Diana smiled as she heard the sound of children laughing across the hallway. Someone was bouncing a ball and two little girls were giggling. It was the middle of the night and every light in the apartment was shut off. Diana rolled over in her bed, snuggled into her covers, and fell asleep listening to the sound of children playing in the darkness of night.

Every morning Diana woke up alone. She'd never married and lived the life of an old spinster. For most of her life she felt sad she'd never met a man to marry or had any children. Every morning she woke up and followed the same routine. Diana took a shower, made coffee, and then went to the spare bedroom across from her room to tidy up. The room was filled with toys. There were no beds or other pieces of furniture. The room only had some shelves with toys on them, a toy box on the floor, and assorted toys neatly placed on the floor.

This particular morning Diana did find a few things out of place. She picked up a ball and a few dolls that were left on the floor. Placing the dolls neatly on a shelf and the ball in the toy box she smiled happily. She walked over to the nearby window and looked outside. The sun was shining bright. Diana looked down and glanced at twelve gravestones below.

"Good morning children," Diana yelled down to the graves. "It's a beautiful day today."

Some would be afraid to live in an apartment building built right next to a graveyard but Diana had learned to love it. She was so lonely when she first moved into her second story apartment overlooking the graveyard. She was fearful living so close to dead bodies. But that was before she discovered the children.

Diana heard them laughing late at night her first week living in the apartment. On a hot summer night that week Diana had opened every window to let in some fresh air. As she lay in bed she heard little girls giggling outside in the graveyard. She went to the spare bedroom which had the best view of the graveyard but didn't see anything. It was too dark but the children sounded like they were playing just below. She shivered and goosebumps covered her arms as she returned to bed a bit creeped out.

The sound of children playing in the dead of night became a regular occurrence but Diana could never see the children. Then, one day Diana decided to take a walk in the cemetery. She walked to the section of the graveyard right underneath her apartment and looked around. Twelve small headstones rested there. Each one belonged to a young child. Not one lived over the age of ten and each died in the year 1905. It was a very curious thing.

Doing some investigating Diana discovered the children died in a fire in 1905. The orphanage where they lived caught on fire in the middle of the night. The building burned to the ground killing twelve orphans. Diana felt sad for the children. To live life in a horrible orphanage then to die such a tragic death.

Maybe it was the loneliness she felt everyday or maybe she was going crazy in her old age but Diana became determined to "adopt" these unwanted and lost children. Diana began to study ghosts and how to talk to spirits. She visited the graves and left toys on each for the children to play with. She would spend hours talking to the graves and would read stories to them. She tried to do seances and hired a woman claiming to be a medium in attempts to contact the children.

At first they were shy and would hide from her. It took a long time before they ever played with the toys left for them. Eventually they did. Over time, Diana made a room for them in her apartment spare bedroom right above their resting spots. It filled Diana with joy the first time she heard the children playing in their new room. Every night, the children would visit and play with their toys. Little girls and boys would laugh and be happy. Diana was no longer alone now that she had children to look after.

Years would pass and Diana would grow older. Eventually her time on Earth ended and she passed away peacefully in her sleep. After Diana's death the landlord would find it impossible to keep renters for too long. They complained the place was haunted and that a woman and her children could sometimes be seen playing together in the graveyard after dark.

THE END