The house loomed ominously above Ana as she stood in front of the heavy weathered door. Expelling a breath she had been holding involuntarily, she took the old iron key from her coat pocket and inserted it into the lock. It turned surprisingly easily. She gave the door a push and was surprised once more when it opened without so much as a creak.

The house had belonged to her grandmother. Ana had been named after her in what was an old family tradition. All first-born daughters in her family were named Ana after the first Ana to settle in the new world from Holland. Ana smiled remembering all the happy hours she had spent within this house. This was a place her heart remembered and always would.

She had not seen this place for almost 15 years though. She had moved to the other side of the country, and the house had set vacant since Old Ana’s death some 10 years ago. No one had lived here since her passing.

The house had been up for sale several times, but always taken off the market again when the potential owners heard that it was haunted. There were reports of a strange tapping sound echoing through the floor at all hours of the day and night. All of the real estate agents and their clients had heard it so the house never sold.

That was why Ana had come. She wanted to see if she could hear what everyone was talking about and put an end to the rumors. She knew this had always been a happy place. No untoward event had ever taken place here that she had heard of.

She walked deeper into the foyer and felt sadness as she looked around. The paint and beautiful old wallpaper was chipped and peeling. The wooden floor, which once shone with wax, was buckling and badly scarred. At the foot of the staircase, the knob of the newel post was missing and the carpet on the stairs was now so worn the wood could be seen beneath it. Several of the stairs looked broken also. The whole house presented an air of abandonment and neglect. It was hard to believe it was the house she remembered.

Ana toured the house going from room to room and found it in much the same condition. She found an old armchair in what used to be the guest room on the second floor and sat down. She closed her eyes and remembered long winter days spent in this very room where Gran had taught her to paint and sew and given her all manner of advice. A wise and patient woman, Gran had never lacked in affection for her namesake.

The room used to be filled with any toy a little girl could want. Yes, this was a happy place and why anyone would think it was haunted was beyond Ana’s comprehension. She left the room and carefully made her way to the bottom floor again. She intended to drive back to the hotel where she had taken a room for the week before it got too dark to see. Tomorrow she would hire some workers to help her with some of the needed repairs and when she left at the end of the week, she would place the house in the hands of another realtor to finish and to place it back on the market again.

As she reached for the doorknob, the tapping began. Tap Tap Tap…Tap Tap Tap in a constant rhythm. Ana stopped and listened. It seemed to be coming from under the floorboard toward the back of the house.

She found herself thinking that the tapping sounded familiar to her. But what could it possibly be? No mouse could make that sound. There was a chance she supposed that the old plumbing could be making it but she thought that unlikely.

As she followed the sound to the kitchen, it became louder until she reached the door to the basement. There was no electricity so she went to her car to fetch a torch. On reentering the house, she found the tapping had not abated but had grown even more loud and insistent. She climbed down the wooden steps very slowly with the torch . There it was again! Tap Tap Tap…Tap Tap Tap.

Walking past sheet-shrouded furniture, her heart beating furiously Ana came to a small alcove where she used to set and play with her dolls. There on an old wooden bench sat the source of the tapping. Years ago, Gran had given her a wind-up toy monkey dressed in a red and gold costume. On the monkey’s paws, were fastened two tiny brass cymbals. It was the rhythmic banging of these that everyone had been hearing.

Ana laughed with relief until she realized that there was no one here who could have wound the mechanical monkey up to play the little cymbals! Ana felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and a chill enveloped the room. Ana watched in horror as a shadow disengaged itself from the wall and moved toward her. She stood there rooted to the spot as she watched the shadow change and take on human form. In the time it took for a scream to start, the form strengthened and there stood Gran.

“Don’t be frightened Ana,�?implored the specter. I needed to tell you something and this is the only way I could get you here.�?/FONT>Ana felt herself calming down. After all it was just Gram, and she would never hurt her. Gram, what is it? , she asked.