Tuesday, January 15, 2008,
5:47 AM
Aurora Vine dumped her bag hastily on the pinewood chair beside the dining table. She had to get things done, and fast. Her plan had been thought out carefully, and now all she needed was time. Her nanny was out buying groceries, and would only be back by supper. She had all of three hours, which may have seemd a lot, but in situations like the one she was facing, it wasn't much. Whipping out her pencil, she hurriedly scribbled down a note. "Back by supper. Rora." Gulping down a glass of orange juice, she headed for 27 Hillside Street.
Rora felt her heart thump as she approached the old, beaten-down house. The shutters were closed as usual, and no smoke wafted out of the chimney on a cold December day like this. With every step closer to the house, Rora felt a sense of thrill and excitement. She had read about others exploring the unexplained in the many non-fiction books she owned, but this was the very first time she was doing it herself. It seemed that the house could sense her presence, as the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie. With one final step, Rora knocked on the door, its wood rotted with age.To her utmost shock and surprise, the door thudded heavily on the floor. It had fallen apart, after three soft knocks! Tiptoeing in, Rora spoke, her voice barely a whisper.
"Hello? May I come in? I'm Rora. I mean,I'm Aurora Vine." Silence answered her. Rora was alarmed. What exactly could have happened? Being a logical thinker, Rora came up with three possibilities: One, her neighbour was out. Two, her neighbour had moved out. Three, her neighbour was too sick to move around or possibly... Rora could not bring herself to say the word. No matter what, she had to check up on her neighbour. After all, what harm could it do? She had even prepared her pocket first-aid kit, just in case.
Stepping on the floor, Rora was relieved to find that the creaky wood in the past had been replaced with parquet. At lest this was some evidence of the new neighbour's existence. She groped around in the darkness, feeling, until she found it- a switch. She flipped the switch, and a warm glow radiated throughout the room. Rora's jaw dropped. The room had a Victorian setting, with carved oak tables and chandeliers, complete with the addition of arsenic paint on the walls. It looked exactly like a family house in the Victorian Era would look, except for one thing- a sheet of paper on the table.
Rora picked the paper up cautiously, as if poison were implanted in it. In these circumstances, one could never be sure. She looked at it carefully, and on it was a mysterious message. Trying to comprehend the meaning of it, she read through it several times.
"Thou shalt not see, what thee can see. Thou shalt not touch, what thee can touch. Thou shalt not feel, what thee can feel. Thou art not like thee." What could it possibly be? Suddenly, she realised that it was nearly supper. Nanny would be worried if she did not return... Pocketing the note, Rora ran out of the house, making a mental not to go back the next day. She still had algebra homework and research on Newton's law of gravity to do.Labels: 27th Hillside Street
