Keith stepped out of the cab and walked down the street with his hands in his coat pocket. It was mid-October and the green summer leaves had long turned to orange and rust colored. As the wind blows, it picks up the dead leaves scattered in people's yards and blows them about in little circles. It was unusually chilly this October afternoon and Keith shivered slightly as he zipped up his jacket completely and pulls it in on himself.

As Keith walks down the sidewalk, he kicks a bottle filled partially with beer. As he does, it splashes upon his legs and soaks his shoes. "Great!", Keith says aloud, "Just what I needed after today."

Today had been a typical day for Keith. Scrawny and awkward looking, he was the usual blunt end of many of the jokes his classmates and peers would pull on him. In another humiliating day in gym class, Keith had the unfortunate experience of having his gym shorts pulled down near his ankles while playing an intermural basketball game. Of course, this was done in full sight of the girl's class which were performing gymnastics nearby. Redfaced, Keith hurriedly tried to pull up his gym shorts, tripped and fell flat on his hindside. Keith raised himself up to the roars of laughter from the gym class; including the gym teacher - Mr. Hulse.

To make matters worse: Keith missed the bus.

Not wanting to call his mother to bring him home, Keith decided to use the money he was going to use to purchase a school yearbook as cab fare for going home. Keith was so embarrassed, he had the cab driver drop him off several blocks from his home.

For some reason, this senior year just wasn't what he had thought it was going to be. In fact....it was lousy.

Keith continued to walk along the sidewalk deep in thought. As he neared the street corner, he was awakened from his daydreaming by a screech of tires and a honking horn. "Watch where the hell y'er going ya' stupid kid!" the man behind the 1999 Pontiac Trans Am yelled at him as he then sped off down the street. Keith's heart racing, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself down. "Yep", he thought, "this year definitely stinks."

Keith continued his journey home; the sky starting to get darker by the minute and the cold wind was not making his journey any easier. As he neared the old O'Donnell house, Keith paused in his tracks as he became startled by a faint whisper.

"Kkkkeeeeiiitttthhhh"

Keith looked about and could not see anyone. He turned sideways and looked at the old O'Donnell house which had been empty for as long as he could remember. The paint on the house had long turned to an ashen gray. Its window shutters were weather beaten and most of the windows were smashed by kids throwing rocks at the house. He looked up at the attic and could see the remnants of a curtain flapping in the wind. He could distinctly remember his father driving him to little league practice (he wasn't very good at that either) and asking him about the old house. Smirking, and obviously playing a joke, his father told him to stay away from the O'Donnell house.....it was haunted. As he saw nothing, Keith just shrugged his shoulders in dismay and continued on his walk home.

That night, while asleep in his bed, Keith was tormented by voices in his dreams. Faint, twinkling voices continuously called his name. "Kkeeith----Kkeeiith" they would reply over and over again. Images of the O'Donnell house would constantly flash in his dreams. He tossed and turned within his sheets as the voices continued to call him until one voice much louder than the others shouted "Keith" Waking from his slumber, Keith looked around his darkened bedroom. A cold feeling ran down his spine as Keith looked at his open bedroom window and thought he saw ....no, it couldn't be.... the shape of a man crouched down upon his window ledge staring at him with cold, greenish eyes that glowed in the dark. Rubbing his eyes of sleep, Keith looked again at the bedroom window....and saw nothing. His window was closed. Curious, Keith got up from his bed and walked to the window. He touched the window latch and found it locked. Keith looked out his bedroom window and saw nothing but his neighbor's empty backyard. Excusing it all as a bad dream, Keith went back to bed.

As the next day was Saturday, Keith woke up early that morning and got dressed. Telling his mother that he was going out with some friends, he hurriedly left his home and found himself at the entrance to the O'Donnell house. Cautiously, he crept upon the porch to the house, it creaked and groaned as he stepped upon it. He went over to the front window, which was surprisingly unbroken, he wiped the dust and grime from the glass and tried to peer inside. Seeing nothing but gloom, Keith went to the front door. He turned the knob and much to his surprise--the door opened.

"Hello", Keith yelled inside the empty parlor room. Sighing, Keith chastised himself, "idiot...the house has been empty for years. What did you expect? Someone to answer?"

Stepping inside, Keith surveyed his surroundings. Dust covered everything inside. An old fireplace was located inside the living room. Old broken remnants of furniture - an old chair and a broken table - were the rooms only inhabitants. Keith walked further into the house, down the hallway and into the kitchen. There was nothing there but an old stove. Keith looked in the corner of the kitchen near the stove and thought he saw something there. He walked over to the stove and then turned away, gasping. Turning back to look again, Keith saw a mangled cat, its throat torn out, laying on the floor.

Half-running out of the kitchen, Keith came to the stairwell. He grabbed the banister and to his surprise a great big chunk of it came apart in his hands. "Sir, I think you have a slight termite problem." Keith laughed to himself. Tossing the bannister aside, Keith climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked into the nearest bedroom. From its size, he assumed that it was the master bedroom. Looking around, he spies a large box sitting upon the floor. Still curious as to this house, he wanders over to it and looks. It is filled with old newspapers. As Keith is a history buff, he pulls some of the newspapers out of the box and looks at the dates. He is astonished by what he sees. The newspapers are from all over the world and contain various headlines: KENNEDY ASSASINATED, NAZIS INVADE POLAND, STOCK MARKET CRASHES, TITANIC SUNK, ARCHDUKE FERDINAND ASSASINATED, MAINE EXPLODES IN CUBAN HARBOR, etc. Sitting on the floor, Keith opens up the newspapers and reads. Soon, he is fast asleep.