The Tent

When I was young, around five or six, I lived in a single floor house with my father and my mother. I spent a lot of time in my room given that my parents fought a lot, so most of my memories are set in that room. One thing that I remember the most about my old room was a tent I used to have. It had dinosaur print on it and had a pariscope what the submarines have. I played with it all the time and would read picture books in it. But for some reason, I have faint memories of being afraid of the tent.

It wasn't until recently that i remembered why I was scared of the little tent. One night, when I was trying to go to bed, the periscope was spinning around and around while a faint voice sang "ring around the rosey". Me, being young, started to get scared at the strange happening, so i told it to stop. As soon as I did, it fixed itself on me. The faint voice from the tent then said "''will you play with me?". I was scared, so of course, I said no. The voice became a little more audible, and asked again but with a little more anger in it's voice "will you play with me?!" ''and this time with tears in my eyes, I said no again. I closed my eyes in fear, and refused to open them. I felt my bed press down behind me as if someone was laying down next to me. In a more sinister tone, I heard "''you will play with me.". ''I ran to my mom and dads room in fear, and slept with them for the night.

I asked my mom a few days ago if she knew anything about my room in that house. When I told her about my experience with the tent, her face went almost white with fear. She told me that years before we moved in, the house belonged to a man who (for legal reason) I will just call Tom. He was a registered sex offender and pedophile who raped and murdered young boys and girls in his home after he kidnapped them. He was eventually caught by police and put on death row. But the part of his story that haunts me to this day, to convince kids to go with him, he would ask them "''will you play with me?" ''

I refuse to go back in that house to this day. And the tent is still in that room.