The Corners Milo Watched
Some say animals have an extra sense: they see what we can’t. Milo, the family dog, barked at corners of the house and down dark hallways. Nobody in the family ever questioned it. Maybe he saw what none of them could.
One day Eddie and his younger sister Casey missed the bus homebound. They called their mom, fully expecting a ride. “You missed it, so you can walk home,” she said. “That should teach you a little discipline.”
They began walking and decided to take a short cut through a parallel neighborhood to their own. Cutting across the road, they noticed one old yellow two-story house with a wraparound porch, perhaps the biggest house on the block. Curtains blew back and forth inside, and a chill ran down Eddie’s spine. “Come on, Eddie,” said Casey. “I have to pee. Let’s go, let’s go!” Casey quickly began walking home with Eddie following. Intrigued, Eddie wanted to go back another time, when his little sister wasn’t around to slow him down.
Later that night, he waited till everyone was fast asleep and decided he would take Milo with him on this trip. Eddie and Milo started towards the home and as they walked closer his curiosity grew stronger. He reached the steps of the porch, but Milo stopped and fell into the sitting position. “Come on, Milo, you old wuss,” said Eddie. Milo simply whimpered and didn’t budge. He reached down to tie Milo’s leash to the arm of the steps then said, “You’re no guard dog, Milo, but okay, wait here,” then walked up the porch. In this case, Eddie was right, Milo wouldn’t be able to guard anything really, even if he wanted to as a six-year-old cocker spaniel that would rather play chase.
While walking on the porch, he heard creaks as he stepped. He noticed peeling paint, and a thick layer of dust at least a few inches deep. Coughing at the dust coming up, he gained the courage to place his hand on the door handle. When he turned the knob, it was unlocked so he pushed it open. As he approached the interior, a few things caught his attention: there was a large chandelier hanging in the entrance, family photographs displayed on the walls, and clean plates stacked on the kitchen table. There was also a cat, short grey hair, wandering around the house. But Eddie was more interested in the house than the cat. Milo wasn’t.
The front door blew open, and at that moment, Milo’s tail stood straight up as he saw the grey cat. He bolted. With just enough of a tug, the leash slipped loose, and he tore through the house after the cat from one end to the other. The cat wasn’t new to the chase game, so she pounced like a lioness onto the guard rail that led to the basement. Milo only got to the first step and looked down, stopping in his tracks. What Milo saw in that moment must have frightened him, so he ran to hide behind Eddie. Eddie looked down and said, “What is it, Milo, you just about had that cat.” Milo’s tail began to wag even quicker.
As Eddie continued to stroll around the home, he realized that the exterior looked nothing like the inside. It felt warm and had a smell of fresh baked banana nut bread and vanilla. He reached the last room upstairs. “It’s empty. No one’s here,” he said to himself. As it grew late into the night, Eddie realized that he would have to go home before getting caught. Yet, this still didn’t sit right with Eddie. He struggled to make sense of the empty creepy looking house outside and the clean, and inviting house inside. He wanted to return but this time, he would go back alone.
The next day, he stared at the clock through his last class until the bell finally rang. Mom and Casey were waiting in their family van out front. “You look tired,” his mom said, then drove them home. Later that night he waited for his parents, sister, and Milo to fall asleep then he snuck out of the house. He rode his bike straight to the yellow home. He noticed it looked different this time; it was clean, the porch was full of flowers and there weren’t any more layers of dust. He walked up the steps and the creaks on the porch were gone. “Wow, those house flippers acted quick this time,” he said, then placed his hand on the shiny new doorknob holding it a few seconds before twisting it open. When he stepped inside the home, the smell of sour milk hit him. He breathed in deep, hunting for something sweet, but there was nothing. His stomach turned and he covered his nose with his hand. Eddie noticed there were chairs on the ground and large holes in the walls and the cat was nowhere around. The furniture was worn down, gray, and full of dust.
He heard a cracking, swishing noise behind him and a cold breeze blew in. Curious, he turned around slowly. Something was coming towards him out of the shadows, breathing quick and heavy. The closer it got, the more he felt stuck and unable to move his limbs. His heart began pounding so fast he could hear it louder than the heavy breathing.
“What are you doing here, Eddie?” It was Casey and Milo; they heard when Eddie got up and decided to follow. Milo was breathing heavily from the run and that’s the noise that Eddie heard. “Ugh, Casey, Milo, you can’t just follow me everywhere. Mom and Dad might wake up and freak out when they see we’re all missing.”
“Don’t worry, I balled up my clothes and put them in my bed, we’ll be fine!” Casey said. Eddie shook his head. “I don’t understand why house flippers would clean up the outside and trash the inside. It makes no sense,” he said, scratching Milo’s head. Casey began looking around with her flashlight. “Yeah, I see what you mean, this place needs a wrecking ball not a fixer upper, either way it’s still empty, no one here, let’s just go,” said Casey. “No, you and Milo should go home but I need to see what’s in the basement, I’m missing something,” Eddie said. “You never go in the basement. That’s the last place you go in scary movies,” said Casey. Eddie turned to look at Casey, then said, “it’ll be quick, I pinky promise!” The two crossed their pinkies, then Casey said, “Okay, Milo and I will wait here while you go, but make it quick, Eddie!”
As Eddie walked slowly down the steps, he noticed they were soft and the wood was wet. He looked up and saw the glow of Casey’s flashlight and could hear Milo whimpering next to her. He found an old stained mattress, and tin cans on the ground. Then he walked underneath the stairs, but there wasn’t anything but old pipes along the walls and shadows. Out of the corner of his eye, a tall black shape stood near the bottom of the stairs. When he turned to face it, it was only a pile of old clothes.
Casey called down, “Hurry up, Eddie!” as her flashlight beam wobbled along the wall above him. He felt this was enough searching and decided to begin walking up the steps when Milo’s whining stopped. The doors slammed. “Casey?” Nothing. He held the railing tightly. His heart racing, he ran up the steps and pushed the door open. Casey was standing in the same spot where he left her. “That was just the breeze from the window shutting at the same time,” said Casey. “Yeah, we should go,” said Eddie, heading towards the front door. Casey walked swiftly with the flashlight in hand until the beam caught a knife on the floor. They looked at each other when Milo began sniffing closer, but Eddie grabbed Milo’s collar and pulled him back. “No, Milo!”
“I don’t remember seeing that before we walked in,” said Casey. “Me neither,” said Eddie. Casey reached for the doorknob. “It’s locked.” Eddie reached past her to try it himself. Still locked.
“You came back,” whispered a voice in Eddie’s ear.
“Eddie! Eddie!” shouted Casey, “it’s your turn to take out Milo.” Eddie picked up his head, rubbed his eyes, and realized he was in the comfort of his own bed. Was it all just a dream? Casey pulled the blanket from Eddie’s bed. Milo began growling at the corner of the room. “There’s no one there, Milo, let’s go outside before you have an accident,” said Eddie. As he headed towards the door, a banana bread and vanilla smell drifted down the hall, while Milo continued growling at the corner.
Thank you for reading The Corners Milo Watched.
