Greenbriar Manor

Mysterious Children

A year passed.

Ingram was born in the first chill of winter. His eyes were bright blue and his hair dark. He slept in the nursery surrounded by the old toys from his ancestors. was read stories from old library shelves well loved by others and he grew and toddled down hallways. Until he was three everything with him was normal. The house was lovely and warm. Then as if winter descended upon the property things shifted.

Another little boy arrived with his mom one summer afternoon. His mother was looking for work as a housekeeper. Her name was Fran. Her son's name was Mickie. Mickie was seven years old and precocious. He liked to eat all the cookies in the jar climb around in the mud in the garden and throw all of Ingrim's wooden toys down the dumbwaiter. One day he got into the attic and uncovered all the antique furniture. He found a vanity with a speckled mica mirror and a discolored pink seat. He pressed his hand onto the top of it and felt grooves in the wood. There was an indentation. Something round had worn a hole into the surface. He thought about his mother and how she liked to put on her makeup in the dark. Something that he thought was odd. He knew that there were stories about why she refused to sit at a mirror in the light. Something about her grandma and how that house had been filled with pretty and untouchable things. She had seen something there that made her change, Mickie had seen his grandma a handful of times, and she usually bought him candy and playing cards to keep him out of trouble but never spoke of her mother, Vera. Dad had gone on a trucking assignment long ago and never returned home.  So, his mom and he packed up the trailer and rented a car. Even at 6 years old he knew something was changing. His mom applied for a job she found in a classified ad she found in a newspaper she bought at a truck stop. Then, they drove all night. He remembers waking up as they pulled into the driveway. The estate looming like some old castle from his fairy tale book awaited them.

                                            A young boy in overalls stood at the tree line. 

Mickie remembered seeing the little boy with the baseball glove in the yard when they parked the car.  How he had tried to get him to leave his mom long enough for a game of catch. He waited to put his toys into a huge blue room along with his mother's things. This house was too large for three people. Who was that other boy? He walked outside and around the house to introduce himself. He could use another friend.  Out by the oak tree at the entrance to a thicket there was an old tire swing. In the tree above was a large treehouse. The ladder was rickety, but the house was well-made. He heard giggling from inside. As he began to climb the ladder, he saw a boy's face in the window of the house. The boy waved and smiled gesturing for him to come up and join him. As Mickie got to the landing and opened the door, he saw the boy put down a checkerboard. He moved a piece. Mickie pushed open the door and asked for his name. The boy turned around his ball glove to show a Dodgers insignia. He figured out by a charades game that his name was Brooklyn. Mickie moved the red piece towards his. He asked the boy where he lived...he pointed towards the center of the clearing. He asked him if he was alone. He shook his head. He then asked if Ingrim was related to him. He smiled and nodded. They played until the sun went down that evening. He realized he had been outside for a long time. Brooklyn had the last move on the board. Checkmate! Mickie watched as Brooklyn descended the ladder slowly. He headed into the thicket and disappeared. He could hear his mom frantically calling for him. He ran to her and told her about the treehouse. She hugged him close as she shut the door behind him.