in the attic by celine mendiola
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"I don't like it here..." I murmured, shuddering uncontrollably and feeling something eerie as we entered our new home. Something was telling me this house was not a very good place to live in. Nervously, I stroked my fingers through my own tangled, black hair. "I want to go home."
"It's not like we have a choice, Amelia," my mother soothed me gently. I can tell that she was trying to calm her nerves down too. "We have nowhere else to go. We have to flee from our town or else the Japanese will get us, remember? There is another world war happening after all, and we can't be a part of it."
"What about the ghosts that our neighbors told us about?" I whispered as my eyes widened, recalling all the tales our new neighbors told us about. Naturally, I started to become terrified of venturing farther into the old house. "What if they jump out and try to put a curse on us at night? Then we'd have to go somewhere else!"
My father scoffed at the crazy idea. "Amelia, you know as well as I do there is no such thing as ghosts," my father told me. "You should really stop thinking like that."
When he said that, I stopped myself from saying anything more, because I didn't want to get another lecture from my mother nor from my father. It wasn't only the ghost tales that our new neighbors told us about this house that scared me; everything about this house frightened me as well. The peeled paint from the walls, the low creaking sound of the floors as I walked forward, the fact that this house was years and years old, the huge portraits of unknown people on the wall, the dusty old fireplace; I surely felt the need to believe this house was truly haunted! Of course, I couldn't say that out loud; my brothers and sisters would just tease me to no end and call me a coward, like my siblings always do. I would never want that to happen, because I'm no coward!
Father, who placed the boxes he carried down on the floor, started to look around at the currently vacant home. He was trying to decide what would go where. "Why don't you all look around and check this place out?" my father addressed us. "Maternidad, why don't you, Lois, and Ando check out the bedrooms? The rest of you, except for Amelia, go check out the rest of this floor. Amelia, you will be in charge of putting these in the attic."
Uh oh, that wasn't good. I know that if there is a supposedly haunted house, the attic is the scariest part of the house. Soon as he said it, everyone, except for me went to work, examining the rooms and the size of it. I could feel myself shuddering uncontrollably in fear. My knees wobbled in anxiety as I picked up the boxes my father put down. "I have to check out the a-attic?" I stammered nervously, definitely not wanting to go into the darkest, mustiest place in this old house.
"No, you're putting our things into the attic. Once they're done, I can send Lois and Nora upstairs to help you," Father told me, ruffling my hair happily.
"B-But, the ghost..." I murmured as fear took over my body. The ghosts might unexpectedly trap me in the attic, I believed, and I would never get out!
"Amelia, there are no such things as ghosts," my father reminded me, annoyed that his "brave daughter" would be scared of such a silly little tale. Suddenly, he had a wonderful idea, inspiration lighting up on his face. He knelt on his knees and rummaged through his trusty toolbox, which was on the floor. He then pulled out a bright yellow flashlight and handed it to me, saying, "This should help frighten the ghosts away. Just turn this on to guide you and you should be fine."
Carefully I turned the flashlight on and off, checking to make sure it worked so that I wouldn't be surrounded by darkness if the flashlight stops working. Once I felt comforted by both the flashlight and Father's words, I picked up the boxes and the flashlight and started marching up the stairs to the second floor, trying to find the ladder leading to the attic. Finally, I spotted an old, dusty ladder hanging down from the ceiling. Quietly, I opened the little door and started to climb it, wanting to check out how much space there is.
Creak! I shivered as the door gave a high-pitched creak. I made way into the dark room, suddenly being hit by humidity in the air and a musty smell about. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I turned on the flashlight, looking around for anything to explore. I shone the flashlight on every inch of the dusty room, tracing the soft light along the perimeter of the wall when I finally found a very unfamiliar poster. Curiously, I crept up to the poster, wanting to have a closer look. The poster seemed very familiar to me, though
As I crept closer, I found out that the poster was of the lady on those boxes of raisins I used to eat back at home. Happily I traced my dainty finger along the outline of the lady, running my finger through the dust that covered every inch of the poster. As I gazed at the poster some more, I started to take more pleasure in seeing something so vaguely familiar. I delighted in seeing the familiar scarlet of the shepherdess's bonnet, reminded of the bonnet on my doll. I marveled at how similar the shepherdess's hair was to my own hair, wondering what would happen if I dressed up as her. I gasped at the clusters of grapes that the lady was holding to her waist, imagining the taste and the quality of the fruit. Oh, how I longed for the taste of the delicious, juicy green grapes.
