cob webbed place. Since she couldn’t see the cause of the noise, she climbed up inside the attic and approached the window.
Outside the window was a colourful butterfly trying to get into the window. At first, she had thought that it was a moth that was attracted to the light of the torch but no, this was an insect in the order Lepidoptera. Feeling sorry for the insect, she opened the window, and it flew in immediately. By the light of the full moon, she could see that it had landed on an album cover. The album was one that she hadn’t listened to for a while. Taking the vinyl record carefully out of its’ cover and not disturbing the butterfly was a challenge but Sarah managed to do it. She placed it on the turntable and the lyrics of the “Earth, Wind and Fire” band rang out across the attic:
"Do you remember, 21st night of September?
Love was changing the mind of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away
Our hearts were ringing
In the key that our souls were singing
As we danced in the night
Remember
How the stars stole the night away, oh yeah"
Tears started to run down her cheeks as memories flooded back into her mind. Then she started to sob as she remembered the man who had stolen her heart. They had shared this song many years ago.
The butterfly seemed to sense her heartbreak and came and perched itself on her hand in a delicate manner. Later, she heard running water and the song came to an end, as if the water had put out the fire.
She stared at the butterfly with sadness in her heart. It unrolled its proboscis and gently kissed her hand. Then it flapped it’s wings and left through the window.
Sarah realised that it was the 20th anniversary of the death of Jason and that he had always believed in re-incarnation. Could that butterfly have been him? She mulled it over as she closed the window and then locked the trap door to the attic. Had he visited her for a final farewell…
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Stephen Pearmine
09/13/2021A lovely story. Reincarnation is such an interesting subject. I've watched programmes on it, and it's hard to dismiss.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
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Shirley Smothers
09/13/2021This beautiful story brought a tear to my eye. Lovingly told. I have heard that Butterflies are our loved ones telling us that we are still thought of. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
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Radrook
09/05/2021Reincarnation is definitely an interesting concept and you have conveyed it in the story in an etertaining way. Actually, it remined me on how my aunt believed that this butterfly that had entered our bedroom was her mother, who had recently passed on, reincarnated. She locked herself in the room with it and began weeping and speaking to it. As a child I didn't know what was going on and why she thought that the insect was grandma.
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