From out of the Mouth of Babes

2

From out of the mouth of babes

Janice was a single mother with a baby almost one year old and together they had just moved into a new furnished home, it wasn’t large by any means but enough for her to get back on her feet after just parting from her partner.

It had one large room that doubled as a living room come bedroom which she used through the use of a bed settee, a smaller room which she used as the nursery and then the usual bathroom and small kitchen.

The only drawback she felt about the place was that the electricity was obtained through a pay meter, which meant she had to have a ready amount of coins which at times proved difficult, but the place looked as though it had been decorated recently which made it bright and fresh and at the asking price for the rent she knew she wouldn’t find anything as suitable.

One night after settling the baby down for the night and making sure as she always did she turned on the battery operated baby alarm. She then settled down for a peaceful evening on her own but then the electricity went off, as she went to put more coins in the meter she realised she had used them earlier that day as she needed change for something else and had failed to replace them.

Now it meant that she would just have to have an earlier night in bed, but she needed some kind of light to see to the baby in case it woke during the night as did happen from time to time, so she place a couple of night light candles in the babies room.

During the night she awoke to see the alarm lights on the baby alarm flashing but she couldn’t hear any noise from the baby at all, thinking she had the volume turned off she then turned it up, still she couldn’t hear anything so she turned the volume up to maximum, at first there was nothing then she faintly heard what she thought were children’s voices, she thought she must be hearing things so she entered into the babies room, the baby was still sound asleep so she returned to her bed, just starting to doze off again she was woken again by the same children’s voices coming through the baby alarm, she knew it couldn’t be possible, there must be some kind of malfunction with the baby alarm but the voices got a little louder, loud enough so that she could make out what was being said.

“Jamie I can’t see, you lift the baby out of the cot and be careful”

Just then there seemed to be some kind of muffled noise then the voices came through again.

“Jamie I told you to be careful now look you’ve dropped the baby.”

At this Janice dived out of bed and ran into the babies room but there was nothing to see for her baby was still sound asleep and there was nothing unusual about the room.

Next day Janice took the baby alarm back to the store where she had bought it and explained that there were other voices coming through, the store assured her that it wasn’t possible but to satisfy her they gave her a new one still in the box.

Weeks went by and nothing strange or unusual happened so she was convinced that there must have been some kind of malfunction with the baby alarm, it wasn’t till she ran out of coins again for the electricity meter that again she found herself in the same situation once again, but she gave it no thought as to what had happened the last time.

Once again she put a couple of nightlight candles into the babies room in case she needed a light to attend to the baby, so it was once again an early bed for her which she didn’t mind for bringing up a baby on her own was quite exhausting at times and it was a chance to catch up on some sleep.

Again through the night she was woken up by the baby alarm making a crackling sound, as a matter of instinct she turned the volume up to hear better, at first there was nothing to hear then children’s voices came through again just the same as she heard the last time.

“Jamie I can’t see, you lift the baby out of the cot and be careful.”

Once again there was a muffled sound and then the voices came through again.

“Jamie I told you to be careful now look you’ve dropped the baby.”

At this Janice was more frightened and dived out of bed and raced into the babies room but there was nothing to see apart from the baby being happily sound asleep, now Janice was more puzzled than ever for when she returned the first baby alarm she was assured that it was impossible for the alarm to pick up any sounds apart from what was in the room where the baby slept yet she was sure that she had heard those voices again, but how could she for there was no one in the babies room apart from the baby itself and there were no windows open so that outside noises could be heard by the baby alarm.

Janice then turned the baby alarm off and took the baby into bed with her for it worried her for she couldn’t understand why the baby alarm would pick up any noises apart from what the baby would make.

For the next few nights she kept the baby beside her in bed and kept the baby alarm on with the volume full up but nothing happened, not even a crackle on the alarm.

What had happened had kind of disturbed her, happening once could have been a malfunction with the baby alarm but to happen twice with a different baby alarm just didn’t make any sense at all, it bothered her so much that a friend volunteered to stop with her at nighttime. So Janice went through everything she thought she had done, she made sure the baby was settled down in its own bed then Janice and her friend turned the light out and settled down for the night, they even made sure that nightlight candles had been lit in the babies bedroom, they sat and listened into the early hours of the morning till they too fell asleep.

Next morning they awoke early and neither of them had heard the slightest noise at all through the night, as they sat talking over coffee Janice was asked to go through it all again as to what had happened the previous times, it was then discovered that it was when the electric meter ran out of money and the electricity went off that the children’s voices had been heard, so during the day they made sure that they used as much electricity as possible until the meter showed it was almost out of money.

That night Janice went through the same things making sure the baby was asleep and safely in its own bed, she the lit a couple of nightlight candles then her and her friend retired to sit and listen to the baby alarm, they didn’t have long to wait until the electricity went off by the meter, with the baby alarm volume turned up to maximum they sat and waited, an hour or so had gone past when the lights on the baby alarm started flashing then the voices started to come through as before, Janice whispered to her friend that’s what she had heard before.

“Jamie I can’t see, you lift the baby out of the cot and be careful.”

Then there was that muffled sound again then the voices came through again.

“Jamie I told you to be careful now you’ve dropped the baby.”

It then went silent for almost a minute then the voices came through again.

“Jamie I can’t see, it’s so smoky in here you better get mummy, I told you not to play with that candle.”

There was a sound of coughing then the baby alarm went silent, both Janice and her friend got up and entered the babies’ room to find nothing out of the usual for the baby was still sound asleep.

Next morning Janice’s friend told her she was going to contact someone who might be able to help them; that night Janice’s friend arrived with another lady and they all went through the same sequence of things, making sure the electricity would run out and left a couple of candles alight in the babies room, when the electricity finally run out they sat and waited in silence for a couple of hours, Janice’s heart was thumping so hard she was sure the others would be able to hear it, then once again the lights on the baby alarm started to flash and the children’s voices came through as before then the whole place fell into complete silence until Janice was asked to put some money into the electric meter.

Once the room was illuminated the lady who Janice’s friend had brought said she was a medium and she thought she knew what it was all about but she had to confirm it with someone else.

A couple of days later Janice’s friend arrived with the lady medium and another man who introduced himself as the chief of police, Janice couldn’t understand what all this had to do with the police but he said he would explain after he had heard what the medium had brought him to hear, so once again Janice prepared things as before, settled the baby into bed for the night and they all sat and waited for the electricity to go off and as before the baby alarm lights lit up and the children’s voices started to come through and they all sat and listened with interest but as before the voices stopped and the place fell silent, it was the chief of police that broke the silence and asked Janice to get the electricity back on, once in light Janice asked what it was all about.

“Well it’s a kind of strange story.” The chief of police said.

“A couple of years or so ago a lady who lived here with her three children was accused of murdering them and had set their bedroom on fire to try and hide what had happened but a passer by saw the smoke coming out of the building and called the fire brigade but unfortunately it was too late to save the children for they had died of smoke inhalation so the lady went to court and was found guilty of the murder of the children, although she pleaded her innocence there was no evidence to prove otherwise until now from what I’ve just witnessed and heard.

A month later it was headlines in the local newspaper. Mother accused of murder found to be innocent and freed from prison. For it was proved that the same thing had happened to them that the electric meter ran out and the children’s mother had put a candle in the children’s room but one of the children must have played with the candle and started the fire in the room and trying to get their baby out of the cot it had been dropped and fractured its skull causing its death.

It was after that Janice got the electricity meter changed, never again would the electricity go off and it was with the help of the medium that she got her home cleared

of anything that might upset her again.