Amanda Depew
The Ferguson House
Riley’s birthday was approaching and he couldn’t keep his excitement in check. It was his
eighteenth birthday. He was finally a legally recognized adult as he liked to call it. He was going
to throw the biggest birthday party of his life. The birthday everyone was going to talk about for
years or decades to come. He would finally get to officially ask Alyssa to be his girlfriend. The
thought of getting her to be his ran cold shivers down his back. She was tall, beautiful, awesome,
sexy, and adventurous and way, way out of his league. However, he didn’t let this stop him from
confessing his love to her.
Riley had been in love with Alyssa since Kindergarten. Every time he saw her, a fondness
would settle in his heart and butterflies would fill his stomach. She was the perfect picture of a
beautiful lady. Although the two had been friends for a very long time, Riley had kept his feelings
for Alyssa to himself. He never let anyone know except his mother who would never let him live
his life in peace. Mrs. Ferguson was like a bad smell to her son, she was always there, putting her
nose where they didn’t belong. She always managed to find out what Riley was thinking about
before Riley was done thinking about it. You could say she was creepy. She always followed him
around, to the woods when he went to hang out with his friends. Right in the middle of smoking a
joint, Riley would turn around and find his mother behind a tree peeping and watching never saying
anything. She just liked to watch maybe out of curiosity or for some other reason known to her.
But for whatever reason she never said anything to her son about all his extra curriculum activities
regardless of what Riley did. Although it was creepy at first, Riley learnt to accept and live with
it. He always pretended like he never saw her even after they made eye contact.
When Riley had his first kiss with Monica, the tall and not so beautiful blonde, Riley
opened his eyes only to find his mother hiding behind a tree peeking. Fortunately, Monica didn’t
see her. And for that, he had to break it off with her because he couldn’t take the embarrassment
of having anyone find out about the affair with Monica and make him the laughing stalk of the
school. Although he probably knew she wouldn’t say anything he couldn’t have his mother carry
around such a bombshell against him. It wasn’t just any other girl he was making out with, it was
Monica; the unwashed. Monica was tall yes, but extra tall for her age. Although she was blonde,
she didn’t have the sweet and lovable aspect of a blonde, her hair was unkempt and she held it at
the back of her head in a shaggy manner. It was kind of bushy and a turn off to many boys. Her
nose was extraordinarily long and she smelled like an old man. Maybe she used her old man’s
deodorant; but that wasn’t for Riley to find out. All he wanted was to practice kissing with Monica
to perfect his art of kissing to avoid disappointing Alyssa when the moment finally came.
Although her breath stunk, it was price he was willing to pay if it meant he would finally have the
goddess of his life.
“Hey Riley, group discussion tonight at my house right,” the voice made Riley’s heart skip.
The face was bright as sunshine and cut deeply through Riley’s heart. It was Alyssa, the lovely
and extremely attractive Alyssa, the girl of his dreams. She smiled revealing her perfect, neatly
arranged, and extra white teeth. Her smile weakened Riley’s heart and made him feel weak and
vulnerable. She looked extra beautiful today. But maybe this was just Riley falling deeper and
deeper in love with her. “Sure Alyssa. I will see you at 8:00pm.” Said Riley as his heartbeat began
to race. The thought of seeing Alyssa in her sexy pajamas scared him. He was so madly in love
with her and every time he spent some time alone with her, the deeper and deeper he fell for her.
It was like she cast a spell on him that was controlling his actions. As he started imagining how
his visit to Alyssa’s house would go, the thought dawned on him. She would be watching them.
Hanging around the house, hiding behind a creepy tree, wherever place she chose, it just turned
out to be creepy. It was always her intentions to let her son know that she was watching him. Her
pale face was starting to give Riley the goose bumps he felt every time he sat close to Alyssa. Was
it love or was he scared of both women. What was it that scared him about his creepy mother?
What was it that scared him about Alyssa? Or maybe he just loved them dearly. He couldn’t figure
out what he really felt for either of the two but what he was certain of was that the two had the
ability to elicit similar feelings in him.