As I finished up my marveling, I backed away from the poster, wanting to see the lady at a certain angle. As I stood there looking for the rosy-tinged blush on the shepherdess's cheek, I noticed something strange. Did she move? As I looked closer, I thought I saw the shepherdess move just like before.
I t's just a poster. Posters don't move, I told myself, really thinking it was an illusion. Suddenly, the grape-holding shepherdess giggled quietly and winked happily at me, as if telling to say, "Don't tell anyone about this!" The shepherdess actually moved and winked at me!
Dropping the flashlight in shock, I screamed a deafening scream and raced down the ladder. I ran down the stairs, racing past my utterly confused siblings, and ran into Father, who was startled by the sudden noise and coming out of the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Father demanded as I started to sob into her father's arms. I felt my tears stinging the corners of my eyes and buried deeper into my father's shirt, never wanting to let go and never wanting to go back up there. "What happened?"
"The S-Sun-Maid lady winked moved like I was alive oh, dad, I know it was a ghost!" I sobbed, terribly scared by the incident.
"Amelia, calm down," Father told me, sitting myself down in a chair while he knelt down so he was eye-level to me. "Tell me what happened while you were in the attic?"
As I started to calm down a bit, I started to retell her story. I told him everything, from the feeling of humidity as I entered the attic to spotting the familiar Sun-Maid poster to seeing the shepherdess giggle and wink at me. "It was a ghost, I tell you!" I repeated, knowing that I was right about ghosts living here.
When I finally finished my story, Father chuckled at my fright. "Amelia, all you saw was an illusion. You thought about the ghost stories so much that you probably thought you saw the poster move. Amelia, it was all a hallucination. Don't believe everything you see in front of you, okay?" Father lectured me, ruffling my hair again just to ease my nerves.
"O-Okay..." I stammered, the image of the raisin shepherdess winking at me still fresh in my mind.
Father ruffled my hair once more and walked out of the room, telling me that he'll finish up my job for him. As he walked out of the room, I started to wonder about the stories I have been told. At least no harm was done to me while I was in the attic. After all, the incident could have been worse. It could have been much, much worse...
"It's not like we have a choice, Amelia," my mother soothed me gently. I can tell that she was trying to calm her nerves down too. "We have nowhere else to go. We have to flee from our town or else the Japanese will get us, remember? There is another world war happening after all, and we can't be a part of it."
"What about the ghosts that our neighbors told us about?" I whispered as my eyes widened, recalling all the tales our new neighbors told us about. Naturally, I started to become terrified of venturing farther into the old house. "What if they jump out and try to put a curse on us at night? Then we'd have to go somewhere else!"
My father scoffed at the crazy idea. "Amelia, you know as well as I do there is no such thing as ghosts," my father told me. "You should really stop thinking like that."
When he said that, I stopped myself from saying anything more, because I didn't want to get another lecture from my mother nor from my father. It wasn't only the ghost tales that our new neighbors told us about this house that scared me; everything about this house frightened me as well. The peeled paint from the walls, the low creaking sound of the floors as I walked forward, the fact that this house was years and years old, the huge portraits of unknown people on the wall, the dusty old fireplace; I surely felt the need to believe this house was truly haunted! Of course, I couldn't say that out loud; my brothers and sisters would just tease me to no end and call me a coward, like my siblings always do. I would never want that to happen, because I'm no coward!
Father, who placed the boxes he carried down on the floor, started to look around at the currently vacant home. He was trying to decide what would go where. "Why don't you all look around and check this place out?" my father addressed us. "Maternidad, why don't you, Lois, and Ando check out the bedrooms? The rest of you, except for Amelia, go check out the rest of this floor. Amelia, you will be in charge of putting these in the attic."
Uh oh, that wasn't good. I know that if there is a supposedly haunted house, the attic is the scariest part of the house. Soon as he said it, everyone, except for me went to work, examining the rooms and the size of it. I could feel myself shuddering uncontrollably in fear. My knees wobbled in anxiety as I picked up the boxes my father put down. "I have to check out the a-attic?" I stammered nervously, definitely not wanting to go into the darkest, mustiest place in this old house.
