Metaphors and Similes

003

MY MOTHER DROPPED HER BAG ON THE COTTAGE'S BED, let out a sigh, and flopped on it. "Are you going to unpack, Vanessa?" she asked, exhausted.

I looked around the cozy-looking cottage, with its open kitchen and beautiful wood rooms, and decided I would unpack later.

I left my suitcase in the room and went to the living room. I picked an especially large armchair and opened my journal.

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Dear Diary,

Today, we arrived at this cottage in Yce. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be so far, and I'm actually kind of excited to explore the town. There's still one HUGE problem, though. And that's the Algid Lake situation. There is NO WAY I'm going there. There's a whole list in my head of all the terrible things that could happen. But if I say no, Mom's going to get mad at me, and I'm going to have another one of those anger outbursts. Besides, the person Mom found might not even know about my "situation." She might say a metaphor or a simile, and welp, another person who thinks I'm a freak. God, I hate my life.

Vanessa Sloane

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"Time for dinner, Vanessa!" the voice of my mother echoed through the empty hallways. I looked around. It was already dark? Time seemed to pass faster in Yce. I closed my journal and walked to the dining table.

I shovelled pasta into my mouth as my mother and I watched the snow drift into piles, almost hypnotically, outside.

"So, dear, what do you think of Yce?"

"It's fine so far." I sighed, not wanting Mom to be overly excited. "Why did you have to find a person beside Algid Lake?"

"Vanessa, please stop overreacting. You thought Yce was bad, but it turned out to be fine! Algid Lake shouldn't be too bad."

I wished I could believe in Mom's words, but I couldn't shake the legends and the stories I'd heard about it.

"Mom, but the legends, Papa Waloe's stories!" I protested. Papa Waloe was my grandfather, and he'd told me all sorts of terrifying things about Algid Lake.

"Legends are legends, and Papa Waloe was an old man when he told you those things. His memories aren't what they used to be, Vanessa. For all we know, he was rambling on and on about something he read in a book."

My ears began to steam. How could Mom insult her own father?! I took a deep breath in, and decided not to argue further. It would just make the situation worse.

"Alright, Mom. I'll give Algid Lake a chance." I plastered a calm and collected expression on my face. "Goodnight!"

As I walked back to my bedroom, in the corner of my eye, I saw someone in a dark cloak watching me  in the floor-to-ceiling window. But when I turned around, there was no one there.