Soap Street

By Ryann Streicher

  Nobody on Soap Street can remember a time when Ms. Ursula Howard didn’t live  in her house. Even though most people on the street had lived there for over 30 years.

For just a moment let’s go back four years ago to Miss Howard’s house while she is having a fight with Martha, her

 housekeeper.  “Don’t tell anyone about me. No one ever sees me because I don’t want them to know what I am,” said Miss Howard.  “I don’t want to be driven out of my house like my grandmother.”

Miss Howard was terribly angry with her housekeeper because Martha had stumbled upon the truth of what Miss Howard was while cleaning her house.

  “If you tell a single soul, even your shoe sole, I’ll do some thing so awful that you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”  Martha nodded eagerly. “Yes Madame, I understand. I won’t tell a single soul.”

 “I just can’t stand humans.  They are so ignorant.” Miss Howard said to herself “And I really hate children.  If one of them ever comes in my house I’ll….”

  Miss Howard walked away from Martha.  “And clean up that damn kitchen.”

 (three years later)

  Gary was playing street hockey with some of his friends. “Hey, Gary, next time try to block the goal!” 

   Gary was the goalie but he wasn’t very good at it.  “Guys, can we stop playing and do something else? I suck at being goalie, and we’ve been playing all day long.” 

   “Yeah we have been playing all day,” said Tom.  “How ‘bout we go home and take off our blades and meet back here in ten minutes for truth or dare.” Tom suggested as he pulled off his own blades. “Couldn’t hurt, I’d like a change, I’m sick of hockey as well.” Curtis said.  They all went home to take off their skates.

   Gary was the first one back and in their group the first one back is always the first one dared. “Oh no! I’m always the first one back, it’s like they wait at their houses and take as long as they possible can.  Just to make me angry,” griped Gary.   So he just sat down on the bench by the sidewalk and waited for the inevitable.

  After about five minutes every one was back.   Tom, being the oldest dared first. He put a great deal of thought into his dare.  After about five minutes he gave his dare to Gary. “I dare you to go into Miss Howard’s house, and take something out of her bed room.” Everyone gasped. “But that place is haunted.” Gary cried.

  “Oh but I know, what is the fun in dare if you don’t do something daring.”

Finally they called Gary a chicken enough times to get him to go in but not enough to get him to steal something.

  Gary snuck through the back kitchen window.  At first he saw nothing strange.  The house just looked like an old ladies house.

  Gary went upstairs to see Miss Howard’s bedroom. He only expected to see an old lady’s sweet cozy bedroom with a little frilly canopy over the bed.   But what he saw totally freaked him out.  Instead of seeing what he expected he saw a coffin sitting in the corner. He totally freaked out.  But for some strange reason he felt as if he had to open the coffin to see what was inside.  When he opened it he saw old woman Howard, except it was no old woman.  It was a beautiful young woman the only problem was she had fangs and claws.  Not your normal old lady’s house.  In fact it was the house of a vampire. 

Before, Gary thought that he was scared to death but now, he was so scared he wanted to kill himself.

 Then he really got scared as the vampire rose out of her coffin. “How dare you enter my house! Get out and never return or I shall kill you!” 

Gary didn’t want to argue with that so he made a run for it.  As he ran down the stairs he heard her yell after him, “And for your town’s sake don’t tell anyone or you may live to regret it.”

 And so he didn’t tell a soul, ever.  Even when he went back outside, he made up a story for his friends.  He told them how he had a lovely little chat with the dear old woman and how there really wasn’t any reason to be afraid of her.  Except that she had an incurable blood disease that could be passed to others.  He suggested that they stay away from her if they knew what was good for them.  

That night, Gary went to bed with a whole carton of garlic and a neck full of crucifixes.  He was sure Ms. Howard couldn’t come for him. 

To this day, no one in the town has yet seen Miss Howard. And since she hadn’t made any friends, she never received any presents for her five hundredth birthday.  (Which would have been yesterday.)