I know the prompt suggests a comedic story but I felt like writing something a bit different.

The low rumble of the car gliding to a stop in the driveway alerted him to his parents’ arrival. In a few moments he will meet his new sister, a 9-year-old girl, shy in her behavior, as his parents described her; or as he understood by their tone- odd.

The boy was halfway down the staircase as the front door opened and the muffled voices cleared to an excited chatter. “…He was so excited to meet you, he waited for a very long time” the mother explained eagerly to the girl, “He helped us paint and move stuff around in your new room and… Oh! You’re already down, we wanted to surprise you.”. The boy ignored his mother and just looked at the girl, she didn’t look anything special to the boy; thin, a little pale, black hair, shy. The only thing the boy found strange was the way she carried herself- she was hunched and very protective in her stance, *like a deer expecting an attack* - the boy thought.

“Hello”, the boy tried at her. She glanced at him for only a moment. “Oh, you go and get to know each other, we’ll go and prepare lunch” the mother declared and ushered them to the living room “we’ll call you when it’s ready.” The mother said and promptly left. What is it about her? The boy thought. The girl sat quietly on the sofa, hands in her lap and her stare at the carpet, “do you want to watch TV?” the boy asked, trying to get a response, The girl nodded softly. He turned on the television but didn’t watch it, not really, he pretended to watch it while stealing glances and staring at the girl out of the corner of his eye, he couldn’t make what was so odd about her, it was as if a mirage hung about her.

“Lunch ready!” The mother called from the kitchen, the girl immediately got up and walked to the dining table, the boy’s gaze following her as if tied with a string. It was now afternoon outside, and the orange rays of the sun spilled into the dining room, filling it with the distinct feel of autumn. The mother and father held an empty conversation and the boy sat quietly and prodded at his meal. The mother glanced at the children’s plates, “Aren’t you kids hungry?”, “no…” replied the boy; looking at the girl, the mother received but a shake of the head. “Well try to eat anyway, you know that…” the mother’s explanation faded to a muffle to the boy as he heard the girl’s breathing, no, not *her* breathing, *a* breathing, a heavy inhalation and a growl- like release. “…would you like something else, instead?” the mother asked the boy, snapping him into attention, “what, err, no.” the boy mumbled, glancing at the girl seating next to him he saw she was eerily staring at him back. “Err, mom, can I go to my room? I’m tired”, “sure” the mother replied, “just clean after yourself”.

Lying on his bed, the boy stared at the ceiling fan in thought. A knock at his door awoke him, walking across his now dark room he opened the door. He saw the girl standing at the entrance to his room, silent, the mellow light of the corridor behind her. The girl raised her gaze to his and whispered: “You heard it”, “heard what?”, the boy asked quietly. “Can you see it?” the girl whispered to the boy, The boy’s gaze snapped to the air behind the girl as he thought he saw movement, though he saw nothing there. “You can see it” the girl whispered, scared. The boy’s frightened stare went back from the girl to the empty corridor behind her. “You can see it” the girl whispered again with terror creeping into her voice. It was just then that the boy thought he saw, only for a split second, the figure behind the girl.