The Attic
Anna had always been fascinated by the attic. It seemed to
be another world entirely. During the hour she was home alone. Anna would take
the key from the hidden compartment os her mother’s jewellery case and enter
into that fantasy. She had never understood why her mother had tried to keep
that world from her, but eventually, it had ceased to matter. For that single
hour, in that world, she was happy. The instant she came home on that Thursday
afternoon, she tossed her backpack into a corner, ran into her mother’s room,
took the key and sprinted up to the attic door. For an unknown reason, she
would hold her breath as she stuck the key in the lock, turned it, and would
finally exhale when she heard it click, feeling the knob turn easily in her
hand. Suddenly, a rush of heat flushed to her face and her head swam. Something
was different. The old mahogany chest that sat closed in the corner had been
moved to the center of the room, with it lid left open. Coming near it, Anna
saw a small envelope. When she opened it, she saw her mother and father seated
beside a young man in a soldier’s uniform, her belly grown, his arm around her
and her father standing aside. As the chills took over her body, she knew why
the attic had been hidden.
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