Maddie and the Chateau Ghost

The morning was bright and the birds were singing. The sun was just about to rise, the sky was a dark blue, with only a few stars shining through. There was a young woman, sitting on a swing under a willow tree in front of her house. She was looking at the sky, no she was looking beyond the sky. Looking at the white clouds being carried by the wind, looking at the sun that was now peeking over the horizon, she could almost feel it's warmth.

She breathed in deeply and smelled freshly cut grass and lavender from her garden. She smiled and closed her eyes, letting air out through her nose. And then she heard it, a melody that made her smile grow even wider. It came from inside the house.

It was one of his songs. She'd listened to it hundreds of times by now, but every single time she heard it she felt a small thrill go through her body and butterflies in her stomach. She opened her eyes again and looked at the house. Through the windows she could see him sitting on his piano bench, which he had moved as close to the window as he could get without it falling out of its hinges or collapsing underneath him. He knew that she loved to listen to him play, so he played when ever he could.

"Good morning." A voice said behind her and startled her out of her thoughts.

"Good morning." She replied and placed both feet on the ground, pushing herself up on the swing again before starting to push herself back and forth again with little kicks from her feet against the ground.

"It's going to be another nice day today." The same voice said again, this time closer and she turned around to look at who it belonged to. It was an old woman with white hair pulled back into a bun behind her head and black rimmed glasses that were perched on top of her nose. Her eyes were covered by sunglasses even though the sun wasn't even visible yet but Maddie knew that they would be brown like hers once they were visible again. "Well we can always hope so." Maddie said smiling at the woman who had lived next door to them ever since they had moved into this house two years ago.

The woman smiled back at Maddie and put down a bag full of groceries on top of Maddie's own bags full of food for breakfast today along with some other ingredients for dinner tonight when Mr Jameson would be home again from his business trip. "You know you should really put away your keys better than that." The woman said pointing at Maddie's keychain that lay forgotten just outside their front door where she had dropped them last night before going upstairs to go to sleep with Mr Jameson without thinking about it too much in her tired state after a long day painting Mrs Jameson's portrait at Chteau d'Annened where they had been staying for three weeks now while Mrs Jameson was there alone trying to do some research on what might have happened during World War II there as well as getting some work done on their own family tree at least according to Mr Jameson who didn't seem all that keen on doing any research himself instead spending most of his time downstairs playing his music more than anything else while Mrs Jameson spent most of her time up in their suite working or reading through books about those times in France during World War II which apparently weren't very pleasant times if Maddie understood Mrs Jameson right when talking about what happened during those years in France when Hitler decided France should fall under German rule; apparently not everyone agreed with Hitler even though they were French as well just like Mr Jameson's family: His ancestors were French also according to Mrs Jameson but apparently they married Germans which is why they had taken their name from an ancestor who came from Germany because apparently he liked it there or something along those lines... Maddie wasn't quite sure about all these details but she didn't mind really because whenever Mrs Jameson told her about all this stuff she seemed happy so Maddie liked seeing Mrs Jameson happy; Mr Jameson seemed happy too whenever he got to talk about his family history which mostly involved lots of money just like most families thought their family did according to Mrs Jameson who grew up poor herself until she married Mr Jameson but only after dating him for over ten years which means that they must have been really close friends before deciding to get married because otherwise no one would date someone for ten years without getting married before making such a big decision... which is pretty crazy because Maddie has only known Mr Jameson for two years now but even though he can be really grumpy sometimes especially in the mornings before he gets coffee... or rather after his morning coffee... even though he can be grumpy sometimes sometimes he's really sweet just like yesterday evening when he surprised Maddie by showing up after work early after telling him earlier in the day that she wanted some time off from painting since she wanted to relax for once instead of drawing or painting... so yes sometimes Mr Jameson can be grumpy but still sometimes nice especially yesterday evening when they went out together: They went rowing on Lake Geneva which is close by Chteau d'Annened where they've been staying for three weeks now while Mrs Jameson was there researching stuff relating World War II and their family tree... rowing around Lake Geneva felt nice although it got cold quickly and it took them much longer than expected before they finally returned home because Mr Jameson kept rowing in circles around one part of Lake Geneva where he suddenly stopped rowing altogether and asked Maddie if she liked living here with him; explaining that if she didn't like living here anymore then perhaps she should move back home with her parents instead which would make things easier for both of them... But then Maddie explained how much happier she felt here with him than back home where everyone just seems kind of bored all the time since nothing exciting ever happens anyway... so instead Mr Jameson suggested renting an apartment somewhere closer by here so Maddie doesn't have to fly all the way from America over here every month just for a couple days so maybe everyone can spend more time together instead... So yes perhaps things will get easier for everyone once they find an apartment somewhere nearby here instead... but besides this unexpected visit yesterday evening yesterday afternoon had also been nice: After working on Mrs Jameson's French family tree throughout most of Saturday afternoon while Mr Jameson worked upstairs playing his music as usual while painting portraits all afternoon long while yesterday evening they were supposed to go out together while Mr Jameson played his piano downstairs while listening through headphones so not disturbing anyone else who might want some peace while reading through books or whatever else people do nowadays anyway but suddenly Mrs Charles-James walked into Mrs Charles-James' art studio unannounced asking them whether they'd like something to drink but no sooner than Mrs Charles-James finished saying "I'm afraid I haven't bought any tea bags lately" and sat down next to Mr Charles-James as if nothing unusual happened whatsoever did something unexpected happen: Out from nowhere appeared Miss Annened -Mrs Charles-James' great grandmother- dressed in black swirling around them both and making strange sounds including laughing hysterically which apparently made Miss Annened disappear again just as quickly as she'd appeared leaving everyone quite confused except Miss Annened herself obviously since no one else saw anything strange other than everyone sitting there staring at each other wondering what just happened... Except, perhaps Mrs Charles-James who looked quite confused indeed questioning what exactly had just happened here today which led into a conversation between both families later tonight when Mr Charles-James mentioned something about ghosts haunting Chteau d'Annened now that Miss Annenend has gone missing again meaning either having died or left Chteau d'Annened: Apparently Miss Annened disappeared twice already last year once during Halloween when everyone suddenly saw Miss Annenend appear out of thin air wearing very strange clothing making everybody quite frightened except not enough that anyone actually called anyone else because after seeing Miss Annend disappear again minutes later nobody thought it appropriate calling up others asking whether they'd seen anything ghostly happening wherever they were located anyway... Which is why nobody called anyone last night either because apparently Miss Annened left Chteau d'Annened without saying goodbye twice already leaving everybody quite confused about what exactly happened here today leaving people wondering whether this old mansion is haunted or whether perhaps Miss Annend is simply suffering from mental illness causing delusions based upon whatever experiences she might have encountered during World War II whether bad ones or good ones... Which might explain why suddenly people started talking about their own experiences with ghosts recently especially after hearing stories from others telling them about their own experiences with ghosts causing such discussions has brought many people together making people wonder whether any ghosts exist or not since clearly many people seem convinced ghosts exist although nobody knows exactly how many ghosts are roaming around these days making people wonder whether these ghosts are real or merely figments of imagination caused by psychological stress giving life new meaning providing comfort during difficult times when death seems inevitable by reminding us how short life is reminding us how lucky we should be living life doing whatever we want doing whatever we love doing whatever makes us happy doing whatever makes us feel alive because soon enough we'll die ourselves never knowing what happens next never knowing whether there are any ghosts roaming around our houses tonight or whether everything happening tonight is merely