Short Story, Long

𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 2: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛

~

It was a regular Saturday morning at home, and as it was her day off, Amelia only had one thing one her mind. And that was to sleep....or at least, sleep more.

So no phone calls. No interactions. No going out. Nothing to do with leaving the comfort of her bed, unless it was for food. Sleep, eat, sleep, probably watch a movie and sleeping, again, was what she planned on. A day off was for relaxing, nothing else. No interactions.

At least, that's what she thought.

Checking the small digital alarm clock on her bedside table, Amelia noticed that it was currently 9am. Simultaneously, she listened keenly for the sounds outside. There were no sounds of loud, tweeting birds, or the motor of cars, or even the neighbourhood kids playing. The only sound heard was the water rushing in it's usual, soft stream from Ms. Grayson's watering hose. And even that, was calming enough.

'Perfect!' she thought, smiling, 'More time to sleep'

Snuggling further into the warmth of her thick, green blanket, Amelia was set on falling asleep again, until she heard the faint sound of knocking on her door. She, however, didn't move. She didn't make a sound either. She thought it was a figment of her imagination, or that her hair was playing tricks on her. After a moment of silence, Amelia smiled to herself and was about to close her eyes, when another knock was heard. This time, a little louder.

Who could that be? She wondered. I closed the windows, the curtains were drawn and none of the lights were on.

No one should know she was home. She made sure of that. More knocks sounded, more rapid and a lot louder. It couldn't even be Ms. Grayson, as the sound of water sprinkling from her hose was still audible.

Maybe.... if I keep quiet, they'll go away. She thought. So she did. She stayed quiet for as long as she could, but the constant knocking was becoming annoying, and whoever was doing it was getting on Amelia's last nerve. It was like they couldn't take the hint to go away.

"All I wanted was peace and quiet, and to get some sleep" Amelia grumbled, getting out of bed, grabbing her glasses from the side table and making her way down the hall.

She stuck her hand against the walls for support as the hallway was as dark as night. The reason for this was simple. Two of the three lights embedded into the ceiling of the hallway had gone out, and Amelia being Amelia, was too lazy to do anything about it.

As Amelia's walked along the hallway, her fingers ran over several of the multiple wooden frames that adorned the walls, and the floorboards creaked slightly under her weight. The knocking at the door had began to echo, audibly, throughout the hall. She pulled her curly hair into a messy bun, cursing the person under her breath. The knocking got louder, the closer she got to the door.

"I'M COMING! I'M COMING" Amelia hollered, rolling her eyes, "Geez"

Stop pounding down my door, she thought, If anyone was gonna break it down, it should be me.

Closing the distance between herself and the faded brown door, she unlocked the latch and twisted the knob, pulling the creaking door open.

Standing on the other side of the door, was a little girl Amelia had never seen before. But then again, Amelia wasn't one with perfect memory, so probably she had. The child had long, straight black hair, bright brown eyes and pale skin, that contrasted to the chocolate color of Amelia's. She wore a strap-less, blue summer dress that stopped at her knees, with small white flats.