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‘Ok, this is going back quite a few years to when I was sixteen. My aunty on my mum’s side had passed away and my mum, dad, sister and myself were at the wake after the funeral. I was a being a typical bored teenager and so I was exploring my grandfather’s house. They actually had a proper basement, and I’d always been told I wasn’t allowed down there, but I remembered that my mum had said that they’d had it converted recently into a sort of music room as my grandad always loved to play piano. So I push the door and it swings open. I shrug and figure why not? I flick the light on, head down the stairs and oh my goodness, it’s beautiful. The whole place is brightly lit, wall sconces, freshly painted, thick carpets, and in the middle of the room there is this grand piano. It can’t hurt right?’
‘I’ve heard this story so many times,’ said Tom, shaking his head as he ate.
‘It’s not a story,’ hissed Anna, her eyes wide. ‘This is where it gets creepy. I sat down at the piano and I played a few notes, really quietly at first as I didn’t want anyone to know I was down there, but then I remembered the whole place was soundproofed so I went for it. I can’t play the piano, but I knew a few simple notes from music lessons at school, so there I am, pretending I’m Elton at Glastonbury - obviously - when I feel something brush against my leg and my dress move.’
Elsie grinned nervously, leaning in, her fork half way to her mouth as the hairs on the back of her neck prickled, listening intently as Anna continued.
‘I look down and there’s nothing there. It felt like a cat, so I looked around, thinking maybe one had come down with me somehow, but there was nothing. I shook my head and carried on playing, then about a minute later I felt it again, but stronger this time. This time, it felt like someone touching my leg - actually gripping it. I felt fingers. I screamed, and jumped back and looked down. Nothing.’
‘I don’t like this,’ laughed Elsie, looking at her husband. ‘I want to turn the lights back on.’
‘I was creeped out now, so I ran toward the stairs and as I get there I turn around and look back one last time and I don’t know if it was my imagination or what, but underneath the chair is the faintest impression of a little girl’s face, and then it was gone.’
Elsie shook her head back and forth, abandoning her fork.
‘It was like when you look at the sun and you get this after burn, it was like that and then she was gone. I ran up the stairs and out of the door so fast I nearly knocked some lady down at the top. Grandad comes over as he hears the commotion and he can see I’m white as a sheet so he takes me into the side room and asks me what’s wrong. Initially I didn’t want to tell him, but he kept asking, insistently, so I explained. He stayed quiet the whole time, and when I was done I could see he was crying and smiling.’
Elsie frowned and even Cole leaned in now, putting down his own fork.
‘He tells me that years ago, before my mum and my aunty came along, he and Grandma had another little girl who’d passed away at the age of four, and her favourite game was to sit under his seat whilst he played the piano and grab hold of his feet, then push them down onto the pedals.’
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Elsie, visibly shaken. ‘Bloody hell.’
‘I know, he was so happy. I think he saw it as some kind of sign. Afterwards my mum told me he’d come back into the room smiling and it was the first time he’d done so in weeks. I think my experience gave him some sort of comfort?’
Elsie wiped a tear away from her eye and took a deep breath. ‘That’s beautiful.’
‘I’m sorry,’ laughed Anna. ‘I guess that wasn’t the tone you were going for.’
You have no idea, thought Elsie. ‘Not quite no, but thank you.’
There was plenty of time to shift things in another direction she thought to herself, but Anna’s request for nothing too rude had thrown her a little. Had she read this wrong? She hoped not.
‘Is it my go?’ said Anna, interrupting the silence.
Elsie laughed and nodded, wiping her eyes. ‘Yes, oh gosh, yes please do.’
‘Ok,’ she smiled, pausing her dinner and picking up her glass. She swirled it in one hand as she thought and Elsie couldn’t help fantasising about kissing her soft wrists. ‘Let’s change the tone a little. Never have I ever… been in a fight.’
The two men burst out laughing as Anna looked at them each in turn with wide eyes. After a moment they looked at one other, and then drank in unison.
’I feel like that was a stereotypical dig there,’ said Tom. ’An assumption of egotistical machismo.’
‘School,’ said Cole, grinning. ‘One lad used to bully me for being a smart arse. One day I lost it and tried to tear his ears off.’
‘Oh good grief,’ said Anna, horrified. ‘Did you?’
’No,’ he laughed. ‘He never bothered me again though. Maybe he figured his hearing was worth more than a few more shitty comments at my expense.’
Tom leaned forward. ‘And I was attacked in broad daylight at a festival by a drugged up hippie trying to nick my phone. He managed to get in two shots before I pinned him down - fucking hurt too. Couple of other guys nearby got a boot in on the bloke before I shouted them off. After a few minutes the police arrived and carted him away. No idea if they arrested him or just kicked him out, but I didn’t see him again.’
‘Gosh, that sounds scary,’ said Elsie, frowning with concern. ‘I hadn’t pictured you as a festival goer.’
‘I’m not sure if it classifies as a fight, it was rather one sided.’
‘It counts mate,’ said Cole.
‘Thank you for the validation,’ laughed Tom sarcastically. ‘I feel like more of a man now.’
