The Haunted Yellow Rose

This is a short story. A teenager goes to his favorite spot, a picnic table under a willow tree in his backyard, to be alone for a bit. He encounters a neighbor, a young woman with auburn hair, at the neighboring residence whom he had never seen before. He discovers the mysterious lady has a has a penchant for yellow roses.

Excerpt:
I was almost eighteen when my parents and I moved into the house on Mendel Street at the beginning of that autumn. It was a splendid season as the air turned crisp amidst the beautiful gold and red colors that adorned the trees circling our new house. The house was a nice two-story house with a big back yard that afforded me plenty of space to wander around in, both mentally, emotionally, and physically………
Unlike the house that the Fentons occupied with its happy boisterous atmosphere, the house on our other side had always been quiet--a deserted almost sad aura hung over the place, which immediately separated it from its nearby brick brethren. …….

A young woman sat alone at the kitchen table, sipping coffee. She was attractive, slender with auburn hair and must have been in her early thirties. I could see she was dressed in a pale yellow summer dress.

For a moment as I watched her I felt as if I had invaded her space and the aura which hung over the house. Perhaps I should look away, I thought, but I had caught sight of her and there was no harm in gazing a little longer I thought……….

Motionless for a few seconds, she snapped out of her statue-like state and turned to the counter behind her to get something. When she had turned back, I could see she had tissue paper in her hand. The woman placed the paper down on the table and carefully laid the rose in it, wrapping the tissue paper delicately around it as if she were going to send it off somewhere....