The Creature in the Chest
Today was finally the day, my family and I packed up our bags and took a trip to my rich, stuck up, Aunt Edna’s house. I’d been really excited to visit her ultra-sleek home until I found out that we would be staying with her the whole summer. All of my plans that would’ve taken place over the summer had to be cancelled. So when we arrived at the airport, while the whole family was running to catch the plane, I continued to dragged my feet and take my time, even though we had minutes to spare before the plane took off without us. We made it just barely and threw ourselves into the seats and the plane took off. That’s when I knew there was no going back. When my family and I arrived at my aunt’s house just around dinner time, a brown- haired women popped out of the humongous house even before we can get out of the cab.
” Lori! Look at you!” Aunt Edna called from her front door.
” Hi, Aunt Edna. How are you?” I responded.
” Fine.” Oh no. I could just tell she was staring at my faded red t-shirt and holey shorts. Didn’t I mention she was stuck up? It wasn’t my fault that it was laundry day, and besides, who said you had to dress nice on a traveling day? I continued to walk towards her hoping she would let me through without any judge mental comments.
” You’ve grown.”
“I guess so. Where should I put my stuff?” I asked inching towards the large house.
” How about the closet in the first guest room.”
” Okay.” I said, dragging my heavy bags threw the door.When I finally found the first guest room, ( there’s 5 of them!), I whipped open the closet door expecting to see super expensive dresses with the tags still on them, but instead I found a tall and narrow looking door. I stared at it for a while until curiosity took over and I reached for the golden brass knob. I began turning the knob but the door stayed shut. “Of course, it’s locked. Oh well.” I shrugged.
” Lori, please come downstairs. Your Aunt Edna has prepared a fabulous meal for us,” my mom yelled. “Coming!” I threw my last bag into the closet then raced down to the dining room. After dinner, Aunt Edna and I washed dishes while everyone else got their, “beauty sleep”.
” I’m so happy your here, Lori.” I could tell she was staring at me so I worked up my courage and matched her stare.
” Can I ask you something?”
” What is it?”
” Um,” I set down a half clean plate and turned towards her. ” You know the closet in the first guest room? Well, I’m just being curious but, what’s in there?” Other then the slow trickle of the sink and our breathing, the kitchen suddenly became silent. A look of fear appears on her face and her mouth tenses up, almost like shes about to yell.
” That door is none of your business!” Her eyes start to twitch and her nostrils begins to flare. ” Go to bed! I can finish the dishes myself!”A look of confusion begins to form on my face.
” But-”
” Go!”
I quickly run up the stairs and jump into bed afraid that I was going to be attacked or something. I had no idea what just happened or what was so bad about that door.When I finally began to go to sleep, a loud thump from upstairs woke me up. I knew that there was only 2 floors so it had to be the attic. After ignoring the thump, a series of thumps came from the attic again. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore so I slipped out of bed and tip-toed down the hall towards the attic door. As the door creaked open, a cloud of dust fell on my face and I struggled to keep my coughs inside. I slowly climbed the steps and entered the attic. The room was pitch black except for a little sliver of golden light that shined through from something in the back. I pawed my way towards my only light source in hopes it was a flash light. Instead, I run into a small chest that has something inside it making it jump and move. My mind instantly spins at the thought of something alive in that chest, and I’m about to turn around and leave until I here a small whisper.
” Please, don’t go.” I instantly stop breathing and hope that who or what ever that was was just my imagination. “I’m sorry I woke you, but I need your help.”
I finally give in and whisper back: ” Who is that?”
” In the chest.” Oh no. Who ever that was wanted me to open the chest. NO THANK YOU. I’ve watched enough scary movies to know this is how the characters got killed. I finally start to make a break for it until I can barely make out a ” Please”.
” Fine, what do you want?” I finally respond.
“Open the chest.”
” It’s too dark. I can’t see the latch.”
” Lean down and undo the latch. Trust me, I won’t hurt you.”
I mumble, ” Yeah right,” then finally open the latch. Out jumps a small creature with big glowing eyes that have a look of despair, a small furry brown body and a green stripe down it’s hunched back.
” Hello, I’m Bear, from the closet in this house. Do not be afraid, I need your help. I lost the book written for my family, and this is a big problem because that book holds the riches and the secrets of the world. Will you help me?”
” Um, Are you serious?!” I yelled. ” There is no way this could be true. I’m sorry but I can’t help you.”
” Please, miss. I need your help. Trust me, the world depends on it.” I close my eyes and weigh my options.
The attic is silent for awhile until I finally break the silence. ” I’ll do it.”
To be continued.
Category: Creative Writing, Short Story
