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Once there was a little girl named Tillie, who was afraid to go to bed. Nothing bad had
ever happened to her, but somebody had told her some scary stories, and after that, she
was afraid.
One night, she really did hear something. She lay in bed, listening. And she heard a
very quiet voice say, "Tillie, I'm coming up the stairs."
The next night, Tillie asked her mother if she could keep the light on for a while. But
her mother said, "Nonsense, darling."
Nothing happened that night, so Tillie did not ask again. But the next night, while Tillie
was lying in bed, afraid to go to sleep, she heard a little voice say, slowly, "Tillie,
I'm on the first step."
Tillie was too scared to get up and look. The next night, she heard the little whispering
voice say, "Tillie, "I'm on the second step."
Tillie got more and more scared each night, but everybody told her, "Oh, that's nothing."
Now. there were eight steps in the staircase, and every night, Tillie heard the voice.
"Tillie, I'm on the third step."
"Tillie, I'm on the fourth step."
"Tillie, I'm on the fifth step."
Until one night, she heard the voice say, "Tillie, I'm in the hall."
Tillie was so frightened, she couldn't eat her breakfast the next morning, and she couldn't
eat her supper that night.
The next night, Tillie was lying awake in bed, and it was not very long before she heard
that horrid little whispering voice say, "Tillie, I'm at the door."
The next night, it said, "Tillie, I'm in the room."
Tillie was too scared even to scream for her mother. The next night, the voice said, "Tillie,
I'm standing by the bed."
And the next night, "I've got you!"