I called out to Mr. Benny from the window of the large reading room- it had become my favorite place in the Mansion. He was the handyman everybody relied on for odd jobs. Water had been dripping from my ceiling making the nights rather unpleasant, and I was excited to see a glimmer of hope in Mr. Benny. "Mr Benny Sir! Here, here!" He looked up at me, and said, "Coming right away Mam!" and while he uttered these words, he began moving in the opposite direction vanishing in seconds.
I lost all hope of getting the roof fixed when Mr. Benny entered the Great Mansion's kitchen. He wouldn't leave until Debu had made him a cup of tea and informed him of the day's travails which explored the lives of practically every resident of Babolim village. Letting out a sigh of great disappointment, I turned around to leave the reading room when I heard the shattering of glass. Strange things had happened in the reading room ever since I first came to Babolim Mansion. I turned around and fixed my gaze on the glass shards on the wooden floor, some gleaming in the sunlight.
I squatted to examine the damage and wondered what may have caused it. There were no troublemakers in the quiet yet busy mansion, Mr. Albert saw to that. I went downstairs to report the incident to him but noticed he wasn't at his desk. Some new guests must've kept him busy I thought. I decided to approach his second in command, Serafim Lobo.
Serafim had served the former owner of the mansion and could be found lurking around in its corners, checking on Debu and ensuring he didn't pocket the food meant for the guests. I called out to him while walking from the reception area into the courtyard. "Mr Serafim! Mr Serafim! Some glass pieces are on the floor in the reading room!". He popped out of a room he had been cleaning and closed the wooden door behind him. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he asked, "Glass broke? How?" he asked me cringing his nose and eyeing me suspiciously.
"No clue! Now could you please go and get it cleaned up? It just...broke." Mumbling under his breath, Serafim went up the stairs and I followed. As we entered the reading room, I pointed to the window. Serafim, broom in hand, went up to the spot and looked back at me angrily. "Where is the glass? Fooling me are you, Madam, today?"
Irritable, I hurried to him and found that not a single glass piece was on the floor and the window was intact. "The ghost is real Madam, leave while you can", said Serafim with a pallid look on his face. With that, he walked to the door, turned around, and beckoned to me to exit with him. As I took a final step to leave the room, the glass cracked once more.