"No, you're putting our things into the attic. Once they're done, I can send Lois and Nora upstairs to help you," Father told me, ruffling my hair happily.
"B-But, the ghost..." I murmured as fear took over my body. The ghosts might unexpectedly trap me in the attic, I believed, and I would never get out!
"Amelia, there are no such things as ghosts," my father reminded me, annoyed that his "brave daughter" would be scared of such a silly little tale. Suddenly, he had a wonderful idea, inspiration lighting up on his face. He knelt on his knees and rummaged through his trusty toolbox, which was on the floor. He then pulled out a bright yellow flashlight and handed it to me, saying, "This should help frighten the ghosts away. Just turn this on to guide you and you should be fine."
Carefully I turned the flashlight on and off, checking to make sure it worked so that I wouldn't be surrounded by darkness if the flashlight stops working. Once I felt comforted by both the flashlight and Father's words, I picked up the boxes and the flashlight and started marching up the stairs to the second floor, trying to find the ladder leading to the attic. Finally, I spotted an old, dusty ladder hanging down from the ceiling. Quietly, I opened the little door and started to climb it, wanting to check out how much space there is.
Creak! I shivered as the door gave a high-pitched creak. I made way into the dark room, suddenly being hit by humidity in the air and a musty smell about. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I turned on the flashlight, looking around for anything to explore. I shone the flashlight on every inch of the dusty room, tracing the soft light along the perimeter of the wall when I finally found a very unfamiliar poster. Curiously, I crept up to the poster, wanting to have a closer look. The poster seemed very familiar to me, though
As I crept closer, I found out that the poster was of the lady on those boxes of raisins I used to eat back at home. Happily I traced my dainty finger along the outline of the lady, running my finger through the dust that covered every inch of the poster. As I gazed at the poster some more, I started to take more pleasure in seeing something so vaguely familiar. I delighted in seeing the familiar scarlet of the shepherdess's bonnet, reminded of the bonnet on my doll. I marveled at how similar the shepherdess's hair was to my own hair, wondering what would happen if I dressed up as her. I gasped at the clusters of grapes that the lady was holding to her waist, imagining the taste and the quality of the fruit. Oh, how I longed for the taste of the delicious, juicy green grapes.
As I finished up my marveling, I backed away from the poster, wanting to see the lady at a certain angle. As I stood there looking for the rosy-tinged blush on the shepherdess's cheek, I noticed something strange. Did she move? As I looked closer, I thought I saw the shepherdess move just like before.
I t's just a poster. Posters don't move, I told myself, really thinking it was an illusion. Suddenly, the grape-holding shepherdess giggled quietly and winked happily at me, as if telling to say, "Don't tell anyone about this!" The shepherdess actually moved and winked at me!
Dropping the flashlight in shock, I screamed a deafening scream and raced down the ladder. I ran down the stairs, racing past my utterly confused siblings, and ran into Father, who was startled by the sudden noise and coming out of the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Father demanded as I started to sob into her father's arms. I felt my tears stinging the corners of my eyes and buried deeper into my father's shirt, never wanting to let go and never wanting to go back up there. "What happened?"
"The S-Sun-Maid lady winked moved like I was alive oh, dad, I know it was a ghost!" I sobbed, terribly scared by the incident.
"Amelia, calm down," Father told me, sitting myself down in a chair while he knelt down so he was eye-level to me. "Tell me what happened while you were in the attic?"
As I started to calm down a bit, I started to retell her story. I told him everything, from the feeling of humidity as I entered the attic to spotting the familiar Sun-Maid poster to seeing the shepherdess giggle and wink at me. "It was a ghost, I tell you!" I repeated, knowing that I was right about ghosts living here.
When I finally finished my story, Father chuckled at my fright. "Amelia, all you saw was an illusion. You thought about the ghost stories so much that you probably thought you saw the poster move. Amelia, it was all a hallucination. Don't believe everything you see in front of you, okay?" Father lectured me, ruffling my hair again just to ease my nerves.
"O-Okay..." I stammered, the image of the raisin shepherdess winking at me still fresh in my mind.
Father ruffled my hair once more and walked out of the room, telling me that he'll finish up my job for him. As he walked out of the room, I started to wonder about the stories I have been told. At least no harm was done to me while I was in the attic. After all, the incident could have been worse. It could have been much, much worse...