“Yeah, that was just…” he started and then stopped. He wasn’t sure how to describe it.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“It reminded me,” he started then stopped again.
“Of what?”
“I’m…not sure.” He fought a dizzy feeling.
“You’re as weird as this house, you know?”
They silently moved to the next room on the right. He made sure he stepped up to turn the doorknob this time, but the door gave and he nudged it open instead.
A large crib trimmed in white lace sat in the center of the room in front of a tall window. Moonlight poured through parted drapes, leaving a silver trail where a baby would lay. Several dolls with long blonde hair and stiff bangs rested in various corners, offering frozen grins. A plush rocking chair faced the right side of the window.
They both moved slowly toward the crib and peered inside: a lifelike plastic baby doll was tucked under a sheet, its outstretched arms frozen in the moonlight. Lenora backed away from the crib with a shudder, but then he heard her shriek.
“Hijole!”
“What, what is it?”
He was at her side in three quick steps and pointing his flashlight in the corner behind the door with hers.
There sat a statue of a woman in a real rocker. Her hair was piled on her head, and she wore a long dress as she read a book.
“What was up with this woman and statues?” he said.
Lenora shook her head. “There’s something awfully sad about it.”
They both stared at the woman reading the book, a serene look on her face.