The Barren House

The village never speaks of the house on the hill

Once, it belonged to Aileen Byrne, a woman who longed for motherhood but was cursed with loss. One by one, her children slipped away, buried beneath the ash tree in the garden. When grief consumed her, her husband fled—but Aileen remained. Watching. Waiting.

Then, one mist-heavy night, the village children wandered inside.

By morning, the house stood silent. The children lay still. And Aileen was found in the nursery, seated in her rocking chair—a ghost of the woman she once was.

No one dares enter the house now. But sometimes, on the wind, the village still hears it—

A lullaby. A creaking cradle.

And a mother’s voice, whispering to the child she never held.

The Barren House is a short tale that predates my upcoming novel, They All Fall Down.

Read it for free when you join the Nikki Grim book club here: https://nikkig.app/bitesized