Night Noises (A Story)

[seymoure]

     David Parker was not a big-time filmaker. But he hoped someday to become one. He was working on his second feature film when it happened.

     His first feature was "Marilyn," a simple love story, featuring an actress that he was, at that time, totally in love with. The film got a little notice from a couple of festivals, but not much money.

     He had to do a movie that would make him enough money to keep him out of the "9-5" pool.

     "Night Noises" should be the film to do that. It was a simple haunted house story, with a script that had been given him by a well known writer as a present.

     His plan was to cut corners where it was necessary, but not where it would show.

     David was talking to a potential backer on the phone on this bright, shiny Tuesday morning.

     "I have a location that has been rented for a song, my sound and camera men are working for a percentage of the profits and the actors are working for the resume note. My brother is doing special effects for cost. I'm even getting the sounds of an old house taped by a buddy of mine. I saw Robert Wise's 'The Haunting' and was hit by how effective the faceless scare of house sounds were. So we can cut in the real sounds and only have to make a couple of special effects ones to cut in."

     At that moment Terry Graves walked in, tape recorder in his hands.

     "I am just about to listen to those house sounds right now. So I'll call you back."

     Terry set the machine on David's desk and stepped back.

     "Did you get it?"

     "Yeah. I found an old Turn of the Century house and put the tape recorder, with an 18 hour battery in the front room. It was about sunset and I turned it on and left for the night. This morning I picked it up. Somehow the battery was dead. Like it was drained."

David shrugged, "Probably some flaw in the thing. Did you get the sounds?"

     "Uh-huh. It's cued up to the first of the sounds on the tape." Then Terry turned and walked to the door, "You can listen by yourself."

     "Can we go back and get more if we need it?"

     "No," Terry said and closed the door behind him.

     David was surprised by his friend's reaction, but hit the "Play" button anyway.

     The sound of the tape rolling was obvious in the empty house but then there was a slight sound of wind outside the house. "Good, good" said David and made a note.

     Then came the expected creaks of floor boards and shifting sounds of walls. David couldn't have been happier with the results.

     For the moment.

     Then came a sound that was hard to identify. It was like a slapping of something on wood of some kind on wood. It was repeated rythmiclly. It was distant, but came closer.

     Now there was another sound. It was a child's voice. She was singing "London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down" as she got closer to the recording device.

     Then he knew the sound, it was a jump rope hitting the floor.

     What was a child doing in this house late at night?

     Then there was another sound. Like when someone is talking in another room, but you can't make out the words? But it was so incredibly bass that it didn't seem humanly possible.

     That sound went on for another minute and then both the girl's singing and jumping and the rumbling bass voice stopped.

     The pause was ended by a sound that made David's skin crawl.

     It was a child's terrified, tormented scream.

     Then came the static sound of blank tape.

     David stopped the tape. His skin was pallid and cold. His face was beaded with sweat.

     The young director decided he wanted to make a comedy.

     It was never finished.

 

THE END