The Haunting of Cozy Hill Manor

 Hey readers! Today we have a guest writer, Mr. Hickory Hawthorne. He has an amazing investigation to share with us!


Greetings Sunnypatch Gardens,

          My name is Hickory Hawthorne and I am Benicio Marshmallow's cousin. I was called to investigate a situation right here in your hometown. You see, I am a paranormal investigator. No, not like those tv shows, I am the real deal and I treat spirits with the utmost care. I discovered I could communicate with the dead when I was a small boy. I decided to put my skill to good use starting when I was a teen, and helped families learn to live with spirits or help troublesome ones find peace. I've been doing this for a long time and take great pride in my job. Now, the reason why I'm here...

Your very own Mrs. Sweetwater asked my cousin to give me a call. I didn't get much detail, but he assured me she wouldn't ask if she wasn't serious. I decided to take the job and headed on over to Cozy Hill Manor. The following is my investigation into the matter at hand.

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Me: Hello Mrs.Sweetwater, what seems to be the issue here?
Mrs.Sweetwater: Oh my, it seems silly to say outloud..but I think we're being haunted. We just started fixing up this old manor to turn into a daycare and orphanage..I would feel terrible if all the children were always startled by whatever is happening here!

Me: What kind of things are going on? Can you show me the hot spots?
Mrs.S: I guess your usual...it's all quite spooky really. Let me show you inside. Please excuse the mess, we only started renovating a week ago.

We walked in and I was greeted by her son Henry.
Mrs. S: "Henry, show Mr. Hawthorne to the living room while I put on some tea. please."

Henry: Right over here Mr!
Me: Thank you very much. How do you like this manor, Henry?
Henry: Oh, it's scary! I don't even like going upstairs by myself!
Me: Oh my! That sounds very spooky.
Mrs. Sweetwater came out and sat down a tower of snacks and some tea. What a delightful host!
Me: Oh goodness, thank you so much. Can you tell me about this room? I said as I munched down on some macaroons. Mr. Sweetwater entered the room as I asked this question.

Mr: Sweetwater: Most days, this phone here will ring almost hourly. But no one is ever on the other end! I just hear breathing. We don't even have the phones fully hooked up yet!
Me: Oh my, are there any other phones in the house?
Mr. S: Yes, there is one in the kitchen. But we go to look and no one is using that phone either.
Me: hmm..very interesting. Can you show me some other areas?

Mrs. Sweetwater lead me upstairs to one of the kids' rooms.
Mrs.S: In here, we find toys strewn about. I know my Henry always cleans up after himself, and he swears he isn't the one doing it, I know he wouldn't lie about this.

We heard a knock on the wall in the room just then. We glanced around but didn't see anything.
Me: Does anything else happen in here?
Mrs. S: sometimes I find dirty dishes and leftover food crumbs in here too..like someone is bringing stuff from the kitchen sink up here! It's so weird. And those knocking noises too! But usually not any of it when someone stays the night in here.
Henry came in and confirmed the knocking sounds and everything else. Then he lead me to the bathroom.

Henry: Sometimes..the tub is filled to the brim! Even when I wasn't even having a bath prepared! Or when I do turn the water on..I'll leave and come back and there's bubbles! I don't even like bubbles in my bath! I think this is the scariest room. I hear the sink come on sometimes or the toilet flush when I'm in the next room. So spooky. eugh. *he shudders*.
Me: Oh dear...that's a lot. I'm sorry it's such a scary experience for you. I promise I'll figure this out Henry. 
He leads me back downstairs as he's just too spooked to even give me a further tour of the house.

Mrs. Sweetwater was downstairs making waffles.
Mrs. S: Sorry, I cook when I'm stressed! But also...the activity definitely picks up when I'm cooking. We'll hear rattling, moaning, a gurgling noise even! It's very strange.
As she send this, we heard a grumbling gurgle noise from the next room over. I looked but didn't see anyone.
Me: This was a lot of information...I'm going to head to Mr. Marshmallow's for the night and come back tomorrow after I review all my notes. I promise I'll get to the bottom of this for you all and hopefully resolve the situation.
I headed to my cousins house for the night. I had a strong suspicion what was up..but I just needed something special to bring with me tomorrow...


The Next Day

I arrived at the Cozy Hill Manor with a secret weapon....
PIZZA
from Mr. Marshmallow's Pizzeria.

The bears  looked at me in confusion.

Me: I promise this will all make sense in a moment. Please set the pizza out on the table.

We sat and waited for what seemed like ages..but then we heard that strange sound again!
Me: AHA! Look!
Everyone turned around and saw....

Henry: a G-G-G-GHOST!

everyone gasped!

Me: now just wait a moment...Excuse me..little ghost? Would you want some pizza? If so..I need you to be truthful with us. Who are you?

???: Y..y-yes please. I'm sorry. I'm not a ghost! I just was trying to play a game..but then I kept getting stuck in the house at night, too scared to head home in the dark..and I was hungry..and also having fun..I..I'm sorry! he began to wail.

Mrs. S: Oh you poor thing! Please come have some pizza!

We all sat down and enjoyed some delicious pizza together.

We learned that the little chipmunk is named Peanut and he is one of the Hazelnut's children. We called over there and Mrs.Hazelnut was so upset! Apparently all the children had been sleeping in their little treehouse to camp out this week but never noticed their brother missing during the night!

But with that, our haunting was solved!

Huzzah!

~Mr. Hawthorne, Lead Investigator

+if you missed it...go back and check some of the photos for some secret clues!