Chapter 4 - Gold dusts and Chest boxes
1412 Words
Once school was over Katie drove me home and decided to stay over for dinner, I was in the kitchen fixing up some spaghetti when I remembered what Zack had said in class.
“So, Zack told me something weird today.”
At the mention of his name, Katie glanced up from the magazine she was reading on the living room couch and stared at me with a raised brow, a slow grin forming on her lips. “You talked to Zack?”
“Irrelevant.” I said, giving her a look that told her to “stop whatever crazy thoughts were going through her head" and she rolled her eyes, turning back to the magazine she held.
“Anyways, he apologized on Melody's behalf and commented on you making sure she won’t bother me anymore.”
“Yeah, I did say something to the egotistical bitch.”
“Well, are you going to tell me what you said to her to get her to back off?”
She shook her head. “That’s a no can do babe, that particular conversation is not for your virgin ears.”
“What the hell are you talking about-”
“Hey, does your mum usually leave the basement door open?”
Though I knew the off-handed question was her attempt to distract me and change the subject, it did work because I knew for a fact that my mother is pretty sensitive about leaving the basement door open.
“No.” I frowned, turning off the gas.
Everything is pretty much ready which means we only need my mother to appear for dinner.
“There’s no way she would forget to lock it?”
Stepping out of the kitchen I turned down the hall and noticed that Katie is, in fact, right, my mother did forget to lock the door. She jumped to my side and grinned, rubbing her hands excitedly. “Let’s go in.”
“No!” I shook my head, stretching a hand out to stop her when she took a step forward. “You know my mother will freak if we invade her private space, it’s where she writes all her novels.”
And keep those weird jars of golden dust.
I've never told Katie about them and honestly, there's no way in hell I’m letting her find out about them. I don’t want to freak out the only friend I have by my side.
Turning to me with a pout, she grabbed my hand and swung it from side to side with a pleading look. “Oh come on, just a quick look.” She begs.
Shaking my head, I rest my hands on her shoulders and spin her body around to face the other direction. But before I could react, Katie slips out of my grip and makes a quick dash forward.
She rushes through the open basement door and darts down the stairs in a hurry. “Katie!” I yelled in exasperation, running after her.
Down in the basement, a soft red carpet covered the wooden floor and a brown, cedarwood desk was pushed to the other side of the room with a similar chair tucked in on opposite sides.
The desk is cluttered with papers, pens, pencils, and a laptop while the wall next to it held a large whiteboard. Cool air filled the place and I looked around the room before spotting the air conditioner my mum must have forgotten to turn it off, again.
There’s a shelf pushed against the wall across the room from the stairs and a metal lever meant for the secret room hangs right next to the shelf on the wall.
At least she didn’t forget that. I sigh in relief.
I walked closer to the whiteboard and noticed the names and scribbles of characters for her possibly new novel, studying them I wonder what kind of genre she’s working on this time around when Katie’s voice distracted me from my thoughts.
“What does this do?” She asked, and I spun to see her pull the metal lever down.
“Katie no, don’t pull that lever!” I yelled in alarm, but it was too late.
The entire wall with the wooden shelf rotated halfway with a resounding groan to showcase the hidden room within, completely lit by a single bulb hanging off the ceiling.
The single light caused the countless jars of dust to illuminate the entire room with a hue of gold. Groaning, I covered my face with my hands and sighed. Looks like I’ve got some explanations to give.
Turning to me with a gaping jaw, my best friend asks in complete shock. “What. the. hell?”
Moving closer, I smiled sheepishly in response and slipped into the room. Turning off the light switch we both blinked several times when the bright lights were suddenly cut off, and I raised a hand towards the jars of gold dust.
“This… is why we don’t have sleepovers.”
She studies the jars with a raised brow and rests her hands on her hips. “Explain.”
Sighing, I start to explain how a large pile of golden dust keeps appearing at the foot of my bed every morning ever since I turned six, and how my mother likes to keep jars of them right here in the basement.
The word “Weird.” was all Katie said after my explanation, and I was surprised.
I was expecting a completely different expression from that.
For a minute, we stood in silence as she took a cautious step in and studied the jars. Then, all of a sudden Katie smiled and turned to face me. “I like this, I’m sleeping over so I can see this for myself.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” I shrug, feeling my shoulders slump as I smile in relief over the look of excitement on her face.
I’m honestly thankful she isn’t running off screaming for the hills at the weirdness of it all. Crossing my arms over my chest, I was about to suggest we leave when she crouched to her heels to study the brown chest box settled at the bottom shelf.
“What’s in here?”
“I have no idea, mum said to never open it.”
Rolling her eyes, she reaches out and heaves the chest box with grunts of effort. Eyes wide, a moan of protest leaves my lips as I watch her hoist the chest box despite its weight, and hurried after Katie when she carried the large thing out of the room with a waddle to her steps.
Plopping it on the floor before the piano, she lets deep gasps of exhaustion and slumps forward with a grin.
“Katie stop, the box probably contains a lot of my mother’s private stuff.”
“Which is all the more reason why we should have a look. Who knows, maybe there’s more weird stuff in here?”
“I doubt that,” I mumble dryly. “Why the hell are you so Snoopy today?”
With a shrug she motions me over, patting the floor next to her as she settles into a cross-leg position before the box. “Oh come on, I know you’re curious about what’s inside as well. It’s the only reason you’re letting me be this nosy.”
Biting down on my lower lip in shame, I don’t vocally admit to her accusation but slowly settled down next to her on the floor and fold my legs beneath my body.
She’s right in every way, I’m not stopping her nosiness because I’m really curious about the chest box myself, and Katie is offering me a way to snuff out that curiosity.
Ever since I discovered the box previously hidden beneath my mother’s bed when I was little, I’ve always wondered about what lay hidden within. But like the good girl that I was, I kept away since I knew my mother would freak if she knew I got close to it.
- Writer
