Another Life, JenniferNewman [short story to read .TXT] 📗

a shirt with polka dot pattern half of the top was sea blue while the bottom half was white they were separated of by a simple blue bow and a low v-neck with a collar of blue and white. Stuffing it into my over sized plain brown bag along with my hair brush, underwear and my pajamas. I walked over to the over side of the room and opened the door to my very own bathroom. I stumbled in and quickly picked up my toothbrush toothpaste and face wipes. Throwing them into my bag as well.
I left the bathroom closing the door behind me I could hear the squeaking of floor boards as my Mum walked around down stairs. Did she have any idea what had really happened the day dad had died? Everyone else seemed to. I shook my head what did it matter? I wasn’t going to think that way for all I knew Dad had died from a tragic accident. The talk of there being a ghost haunting people involved was completely unthinkable I must have heard them wrong. Either that or they were crazy. They had to be crazy to hope. Was that how bad it had got for some. The only way to have my Dad back was by ghost so that’s what they wanted? No I would never think that way.
I stepped out of my room and knocked straight into someone standing right at my door. I screamed and fell backwards landing with my back hitting the wall and my legs pulled up to my stomach.
I looked around the hall but I couldn’t see anything. I swear I had felt the solidness of someone standing there and the cold texture of skin. I heard heavy footfalls going in the direction of the far window just before my Mum came bonding up into view.
“W-w-what happened?” she breathed she was still wearing her kitchen apron with green flowers on it. I remembered my scream and immediately felt sorry for her she must have freaked out badly if she had left the room before taking her apron off. She was like that....
“Sorry I... I fell..... Took me by surprise” when it came down to me lying on the shot I was useless but somehow Mum never questioned me or asked me to explain.
“Are you okay honey?” She asked coming over to me with a look of concern. Did my face really look that bad? I can’t look that freaked out? Can I? I mean so what I had thought I had walked into something. I could have just fallen on my own feet like always.
“Yes I'm fine really.” I wouldn’t meet her eyes but I did have the excuse since I was looking down at the floor as I raised myself up off of the ground and onto my feet again.
“Your sure maybe you should lie down instead of go round Sophie’s. You really do look pale sweetheart.” She suggested but I shook my head.
I would go to Sophie’s and I would forget this even happened it would be deep, deep in my mind. Yet another thing to think about later. They were starting to pile up.

Later that night when I was leaving for Sophie’s I could have sworn I could see someone or thing in the bushes beside my front porch. I must have still been freaking out about what had happened back in the house since when I glanced back about half the way down the road I could have sworn I could see something moving behind me. Just a cat I told myself. Why did I even come out in the dark? I knew I got jumpy. From the way I was acting now you could say that a five year old was braver than me. Now that was not a complement.
As I turned the corner I looked back behind me but there was nothing there. See you’re just being stupid and paranoid. Again.
Five minutes later I came to a stop outside Sophie’s house. Her family’s front garden was neat and what my Mum would have called ‘to perfection just like it should be’ I could basically hear her voice saying this as I made my way up to the door and knocked. Her house would appear from the outsiders view a perfectly normal home. With a perfectly normal. How wrong they would be.
Sophie had been my friend ever since year five back at primary school. Thinking back on it now it seemed like a distant memory that we used to run around in the lower playground and dare each other to do the most ridicules thing that w could think up in a short space of time and trust me I never wanted to remember half of them let along relive them now.
I would have always come back to hers after school nearly every day. We would carry on our bizarre games. As children do. Eat ice cream and generally muck about like crazy but even now we were still the best of friends still mucking around just with less ice cream since Sophie was totally obsessed with her weigh. She was really weird sometimes.
When I thought back to the day that I had come round after school as normal with Sophie joking at my side and chucking her keys onto the table beside the door. Even from the door we could hear the shouting. The shouting that would only be the start of a hard tearful teenage life. Her parents were still together but just barely. Every time I came round after that there would be someone of another crying. Weather it was Sophie, her Mum or even her little sister there would be someone. I could also have sworn I had heard her dad sobbing once but never mentioned this to Sophie as she had been just getting over an hour long tearful confession about her dad getting drunk and her parents yelling their heads off at each other for the whole night, and didn’t want to upset her again.
