Aurora

Aurora-5

Chapter 5

I won't lie. The first I did when the bus dropped me off was run inside and collapse the moment my feet crossed the dusty old doorframe. I splayed my body across the cold, wooden floor, and lay there for a while. I was so grateful, so happy to be home. The cool, polished oak cleared my head and numbed my senses, relaxing me quickly and effectively. After a few moment of lying there, I decided that I should make dinner. Nanna would be home in a few hours, and was hungry after an incredibly tiresome day. Pulling myself reluctantly off the floor, I slipped my school shoes off and padded into the kitchen.

 My socked feet crossed from the dark ochre colouring of the wood to a retro, 50's style lime green tile, surrounded by a puke-yellow kitchen counter lined with a light maple frame. If you are thinking 'eeww' right now, then we are one of a kind. My Nanna always said our kitchen had character. I always said that it's designer had mental problems, which is actually true. The man who created our monstrosity of a kitchen, Kyle Downing, was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia a few months after completing it. He's still in therapy.

The kitchen was joined to a loungeroom-ish type area, with a TV, a couple of couches and a coffee table made of a dark wood. The walls were coated in a creamy white wallpaper with a thin, red floral pattern that complimented the dark flooring that the lime grren tile turn into half-way across the ground. A blood red feature wall supported one of the couches, sporting pictures of Nanna and I. The room was beautiful, except it clashed horribly with our kitchen. I had been telling Nan for tyears that we should re-decorate the kitchen, or at least build a wall to separate the two rooms. Of course, she never listened to me. My Nan is one of the stubborn people who wouldn't change their minds if you paid them, unfortunately.

I opened up the creaky pantry door, and pulled out the basic ingredients for a good chicken stir-fry. Broccoli, beans, other assorted vegies, rice, soy sauce, and my secret ingredient: oyster sauce. I pulled out the chicken and lay it all out upon our hideous counter. Pulling up a chopping board and knife, I pulled out the chicken and cut it into delicate strips. When I was done, I tossed the pieces in a bowl and added the sauces. Mixing it rigouressly, I effortlessly combined all three. I poured a cup and a half of rice in a saucepan, and filled it with water to about the a third of the pots capacity. Placing the saucepan on the stove, I returned to my stir fry. Immersed in my cooking, I didn't notice the shadows in the room dancing strangely across the shockingly coloured floor, coating only the floor, instead of the counter and other everything else in the room.

Chopping the vegies finely, I tossed them in the wok , with the chicken and a shallow pool of water. Stirrring gently every now and again, I began to notice the strange behaviour of the light and darkness in the room. Frowning, I looked through the window, checking for anything moving out there. Nothing. The tree's were tall, straight and motionless, there was not a single trace of breeze to cause the twisting, twirling shadows. Turning back to them, I realised that not even the strangest looking tree would be able to cause the dark swirling patterns that played on the tiles. Trying to ignore the darkness following me, I turned my attention back to my wonderful-smelling wok.

The chicken had acheived the creamy beige tone that signified it was done. I turned the stove off, and served myself a small bowl. I put the rest in tupperware containers for Nan, and wrote her a note explaining how long to microwave it. I pulled up a chair, and starting eating. Starving as I was, my small portion didn't last very long. I popped my dishes into the sink and put in the plug. Pulling on a pair of too-big rubber gloves, I scoured the dishes until they were spotless. I returned everything to its original spot, and looked at the floor again. The shadows had grown as the sun faded, and now the blackness was beginning to climb in the setting sun. They had begun to crawl up the walls, as the room saw the last of the suns orange glow.