The House That Talked: The Cupboard Under the Stairs

By Colin Pitman

Cupboards can be naturally secret places. They are often dark and mysterious and can seem quite threatening, especially if you have a fear of the dark. Scott, if he could, would avoid going anywhere near the cupboard under the stairs in his house. It wasnt always easy for Scott to steer clear of visiting the cupboard. Every time he wanted to hang his coat up or put on his wellies, he had to open the door, and every time he opened the door, Scott could always hear that deep, sinister voice calling to him. What the cupboard under the stairs had to say to Scott has led to yet another adventure in the series The House That Talked.

This is the latest of Scotts adventures, and the illustrations inside the book have been produced by another budding artist, Archie Bennett. Archie is a student in the county of Lincolnshire, and as a result of a storytelling workshop in his school, he won the opportunity to provide the illustrations for this particular book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496986276

Colin Pitman

Colin Pitman, the author, has spent over thirty years working with children and adults as a social worker in the UK. His experiences and the time he has spent with Scott, the subject of the book, inspired him to put pen to paper and produce another story in the series.

Book preview

© 2014 Colin Pitman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/19/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8626-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8627-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

In the begining

Safe in the Kitchen

The Camera

The Secret

Bradley

The Plan

Back Home

One Last Request

The Last Frame

Introduction

The Cupboard under the Stairs is the second story in a series of seven about a young man with Autism. Scott is the young man whose experiences are described in the stories. They are not actual reflections of what took place but are based on the author’s observations of Scott and how he relates to his family, friends and surroundings. All of the books in the series are being written under the heading, ‘The House that Talked.’ Before you read The Cupboard under the Stairs it would help in understanding Scott’s relationship with the house and the adventures he has by reading the first book in the series: Dad’s Not Well

In the begining

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If there was one place that Scott avoided when he was in the house then it was the cupboard under the stairs. Why? Well Scott was not easily frightened, but there was something about the cupboard that he didn’t like and that was the cupboard’s voice. Scott when he came home from school or when he needed to put on his wellingtons had to go into the cupboard. As soon as Scott opened the door to put something into the cupboard or take something out, then the cupboard would call out his name.

Scott. Only Scott could hear the voice but unlike all the other voices in the house that talked to him, the cupboard’s voice was the slowest and the deepest. Every time Scott heard that voice it would send a shiver down his back. Scott never understood how you could send a shiver down your back but the cupboard’s voice was so menacing that that is what happened. Scott really didn’t like it, so he never stayed around long enough to see if there was any menace behind the cupboard’s voice. Scott would quickly grab whatever it was he was getting out of the cupboard and then quickly shut the door. That way, all Scott heard was the cupboard constantly repeating his name until the cupboard door was shut and there was silence once more.

Now today was an unusual day. Scott had been busy in his bedroom on the computer. He was editing a video he’d produced, using the camera on his computer. In the film he had included some animation, which used some pictures of his Nana as a zebra. The resulting film was very funny but he had decided it was better not to show Nana, as she might be offended. In the film a zebra with Nana’s face was getting into all sorts of problems. It was being chased around the jungle by a lion that looked remarkably like his Dad. He was in the process of making some changes to his short film, which involved adding the ferocious roars from his lion faced Dad and the terrifying squeals from the zebra, when he heard his Mum shouting to him from the kitchen.

Scott, I need your help please.

Mum, I’m busy? Scott shouted back.

Scott, I need you now. Mum’s voice sounded insistent, so reluctantly Scott left the comfort of his