The door opened then and Sophie stood at the door in a blue shirt and jeggings. Megan and Kat were standing behind her with huge grins on their faces. I laughed when I saw that they had already pulled out the popcorn and were stuffing their faces with it.
Only moments later we were all sitting in Sophie’s living room with the movie on and popcorn on our laps. Finally just being able to sit and make fun of some stupid movie on ’s flat screen. FREEDOM!
I was laughing at some comment Megan had made when I heard the door open and close without any footsteps following the slam. We looked up at the same time all still with laughter on our faces. To see the door swing wide open as if being kicked from the other side. The only problem was that there was no one on the other side and the door swung back nearly as fast as it had inwards leaving us all staring wide eyed the crashing sound the door made when it collided with its frame was deafening.
We were all still staring at the vibrating door when I heard light footfalls somewhere to my left. I looked over in that direction with wide eyes.
Everyone else was still staring at the door and no one else seemed too had noticed that someone or something had actually come into the room with all the commotion of an elephant. Oh god.....
Moments later I could feel hot breath on my face as if from someone standing to close. What the? I sat frozen to the spot as the breathing continued. Random thoughts were flying around my head with such seed I couldn’t be asked to even make out a word of it.
Two minutes had past or had it been an hour, when finally Sophie spoke,
“Well...... oh my god.” I was not on my own with the unable to put a sentence together. The breathing was still going and I was beginning to think about moving again when just as suddenly as it had all started the breathing stopped and the room was once again only filled with the sound of sheet running around like mad fools on the TV.
I breathed out heavily as I felt the atmosphere in the room return back to normal. Was..... Was that really....... No Rose DO NOT BE STUPID! You are just acting crazy still. Or was I? I knew for sure now that something strange was going on. I mean look at my friends faces Sophie was still staring wide eyed at the door, Megan looking like she was going to faint or scream and then there was Kat who just looked bored.
I didn’t even want to know what my face looked like right now. Looking up at the ceiling where the light was only now stopping its flickering. When had that started?
We were silent for what felt like another half an hour but could have well been only five minutes. Slowly the look on my friend’s faces, excluding Kat who never looked anything more than bored, returned back to normal and my heart beat slowed. I should really stop watching scary movies I swear they were going to give me a heart attack soon. The movie we had been watching only moments ago had began its ending tune and the credits slowly appeared from the bottom of the screen. What had the movie even been about? Oh never mind I can’t be bothered.
My thoughts were still on over drive but they were comforting. Anything but think about what had just happened and what it proved was a good thing!
“Well..... That’s it for the scary movies huh? Soph did you leave a window open or something?” I heard myself say. Oh well and there was that. I was already coming up with other excuses for what had happened and soon enough I would convince myself that this was true.
The only thing was I kept thinking of one name and one name that for some reason I thought I should ask about this. But that was observed! Why would Parker now anything about this. Okay he might act like a nutter most of the time and this was pretty much weirder than he had acted yet. After knowing him for just over a week and a half I still believed that he was a nice guy but slightly crazy. I mean who punches that air and then glares at it?
The next thing I knew glass was flying all around the room as if a bomb had just gone off. I heard Megan scream quickly followed by Sophie’s high pitched scream as glass narrowly missed her.
I jumped from the settee and slipped behind its arm to shield myself from the sharp edges of glass.
When all of the glass had fallen and the screaming had stopped I moved from my hiding spot and over to where the others were still not standing up and treading carefully incase I cut myself on any of the glass. But knowing my luck I would cut myself sooner or later with the stupid sharp objects.
When I reached the other I saw that Sophie had a large cut going down her arm in an awkward zigzag.
“Oh my god! Soph are you okay?” I asked quickly still trying to make out what had happened. It was a t that point u looked up at the window and saw Parker standing right in the middle of the broken glass. You have got to be kidding!