Variations on a Haunting Theme by Alan Millard

Author:Alan Millard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Hauntings, ghosts, terror, mystery, macabre events, premonitions, signs and portents, mist, moorland, music, water, isolation, despair
ISBN: 9781785387104
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2017-06-22T04:00:00+00:00

7: Variation 21 - Paul

Paul and Anne Bryant had been married for thirteen years when they moved into their new home. Paul was short, plump and beginning to bald but blessed with what his mother-in-law described as “a merry little face.” Studying architecture at Portsmouth was where he met Anne whom he’d married within a year of leaving university. Anne was slim with pale blue-eyes, high cheek bones and long, golden hair tied back in a bun. Despite having a first class honours degree in music and being a brilliant cellist she’d never used her skills apart from giving private lessons to a handful of pupils.

During the first twelve years of their marriage Paul worked for various firms in the locality and encouraged by Anne continued his studies. Aged thirty four he achieved his ambition of becoming a registered architect. Seeking promotion he applied for several positions and was eventually successful in securing a senior post at Hoskins, Dyer and Blake. He and Anne had two children, Olivia aged nine and Miriam aged seven, both physically alike with bright blue eyes, pale skin and an abundance of blonde hair.

As soon as they’d settled into their new home three miles from Yeovil the girls were enrolled at the local village primary school where they quickly became accepted and popular with their peers. The young, ambitious headteacher soon learned of Anne’s musical skills and offered her a post as a part-time classroom assistant which she gladly accepted. As well as assisting the teachers she made use of her cello by accompanying the children’s singing in assemblies.

With Paul earning a respectable salary, the children enjoying their new school and Anne pleased to be using her talents all would have been well had it not been for Paul’s increasingly regular bouts of depression. Whether it was the pressure of work, the demands of family life, the onset of middle age or the surfacing of some unresolved childhood trauma nobody knew. No one at work would have noticed anything untoward. He was generally amiable and outwardly cheerful. But as soon as he arrived home he was a changed man. He was short-tempered with the girls whenever they were boisterous and was always too tired to play with them. He took no interest in Anne’s news and preferred to spend his leisure time watching the television or sleeping in front of it rather than engaging in conversation. Anne was initially concerned and sympathetic but her attempts at getting him to talk invariably met with sullen silence or a protestation that nothing was wrong. Their love life was virtually non-existent. As soon as they climbed into bed Paul would reluctantly give Anne an obligatory peck on the cheek then turn away pretending to fall asleep. What little sleep he actually had was fitful and plagued by two recurrent dreams. In the first of these he was being pursued by an unseen, malevolent presence that constantly stalked him. In the other he’d set out on a walk from home and after a short while find himself in unfamiliar surroundings unable to find his way back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.