The House Call

” The House Call ” is a supernatural story which is collected from Germany. The story has supernatural characteristics in which the spirit of dead person comes in the living people.

The story concentrates upon the mysterious arrival of the spirit of a young girl to make a call to the doctor for the treatment of her mother who was suffering from pneumonia for several days. It was the day after Christmas, 1903, 9:30 in the evening, the famous German surgeon, Dr. Emil Braun who was the protagonist of this story, was alone in the dining room. He was quite tired even unable to take his evening meal due to hard surgery, which he performed on his particular day. He was preparing report about his surgical works and putting his head down the table and dozed off. He suddenly woke up when he heard the conversation between Mrs. Braun and a little girl. Mrs. Braun asked her to call the doctor to see her mother in the morning. Dr. Braun who heard the talk came out despite his effort, and walked along the way following the little girl. On the way, the doctor tried to catch the little girl up so that he could have asked many questions related to her mother and about herself. The doctor was old enough to walk on the speed as the girl was making a rush towards her home. Anyway the doctor managed to follow her till he reached at her old apartment. It was raining lightly outside. Finally they were at the top of the stairs on the fifth floor. Standing in front of a door way, the girl pointed through it. She tol that her mother was there. She thanked him. The doctor also thanked the girl for her obedience.

The doctor entered the room. He saw a woman lying in the bed. He checked her up and found that she ffering from pneumonia. He provided her some medicine that comforted the woman. Dr. Braun been known to her because she was the same woman who once worked in the same hospital as the maintenance staff. Later she left the job and went to live in the country with her brother. The woman further added that she came back just three months ago after her only child Adelheid passed away. Dr. Braun was surprised because the very child had been to the doctor to make a call. The woman further showed some of her belongings to recall her passed away daughter. The ragged shawl and tattered shoes which are shown to doctor by her mother made him more confused and serious because he had seen the girl in the same dress. Dr. looked at the things more closely which were wetted. When the doctor looked at Elda (the woman) he found her asleep and returned back with his black bag on his hand.