He peeked outside the window and for once she wasn’t there. She wasn’t there staring and
watching him. He looked at every side of the compound within his view but he couldn’t see her.
She was gone. She was gone for good. She had finally decided to leave him alone. Just as he was
about to burst into a wild laughter for finally getting his freedom back, a white clothing appeared
behind a distant tree. There she was standing behind a tree with her white dress appearing from
the sides of the tree. It was like she was intentionally hiding her face. It was like she didn’t want
her son to see her face. “What game is she playing?” Riley wondered. He felt overwhelmed by her
presence. It was becoming too much for him to handle. He couldn’t have her follow him around
for the rest of his life. This was against all the laws of nature considering that what is dead is meant
to stay dead.
Riley remembered the first time his mother had appeared in her current state. It was
approximately fourteen years ago. His father had only told him about her death and he was
devastated considering that he used to spend most of his time with his mother. He remembered her
complaining that she was unwell the previous night but she had assured him that there was nothing
to worry about. She had told him that everything would be okay come the following morning.
When Riley woke up, he found their house packed to capacity. People were wearing sad faces and
others were crying, including Grandma Rose. They all seemed to be very sad. Then his father
emerged from behind their bedroom doors soaked wet in tears. “I am so sorry Riley; there was
nothing I could have done about the situation.” He paused for a minute and Riley maintained his
silence. “It’s your mother, Riley, she is dead.” Those words pierced through Riley’s heart. As his
mind drifted further into this horrible experience, tears started filling his eyes.
Riley remembered how Linda, his baby sitter spend most of this challenging time consoling
Mr. Ferguson. She spent every day in the house, sleeping in his mother’s bedroom where Mr.
Ferguson slept as well. It was disgusting to watch the crocodile tears roll down Mr. Ferguson’s
eyes as he gave a breath taking and heartbreaking farewell to his beautiful mother. It was
unbelievable. He recalled how in her last days his mother cried every night about Mr. Ferguson’s
habits. Mr. Ferguson had stopped coming to the house and Riley would go for days without seeing
Mr. Ferguson. He would hold and hug his mother every time he saw her crying. These missing
nights and weeks only managed to bring Riley and his mother closer. His mother found the
consolation she so much sought from spending more time with Riley. He was always there for his
mother when she needed him. When she wanted a hug, he gave her a kiss, when she wanted
someone to spend some time with, he gave her a hug. They had this unbreakable bond that was
beyond any other bond that ever existed. Many are the times, Mrs. Ferguson would whisper in
Riley’s ear “at least you will never leave me.” this statement brings tears to Riley’s eyes when he
thinks about it. She never wanted him to leave her but she decided to leave him…. But the good
thing was she came back for him. She came back only to be with him and him alone.
Six months after the death of his mother, Mr. Ferguson finally tied the knot with the nanny.
Although Riley was invited to the ceremony he opted not to go. He couldn’t stand the thought of
another woman eternally bound to his mother’s husband. It was an abomination if you asked him.
On the night after their wedding, the couple seemed very happy; they spent most of the day in their
bedroom doing God knows what. However, when Riley saw his mother that day, she was very
upset. She moved around restless and didn’t seem to notice Riley all day and night.
At the time of their marriage, the nanny was four months pregnant, hence the rushed
wedding. On the night of their wedding, was when things started to go wrong. Riley could feel that
something was different especially with his mother. She was angry and restless. At around seven
in the evening, hell started breaking loose in the Ferguson house. The wind was hauling strongly,
making sounds that mimicked a crying baby. The trees next to the house clattered against the
windows. The wind was getting stronger and the clacking of the tree branches on the widows and
the roof of the house was getting worse. An owl started to howl in the nearby bushes. The house
sounded evil and scaring. But neither Mr. Ferguson nor the new Mrs. Ferguson seemed to take
notice of any of these events. At around midnight, the temperature dropped below freezing point
in Mr. Ferguson’s house but neither Mr. Ferguson nor the baby nanny noticed this either. It felt as
though the entire house was going to freeze down. Riley culled in his bedroom fully covered in his
tiny blanket not wanting to see what was actually going on around the House.
