An Old Friend. Part 1

FieryAngel

by FieryAngel

Story

House Of Memories

It happened last Sunday, as I was heading to the park down Gloom Street. Silence roamed along that street because very few people lived there. When I turned a corner, I saw an old house. It looked familiar, even though I was seeing it for the first time. The house was surrounded by a giant iron gate. Rust covered most of it and the gate gave a loud creak as I pushed it open. A wooden bench stood in the front yard. The house looked as if it would collapse any minute. “That’s weird! I’ve been on this street before, but this house wasn’t there then,” I mumbled.

“Hello? Is anyone home?” I called. No answer. I touched the doorknob and suddenly realised why this place seemed familiar.

I once had a friend. Her name was Jasper. At first, we were as close as sisters, but then she changed completely. Jasper wasn’t herself anymore. When I told her, with tears in my eyes, that I didn’t want to be friends with her, she bullied me. Again and again, until one day, I’d screamed at her. She seemed to have woken up, realised her mistakes, and returned to her true self. At least, I hoped so. But, I’d never get to know, because she’d suddenly disappeared. I knew Jasper was angry, so I went to look for her. The last time I saw her, she was stomping into a similar house. Many have searched for the girl, yet she was not to be found anywhere.

Although Jasper was cruel to me, I missed her. I opened the door and entered the house. “Hello?” I called again. The word echoed back at me. It was summer, but the inside of the house was strangely covered in a thick layer of ice. I could see my breath in the cold air.

Then, I spotted a padlocked chest, standing on the icy floor. The padlock chest was the only object in the house which wasn’t made of ice because it was made of wood.

I crouched down in front of the chest and examined it. It had beautiful engravings of every kind – swirls, trees and creatures, like fairies. It was hard to get my eyes off the padlocked chest for a while and I wondered if the key to the chest was in that house. Suddenly, my left hand felt colder than the right one. I looked at it and saw that a key, made of ice, lay on my palm. It felt weird, but I slipped the key into the chest’s keyhole and turned the key.

Inside lay a long, gold chain. I took it and read the engraving, “For an old friend”. Suddenly, something started to suck me inside of the padlocked chest. In a flash, my legs were completely inside of it. I tried to hold onto the chest’s corners, but it was no use. I was inside of the chest and falling.

Thump. I landed in a forest of birch trees, in a pile of snow. I climbed out of it and gasped. How could it be? A moment ago, I was in a different place. Suddenly, I heard a crack of a twig. I spun around, to find a shadow slipping away. Someone or something was watching me.

“Show yourself!” I demanded.

© FieryAngel 2022-08-30

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