Rose set down the box of knickknacks on the floor just right of the stairs. She glanced around at all the stuff up there. One thing that caught her eye was a large vase with white daisies on it.
“I wonder why this is up here, it’s so pretty?” Rose reached over some boxes and picked the vase up from a small wood table. I wonder what other kind of treasures I will find up here, she thought. She put the vase down by the stairs and looked around some more. There were two, three-foot bare Christmas trees along with a couple of boxes full of lights and ornaments. She also saw a boxed-up party canopy, various black bags of clothes, and a couple of antique rifles. Those must have been grandpas from the war, she thought.
Rose dug in a box that was marked Ralph’s. She found a couple of books on woodworking, some photos of him and grandma, a passport, and some sculpting tools. I wonder why uncle Ralph’s stuff is here, she thought. She grabbed one of the black bags full of clothes and looked through it.
“These look like some of the clothes I remember seeing uncle Ralph wear… I wonder why they are here?” She paused and stared at the clothes.
Rose picked up the daisy vase and went down the attic stairs. She closed the door behind her and went down the other stairs. She took the vase into the kitchen and put it on the table. With all the things that she had been finding that was her uncle Ralphs, it piqued her curiosity. I wonder if aunt Jane would know where uncle Ralph would be, she thought. She grabbed her purse from the living room and dug in it for her address book.
She sat down on the sofa and looked up her aunt Jane’s phone number. With her cell phone, she called her aunt Jane who lives in Texas.
“Hello, aunt Jane? This is Rose…”
She talked with her aunt for about an hour and got caught up on how aunt Jane and uncle Jack spent last summer. She could barely get a word in but was able to find out that uncle Ralph lived with her grandma for about a year before he left and disappeared. Her aunt Jane didn’t know where Ralph moved to after that.
“Well, it was great talking with you too aunt Jane… Yes, you take care as well,” Rose hung up.
Rose thought about her uncle Ralph and how much fun he was when she visited. He was such a funny man, always trying to find ways to make her laugh. I didn’t know that he lived here for a while, she thought. That explains all his stuff, but why didn’t he take it when he moved out, she thought.
Just then Josh knocked on the back door. Rose knew that it was probably him so she hollered out for him to come in. She heard the screen door open and close. And then saw him peek into the living room.
“Come on in,” she said.
“I got the first coat done on the whole porch and I was thinking about running to town for a while,” Josh said.
“Oh, okay, can I get you anything before you leave?” Rose stood up.
“No thank you, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Josh said. “And I’ll fix that shutter too when I get back.”
Rose walked with him to the back door, “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
Josh walked out and went to his truck. Rose was still puzzled about her uncle Ralph and decided to call her cousin Joyce. She flipped through her address book again and found Joyce’s number. When she dialed, all she reached was her answering machine. I guess I’ll have to try her later, she thought.
By this time the washing machine had stopped. Rose went to the basement door and walked down the steps.
“What was that?” She stopped at the bottom and looked around.
All of a sudden, a box under the steps fell over. She slowly walked around the stairs and saw the box lying there in the dirt. The box was full of clay and ceramic sculptures. Rose picked up one that looked like a rabbit. She looked it over and saw the initials RD on the bottom of it. Hmm, uncle Ralph must have made these, she thought. She picked up the box and set it back upright. She saw some other hand sculptured animals and a couple of cracked vases inside.
She stood up and walked over to the washing machine. She moved the curtains from the washer to the dryer and moved the heat to a low setting. She started the dryer, glanced at the boxes under the steps, and then went back upstairs.
Pleas join me again for more of: Rose’s Ghost.
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Now you got me wondering if Rosie's ghost is grandma or Uncle Ralph. Can't wait to find out.