Pushed To The Brink

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In the summer which was usually around August my Grandad held this running club and whoever came first second or third I would get to see (amongst two other children in the crowd besides my sister and I) the first sights of the runners as the finish line was actually down our road right behind our new house and we would cheer when whoever came in whichever positions but whatever position my Grandad came I'd still put my hands up and cheer for him. He would run down that road, and as soon as he saw me and my sister, that smile was the winning smile. To me, that was the best smile in the world. His whole face would light up as it would shine and beam with happiness.

The awards ceremony for this would take place in this big house my family would travel to down the country. We would pass trees after bushes after more greenery on the way there, even in the dark I knew what kind of road we were traveling down because I looked out of the windows as all the dark bushes whizzed past in a blurr and then our car would start slowing down as it would start turning to the left and start to pull into a massive driveway. This house was massive (bearing in mind I was probably only four foot) and the exterior was from a very wealthy owner.
The first room when I walked in was a foyer. It had a seating place with different kinds of seats to sit around in to welcome guests into their home with a massive television on the far right wall and there was a door up that far corner which I often wondered where that led to. This was a room if I acted up, I'd be sat in bored out of my skull because the men wanted to check football scores or any kind of pool game being played, and it was boring. I do remember one of those small antique upholstered sofas, which was by the front window, and with it's elegant structure, it was like a mini bed for me, which I tried to fall asleep on. On the other side of the room - in fact in between the foyer to the living/dining room there was a staircase which I kept trying to go up and of course I loved old fashioned darkened staircases, it activated my inquisitivness and I had to find out what was in which rooms. I just had to. Never mind, it was someone else's house and probably didn't want kids upstairs.

I don't know when this house was built, or whether it just was a country house and it just happened, it just happened to have a twisting staircase (this probably was the reason I had to sit with Dad doing something meaningless when I could be on my feet.) I had to really promise I would play outside for him to let me go but what was wired into my brain from this staircase was that it was different to my Grans whereas hers started off on a spiral and went all the way straight up, this was the reverse but with a twist. So, at the top of the staircase once I'd climbed all the way up (finally without being caught or I wouldn't be able to explain this) the spirals actually broke into two different directions for two different rooms either side. I chose the left side. As I got closer and closer as the stairs went straight up to the room, the higher I got, I found myself getting nervous. Slowly, taking each step at a time, I felt like I was getting closer to the attic. I started getting that eerie spooky feeling in my body, and then I stayed on one step because now somehow I didn't want to know what was behind that closed door.
I freaked myself out and came down a little. My Nan caught me up here this time when I was just hanging by up the left corner as I was deciding whether or not to go through with the idea. I saw her come walking past at the bottom thinking she'd come past without even needing to look up because she had no inclination that I was even here but it was not the case, and by one look at her face I knew to come straight down.

This house had acres of land because they not only had room in their back garden for housing two goats they had massive trees that went all the way back into the darkness as the other kids said there were tree houses back there. I wanted to see, I would go to run with them, and Mom would grab a hold of me and wouldn't let me go. I would still try to go when she wasn't looking because in my head they would be having so much fun and I really wanted to be a part of that.
Over to the far right of the garden was a massive swimming pool which I thought was really cool and if I turned around looking at the backdoors to the living room/dining room there would be this gigantic white table filled with food and there was this great big stack of profiteroles, it would be placed right at the back so when Mom said I'd had enough I would start to sneak chocolate profiteroles off the back of the table by crouching under to then run off with and eat and I'd go back for however many times I wanted, I just had to be careful not to get caught.

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