"We're moving," Said Mum. "We're moving." The words ram through me, like a cold river down my spine. I shivered. It didn't feel right "We're... w-w-we're MOVING?" I choked. It felt as if someone had shoved a wet wad of chewing gum down my throat. I could barely speak. "Yes, you heard me right. We're moving." So there I was, looking up at the house. It was small. That was the first thing I noticed about it. Then my eyes focused. A dark, crooked, mysterious home. No, not home. House. This was not a homely place. The windows were smashed to smithereens and boarded up, glass still scattered on the pavement. There were weeds winding up the door. The garden was a jungle. The house glared down at me. I was so scared. I felt so unwelcome. I could see from the look on Mum鈥檚 face that she felt the same. A dark cloud slowly shifted it's way towards our new house, and then settled directly above us.听 Mum glanced at me and said, "It'll get better. Don't you worry, Scarlet. It'll get better. We'll make it better." She wasn't only reassuring me. She was also trying to reassure herself. She was just as upset and scared as I was. It didn't get better. We stepped inside. It only got worse. Spiderwebs, dust and dirt. It was horrible. "We'll clean up. We'll make it better," Mum shivered.
"I don't want to make it better. I just want to go home." I told my mum with a glance.
"This is our home now," Mum declared. A week passed. We cleaned, we tidied, we did all we could. It looked ok. It looked alright. But it didn't feel ok. It didn't feel alright. There was something I didn't like about the house. I just didn't quite know what. Then one night I was sitting, reading a book, and my Mum walked in. "I'm going out," Mum announced. She was dressed in her best clothes. "Just for a little while." "NO! You are NOT! What do you expect me to do while you're out partying and getting drunk?" I shouted. I hoped all of this would have stopped at our new house.
"Stop it, Scarlet! I'll be back by eleven at the latest! Ok? And I won't be drunk!" Mum yelped. But I knew what she was like. Still, it was too late. She was gone. It was half past eleven. I was sitting on my bed reading. Mum wasn't back yet, but I hadn't expected her to keep to her promise. Then I heard a creak on the stairs. A voice. A whisper. I called out for Mum. She wasn't there. It wasn't her. "Our house," Hissed the voice. "This is our house." I was scared. Seriously scared. I didn't know what was happening. What was this voice? What was going on? All I could think was, where can I go? What can I do?
"Our house!" The voice carried on, getting louder, getting nearer. "OUR HOUSE!" Sudden pain. A scream. My scream. Death.
And now I am forever stuck staring up at this house. My house. Their house. | 