When the clock hit 12:00am at midnight, hell loosened in the house. The owl came to
Riley’s window and continued to howl out there. The tree branches next to his room started
clacking faster. Then the door to the house creaked open. Footsteps followed in and started heading
upstairs were the bedrooms were, in a small rhythmical manner. The footsteps sounded familiar,
Riley had loved to listen to those footsteps every morning before the death of his mother. They
always came with a peck on his forehead followed by the words; “I love you sunshine.” Those
words ran through Riley’s mind as the footsteps came closer. However, instead of coming to his
room, the footsteps advanced to Mr. Ferguson’s bedroom. The footsteps took ages walking,
heading towards Mr. Ferguson’s house. Finally, the footsteps stopped and Riley could hear Mr.
Ferguson’s bedroom creak open and then closed from behind. The wind started to blow faster and
in a wilder manner as the owls continued to sing the chorus to the rhythm created by the wind.
Then everything stopped, the wind, the owls, and the footsteps all came to a sudden stop. As Riley
was trying to comprehend what happened, he heard a sharp scream originating from Mr.
Ferguson’s bedroom. He rushed in only to find blood spilt everywhere; on the bed and the floor
and the baby nanny seated at the edge of the bed covered in her own blood and terrified. Mr.
Ferguson was deeply asleep and seemed to be unaware of what happened. Riley then came to find
out that the nanny had suffered a miscarriage. They couldn’t figure out why or how this happened
since the doctor had said the previous day that everything was very much okay and that the baby
was okay. “How could it happen?”
The nanny was rushed to the hospital and was discharged after two days admission at the
local hospital. She looked weak and thin. Her once beautiful face looked ugly and old actually
older than the first Mrs. Ferguson. She walked in a slow motion with the help of a walking stick
and the help of the husband as well. She kind of looked fragile. She passed by Riley and didn’t say
a word. She didn’t even lift her head to look at him. It was like he didn’t exist to her or she was
terrified of looking at him. Mr. Ferguson walked her straight to their bedroom with just a simple
nod to Riley who responded by shrugging his shoulders. This day seemed calmer than the night of
the wedding when hell had broken loose for the first time and the devil had walked among the
Fergusons claiming the last alleged Ferguson’s member. Not that he was inhuman or anything, but
Riley didn’t feel any remorse for the nanny or Mr. Ferguson. A small voice in his mind kept saying
that they had it coming. I mean after everything who wouldn’t think that they were equally to
blame for their misfortunes.
Two days after the accident on the wedding night, a fierce fire swept across the compound
and destroyed everything that the family owned, the cars, the houses, the garage, everything. There
was nothing left that could be associated with the Ferguson’s except the walls that represented
what was left of the Ferguson house after the fire brigade put out the fire. Riley was at Alyssa’s
place when it happened. Nobody knows what happened or what caused the fire. All the police said
was “it might have been a gas leak.” But Riley knew this wasn’t the case. It had everything to do
with the events that had taken place in the house after the new Ferguson couple tied their knot. It
had something to do with his extremely angered mother who wasn’t noticing Riley anymore but
was helplessly roaming across the compound, sad and unhappy. This incident was worse than the
previous one. This time round, the accident didn’t just claim the life of an infant but also claimed
the life of the baby nanny and Mr. Fergusson. As Riley watched the ambulance carry away what
was left of the last Ferguson’s, he couldn’t help it but feel alone and empty. His mother changed
ever since and all she did now was to follow Riley around. After the accident his mother wasn’t
either loving or amazing as she was the first time she came back to Riley. All she did now was
follow Riley around. Riley didn’t know what the future held for him. Riley snapped from these
horrible memories when the school bell rang marking the end of school and reminding Riley that
he had a hot, blue-eyed; blonde he needed to win over.
