Empty house

Prompt: This week, set your story in an empty house. Has it been abandoned? Is it being renovated? Does your character supposed to be there, or are they sneaking around? The choice is yours!

Source

The house is empty, the house is empty, it's an empty house, I tell myself. If I keep saying it, my mind is going to internalize it eventually. Right?

The creak from upstairs, what was it? Is anybody there, do I want to shout? Could it be a ghost? Ghosts are the worst, not like I've dealt with them a lot but friends have said they're not so good. House exploration is a hobby you absolutely cannot take up if you're afraid of ghosts, they're the risks of the occupation. I'd rather go the rest of my life without seeing one. Nothing against them personally. Everything has its time, the proper time to make friends with the ghosties is post-mortem. Please be empty, please be empty.

The lights flicker. Fuck. Bad wiring probably. I hear door creaks, the floor boards groan under my shoes. The wind makes breathing sounds against the window, as if somebody is right by my neck. It's not real, it's not real, nobody around. Just me and my fears, the issues I have to deal with.

I'm on the second floor, the doors are all open, interesting. I'm imagining the situation the owners must have left the house, in hurry, pulling their kids away as they refused to shut their doors. Little did they imagine somebody like me would find evidence of their hurried departure in their place. Overflowing, rotting trash, a broken cup. Entropy takes its toll, not even these large physical beast can resist the ravages of time the ultimate equalizer.

Ticktock ticktock ticktock, a large clock somewhere. Engineering masterpieces those dang ticky tocky mechanical things. You think a digital clock is going to last any time at all, they stop working the moment somebody looks away, no class, no lasting substance. The analog way is the way to go.

The bed is musty, nothing of interest here, the closet door broken. Cheap chinese child's toys, clothes thrown about in a hurry. Where are the owners right now, what are they doing? What would they think if they knew what happened to the place, so many questions.

Muffled sounds, bright lights downstairs, somebody coming my way. I stop breathing, hide myself in the smelly living room closet. It could be robbers, it could be anybody you don't want to take a chance, I need to make my way out of the place at the earliest.

Dammit Gunny, a middle-aged man's voice says, didja forget to close all the doors, and owhhh my godd smell this goddamn rotting trash did you not throw the trash away? What the heck were you thinkin' bud, I told ya you'd have to do your chores before we go, alright? Jeez and what the hell is up with this door, was it always this noisy? I'm going to oil it this evening. Folks, we're back alright. Yeah we didn't get to spend our vacation in full but I promise we'll have a great time with the family right here, ain't gotta need for Disney's pricey room, ya hear? Go to your rooms children and clean them up. And I mean right NOW, go run now!