Chapter 7
ϕVeraϕ
After my shower I went back into my room and put on some of my pajamas. I would have to get new ones soon as the ones that had were starting to get holes in them. I turned on my lamp and shut the ceiling fan light off, and crawled into bed. Grabbing a pen I began to write in my diary after I jotted down the date.
March 3
Today I moved into the new house. Well old house. It’s not as bad as I had thought. It’s quite beautiful in its own way. Crown molding is in almost every room, and old woodcarvings and dings are in some of the (what I think is) original furniture. I found an attic space that mom didn’t even know about, but it’s filled with old things that have been abandoned and left behind. The more I think about it, the sadder I get for those things, because I know what it feels like. Well, I know he does it because he want to protect his country and home, but he’s missing out on home by not even being here. Anyway, this place is so old that the breeze from outside just blows right in at random times, sending chills through my body straight to my core. It’s an odd kind of cold though, but maybe it’s just because I’m not used to it here yet.
I’m scared to death about school still, I feel so alone and lost right now, but I’m glad mom is here, it’s just she doesn’t seem to really get it sometimes. But regarding the things in the attic, I’ll go through them and sort them out, probably keep some of it. It feels like secrets are just waiting to be unearthed up there.
I finished writing and laid the stuff on my small night stand and tried to settle in for the night. But it truly was a long night, and I tossed and turned. There was just no getting comfortable. Snatching up one of my stuffed animals, I clung to it like a life line. If anyone knew I still slept with these things, I would be so embarrassed. Even my mom didn’t know I still had half of them. I usually kept them under my bed but now I had to find a new spot for them. Eventually, my mind and body ran out of energy and I slipped into a strange sleep.
~*~
I was still in my new room, but my door opened a little and something came, no, drifted in. I couldn’t tell what it was, everything was fuzzy, but it stood by my bed for quite a while, and then drifted back out. I rolled over and felt the soft velvet of my plush animal and the cool air against my exposed skin.
~*~
I woke up on my own the next morning, and immediately wrote down the dream I had. It was so weird and odd that I couldn’t help but to jot it down. Then I put it back on my side table and got out of bed, stretched, and went downstairs for breakfast. Mom must have still been sleeping, which was ok. It gave me the chance to make her a good meal. The move had been stressing her out, and even when she tried to hide it I could still tell. Today I planned on going back up to the attic and tackling some of the boxes. I made pancakes, and eggs, bacon, and sausage. I grabbed a little bit of everything and ate, drinking some milk and orange juice. I went back up to my room and saw my diary open again.
“I know I didn’t leave it open. Or did I? Ah...whatever.” I closed it up and changed into some older clothes, and headed to the attic. I brought my small lamp with me so that I could actually see what I was doing up there, and chose a box. Opening it up, I saw there were some newspaper articles and some other things nestled underneath. I read both sides of each clipping until I noticed a pattern. They were all about one boy’s sports achievements.
Zachary Marquardt
From the pictures, he kind of looked like a greaser, but the articles were dated in the 70’s. These were all rather yellowed and worn, some even had what looked like water marks like drops of water were dropped on them here and there. His hair was slick, sorta mid length from what I could make out. But whoever this kid was, he seemed like a star athlete! And he did look really good in swim gear that’s for sure. Underneath the newspapers I found some trophies and ribbons and awards all to this boy. “Wow...” I said after cleaning off some of them. Maybe this guy was a past resident? Why would he leave this stuff behind? Seemed like good bragging rights and conversation starters to me.