As Riley walked home from school to go prepare in order to go see Alyssa later on, he felt
an urge to pass by the old Ferguson house and have a glimpse of what had become of it. The fire
had consumed most parts of the building and with only few remnants left standing. The roofing
was gone but the walls were still standing. Where the Ferguson house once stood was now covered
by green grass that appeared to be alive. Despite the high temperatures of the summer season, the
grass and the flowers that emerged from the unkempt grass blossomed. It was a nice view, and
very peaceful. It looked as though the house had finally found its peace. Riley recalled a certain
spot he used to go to sit with his mother before passing away and coming back. He wanted to go
see what had become of the spot and whether there was any sign of the rocking chair that once
brought joy to him and his mother. He started walking right across the green grass towards the spot
that was some meters away. As he came closer to the spot, his heartbeat started to rise. He felt the
same fondness he felt when around Alyssa or his mother. All childhood memories jolted back to
his mind. Tears started gashing down his face as he remembered what life had taken away from
him. All the good memories he always ignored lashed out like a stream, he started sobbing loudly
as he called his mother’s name again. He felt lonely and vulnerable. “Mother, why did you have
to leave me?” he started yelling at the top of his voice. “Why wouldn’t you come back normal?”
“All you do is scaring me with your creepy stalking, why do you do this to your own son?” “Why
mother?” “Why”. The ground shifted and the grass loosened. Riley tried to reach out to hold a
nearby branch to maintain his balance but it was too late. He had forgotten about the borehole that
once stood a few meters in front of the house.
The remnants of the Ferguson House stand at the top of the hill. Nobody dares to go closer
to the house. It is used to scare children to behave. The grass still continues to grow and the flowers
become more beautiful. It is the most beautiful place in Midnight, Texas but a beauty anyone
would never get closer to enjoy. Posts of a missing Riley are still seen on tree trunks and boards.
Nobody lived to find out where he went or why he left. His foster parents still have hope of finding
poor Riley or his body to put to rest.
Critical Reflection of “The Ferguson House”
My creative story was inspired by “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. My parody bears
some similarity to the original story in regards to supernatural or fiction. I employed the absurdity
of life an element I borrowed from the Metamorphosis story. Similar to the original story, my
parody explores the absurdity of life. The absurd event in my story is the boy who has his dead
mother following him around wherever he goes and never says a word, an event that surpasses the
boundaries of natural occurrences. Through creating this story, I want my audience to view the
world from the eyes of a four year old boy who losses his mother, the closest parent he ever had,
and experience how the death of a loved one can impact a child. To worsen the loss, the boy’s
father forgets about his existence and proceeds to marry his mistress and leaves the boy with no
other choice than to turn to his dead mother for consolation since she is all he has.
The lack of sympathy is another theme I borrowed from the “Metamorphosis”. The boy in
this case loses a mother and is left with a father who cares less about him. The step mother doesn’t
care about him either another theme I sort to explore in my story. The lack of sympathy among all
the characters including the dead mother is an aspect in the society I thought I can use my story to
explore. This theme was deeply inspired by the “Metamorphosis” story as I felt that Kafka touched
a very important topic in the society that requires further exploration. The loss of a loved one can
be devastating more so for child, hence I sort to explore how this affects a child. Further, I
examined how marriages and family settings affect children as well.
I used numerous techniques to create my story including plot and character development.
I used plot development aspects covered in this class to complete my story. At the beginning of
the story, Riley is presented as an ordinary boy who is almost turning 18 and is very happy about
his transformation. Then I indulged in a series of reflections that drive the story towards the end. I
also developed my character from an ordinary kid to a delusional boy who eventually dies in search
for his dead mother. Events such as how the boy lost his family drive the story to its climax and
ultimate ending. However, in my ending, I deviated from the main story I used to write my parody.
Unlike in the Metamorphosis, my story ends with the death of the remaining member of the family
and all that is left is the walls and other remnants that depict where the house once stood. I also
employed literary devices such as imagery, metaphors, and hyperbole to write my story and drive
it towards the end.
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