Up At The Old Mansion Poem by Marilyn Shepperson

Come with us, said the team
We're going up to the old mansion
Don't go, said the locals, be warned
It's haunted beyond comprehension
I read up on the history of the place
A long sad tale of murder, deception and suicide
Of how the master had been found' in flagrante delicto'
With the parlour maid, by his wife
She had killed the maid and her husband
Then hung herself from the dancing room chandelier
It was supposed to be her ghost that walked the halls
And t'was said, by the locals, with ghoulish glee
She would suck dry the life's essence
From any who dared to stay the night
But not one to scare easily, I went along
With my friends, to set up cameras, recorders and computer
Dust on the floors, trip wires; locked all the doors and windows
We took it in turns to keep watch
All that long first night
But nothing happened, nothing at all; I got bored
Nor the second nor the third night
Disappointed, yet somehow relieved
We packed up and each drove to their home
The journey back was uneventful too
What an expensive dead loss it had all been
Yet as I drew up outside my house
I glanced in my rear view mirror
And saw with heart- stopping horror
The ghost had followed me home.