I turned to the side, the biggest smile on my face. She wasn’t wrong about that either–it was a steal. I could buy the place outright, and still have money to fix it up. The garden was overgrown, but you could see the beauty beneath the weeds and vines. I wished I could’ve looked into the backyard, but the padlock on the iron gate and the ivy crawling up the bars warned me to stay out. Still, I could envision the secret garden on the other side.

The realtor popped her head up from her phone, finally noticing me once more. “Shall we check out the next place?”

“No.” I shook my head, and her perfectly made-up face fell. “This is it. This is the house I want.” I ran my hand along the banister, imagining the beautiful wood grain remaining once I sanded off the ugly paint. This had to be one of those moments everyone talked about. The moments where everything changed. This was the start of the rest of my life.

Her face contorted with confusion. I knew she had never expected me to choose this house. This was supposed to be the house that made all the other houses on her roster look better. “Are you sure? You haven’t even seen the interior. It could be derelict.”

It could’ve been a thousand things, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t care. I was certain. This was it.

I bought the house without ever going inside. The lawyer gave me a funny look when I went to sign the paperwork once he realized what property I was buying. “It’s a foreclosed property. Did you even look inside?”

“Nope.” Not even a stuffy lawyer could dull my excitement today. Keys first, adult problems later. At least, that’s what I was telling myself. “I’ll get a home inspector to check it out after I move in.”

“You know, I’ve heard some funny stories about the house over the years. The kids say it’s haunted,” he remarked, barely looking up from the paperwork he was pushing toward me.

I smiled. A few ghosts had never bothered me before. But if I had known what awaited me on the other side of the door, I would’ve paid a lot more attention to his warning.

I would’ve never stepped foot inside.

Moving days are always special. A breath of excitement, and the unknown. But also a taste of wanting it to be over, to be settled in and ready for the next part. Moving always felt like a combination of standing still and changing everything you’d ever known.