Amanda was having the girls to spend the
night with her and they began talking about scary things which she isn’t
supposed to do, but she was in her own house and Mom was downstairs so she
thought it would be okay. Cricket was there and so was Crissy.
Stephanie wasn’t there yet but would be over later. Amanda
was curious, she had seen this old house for years on her block and it was
scary looking. She wanted to see inside of it, she heard all the kids talking
at school and they said it was hunted. Amanda said to Cricket, "what does
hunted mean?" Cricket said, "the floors make a noise and the
doors open and shut all by themselves and I also heard that an old woman lives
there that never comes outside." Crissy
said, "maybe if the light hits her she’ll turn to dust like they do on
TV." They all giggled, yet they were thinking about it and were a
little afraid.
Amanda told Cricket and Crissy that she
had seen the lights go off and on at night in the very top of the house.
Crissy said, "maybe one of the ghost lives in the very top and he sleeps
all day and wakes up at night and he wears a sheet over his head."
Amanda’s eyes got real big, she thought
that was so scary. Well about that time the door opened and the girls all
screamed. Stephanie came in and looked at them. "What was
that all about", she asked? They smiled and told her about the big house
and how they were talking about the stories they had heard. Stephanie
laughed, oh, "you’re talking about the old Miller house on the corner,
it’s not hunted, there is an older woman that lives there, but she isn’t
able to keep up the yard and take care of it like she use to. I remember
her when she used to come out and rake the leaves and mow and then she had a
gardener that came, but when he passed away she didn’t hire anyone else to
do it." All of a sudden,
Crissy jumped up, "I’ve got an idea," she said. "Oh and
what is that," Amanda said? "Since Stephanie knows the old
woman, I’ll ask her and see what she thinks first. Here’s the
idea. Stephanie what do you think about us going over there on Saturday
and help her. We can pick up the papers and pull up some weeds and maybe
Amanda’s dad will cut the grass. We can sweep that big old porch for
her, what do you think?" Stephanie
looked at the girls, "you know I think that’s a great idea, do you
think your Mom’s will go for it? I know my Mom won’t care, she knows Mrs.
Miller." Stephanie was a little older than the girls and she was
proud of them for thinking about that. "Of course," Amanda
said, "do you think she’ll let us see inside if we do that for
her?" "I’m sure she will," said Stephanie.
They settled down to watch a movie and eat
some popcorn and it was hard to go to sleep for the excitement they were
feeling about helping someone, but somehow they giggled and laughed and
finally fell asleep. Morning
came and the smell of breakfast came up stairs. They got dressed and ran
downstairs to the table. Amanda told Stephanie to ask her Mom about it.
Amanda’s Mom said, "ask me what?" Then all the girls began
to talk at once. "Wait a minute," she said, "one at a
time." Amanda told her
Mom about the idea they had. Mom was so proud and of course she thought
it was a great idea. She
said, "not only is it all right but I’ll help and so will Dad. I
know Mrs. Miller will appreciate it so much." After
breakfast the girls all pitched in and washed up the dishes and then headed
for the garage. Mom had extra work gloves for them to wear and rakes and
she told Crissy to get the leaf bags and put them in the van. About that
time Dad showed up with the mower, he said , "Hey if you girls can help,
I can too."
Before they left the house, Amanda's Mom
called Mrs. Miller and told her how excited the girls were to come over and
clean her yard. She could hear Mrs. Miller sniff on the other end.
She said that would be so nice. She
told her she didn’t want her to be scared when she saw a bunch of girls
attacking her yard and that her husband was going to cut her grass for her.
They arrived at the old Miller house and
started to work. The girls were having a wonderful time.
Amanda’s Dad trimmed some of the bushes and dead tree branches, and cut the
grass. The girls did their job well. They swept the porch and
picked up all the stuff from the yard. The
old house was over 100 years old and three stories high. The very top
story had one big window. The girls could see someone looking out of the
big window downstairs and they wondered if Mrs. Miller would come out,
especially Amanda, she wanted to see inside so bad.
Just as they finished, the huge front door
opened and the smell of fresh baked cookies filled the air. The girls
went running to the door. Stephanie
looked at Mrs. Miller and said, we sure hope you didn’t mind us cleaning
your yard and we hope we didn’t bother you. Mrs. Miller had tears in
her eyes. She said "It’s beautiful girls and I appreciate it so
much. Would you all like to
come in and have cookies and milk?" They all looked at
Amanda’s Mom, she said, "I’m sure they would. We’re going
along home but you send them home as soon as they are finished."
When they went inside, they all just stood
and stared at the beautiful things that were in the house. Mrs. Miller
said, "after you have eaten, I’ll give you a tour of the house if you
want." Of course Amanda
was the first to say, "Yes that would be nice." Each of the
girls listened as she told the story of the house and the contents. As
they left she gave them a hug and told them to come anytime they wanted.
The girls were very proud of themselves, they had done a good deed. From then
on they took turns paying a visit to Mrs. Miller and cleaning on her yard.
Amanda’s dad decided it was great to
also do something, and every two weeks he went and mowed the yard and the
girls made sure there were no leaves or papers ever again in the yard of The
Old Miller House.
