From Emily’s diary:

Entry 1: July 5th, 1970, Waldorf, Maryland

Dear Diary,

Today’s my first entry! We just moved to this old farmhouse in Waldorf, Maryland, right off Old Washington Road. It’s quaint, surrounded by cornfields and dense woods. Dad says it’s a fresh start for us, especially after the chaos of the Vietnam War protests in D.C. The house is old, they call it Hickory Hill, and it creaks in the wind like an ancient storyteller.

Entry 10: August 15th, 1970

Dear Diary,

Weird things are happening. Last night, I heard footsteps upstairs. When I checked, no one was there. Mom thinks I’m imagining things, but I’m not so sure.

Entry 25: September 5th, 1970

Dear Diary,

School’s okay, but I can’t shake off the feeling of being watched at home. And there’s this spot in the backyard, near the old oak tree, where the air feels colder. I overheard Dad talking about a local legend, something about a girl who vanished from this very farm in the 1920s. Chills!

Entry 34: October 1st, 1970

Dear Diary,

The footsteps are getting louder. And now, I hear whispers. They’re soft, almost incoherent, but definitely there. I tried telling my brother, but he just teases me. I’m going to do some digging at the Charles County Library tomorrow.

Entry 47: October 31st, 1970

Dear Diary,

Halloween! But, no fun for me. I found an old article at the library. A girl named Emily vanished from Hickory Hill in 1923. They never found her. The whispers I hear? They sound like a girl’s voice. I’m scared, Diary.

Entry 55: November 12th, 1970

Dear Diary,

I saw her. Emily. In my mirror. Just for a second. She looked sad, lost. The air turned icy. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. When I blinked, she was gone.

Entry 60: November 24th, 1970

Dear Diary,

I’ve decided to communicate with Emily. I need to know what she wants. Tonight, I’m going to use a makeshift Ouija board. I feel drawn to her, like our fates are intertwined.

Entry 61: November 25th, 1970

Dear Diary,

Something went wrong. The planchette moved rapidly, spelling “HELP” and “COLD”. The room went freezing. And then, a scream, not from the board, but from downstairs. It was Mom.

Entry 62: November 26th, 1970, The Last Entry

Dear Diary,

The twist is unbearable. Last night, after the Ouija session, we found a hidden room in the cellar. Inside, the skeletal remains of a young girl, clutching a diary. It’s Emily’s. The police are baffled. But here’s the twist, Diary – the entries in Emily’s diary… they mirror mine. Her last entry spoke of trying to reach out to the future, to prevent a tragedy she foresaw. The date of her last entry? November 26th, 1923.

I don’t know what this means. Is history repeating itself? Is this why I felt connected to her? I’m writing this with trembling hands. If this is my last entry, I hope someone understands the truth behind Hickory Hill.

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Afterword:

The diary of the girl from Waldorf was found decades later, in the attic of Hickory Hill, by a new family. The entries ended abruptly, with no trace of what happened to her after November 26th, 1970. Hickory Hill stands to this day, a silent witness to the echoes of its past.