A Haunted House

Part of the One Page Series

Tabitha Winsloff has been painting her watercolors for over a hundred years, or so the story goes. When the silver moonlight shines on the Belvedere at precisely midnight, you can see Tabitha sitting at her canvas, painting the same copper beach trees she has painted since 1895. The same trees that surround the house.

Over 100 years ago, Tabitha was married to Nathaniel Winsloff, a politician who kissed babies in public and beat Tabitha in private. Of all the things that angered Nathaniel the most was Tabitha’s limited skill in cooking. She was a poor gardener as well, capable of only growing broccoli. Broccoli was served with most meals and it would affect Nathaniel so horribly because he hated broccoli. His cufflink would always leave a mark or even cut Tabitha’s chin after he backhanded her.

Tabitha found solace in her painting. She could not cook nor grow, but she could paint well. The only thing she ever wanted to paint were the copper beech trees around her home. The small grove was her only safe place in the world. After a dinner of broccoli and cheese soup, Nathaniel destroyed all the paintings Tabitha had in the Belvedere and burned her entire arsenal of brushes in the fireplace.

Her next painting was done in secret, while Nathaniel was on a campaign tour. She painted the same copper beech trees again, but this time included her husband, with an uncanny likeness. Every detail in his figure appeared lifelike. The only things missing were his cufflinks. Tabitha received a letter some days after her painting was finished. It was from the campaign manager, stating that Nathaniel had disappeared. She walked to the tree grove and felt the serenity she always felt there. She picked up the little gold cufflinks that lay on the ground and smiled. Her relativity of values left her quite satisfied without a husband and she never remarried. She just kept painting her watercolors of the same trees and the same little man cowering behind one.