Weird Wash

Chapter 3, Mold

When getting into the house again, Days-E realized something. Something was in the air. It was thicker air than the outside somehow. And it smelled musty and damp. And it was harder to breathe. She also saw on the walls, little fuzzy gray and green spots all around the place.

 She kept hopping around trying to keep up with her mom. It was hard, since every time she landed her foot, excruciating pain would go up her foot and leg. She kept trying to not cry. She could feel the blood, slowly leaking out of her foot, soaking her sock and shoe.

 When they got to her moms room, somehow she had the room with less mold. There was still mold, but it could easily be cleared out and cleaned. The other rooms were caked in it, to a point where it wasn’t the safest place to rest your head for the night. Days-E felt her chest get more and more swollen, it was getting harder to breathe. 

“So this will be my room! I was able to bring our beds, so we don’t have to worry about sleeping in these old nasty ones.” Days-E’s mom smiled, like she had saved the world by just doing the bare minimum by bringing beds. At least her mom finally realized that the house was nasty. Well she thought it was just the beds. But it was EVERYTHING.

 The beds were not even the worst part. But they were definitely close. Somehow damp, and had even more fuzzy spots on the mattress. It smelled horrible. Like a container of spoiled milk left in a hot car in the summer, with no air conditioning. It made Days-E want to puke, and she could tell that her mom felt the same.

 Her mom went to the light switch, seeing if the lights even worked in the house. It did, unfortunately, the lights basically strobed them, before going to a dim flickering light, like *the* broken light in the school gym or cafeteria.

 Days-E stumbled back due to the strobe, she landed on her foot that got stabbed to stop her from falling. Her foot and leg got hit with so much pain, she wished that she fell on the warped, damp, moldy floor. She screeched silently in pain, so her mom wouldn’t hear. Her leg ached with pain as she regathered herself, making sure she didn’t break her foot.

 Her mom didn’t notice, she was just looking in the closet at the old, probably moldy, purses that were left at the house. She leaned on the wall and took off her shoe, her sock had a big red spot on it, spreading around. It was blood. She felt even more light headed.

“Ok, let's go ahead and check the kitchen, got it?” Days-E nodded, trying to pretend nothing happened. She wished her mom would have let her go to the house when her mom first checked it out, so that maybe she could convince her that it was a bad house. And so that she didn’t have to have the tour around the house with her mom. 

The paper towel that was around her foot, placed by her mom also didn’t help at all. She wished she never went to this house. She wished she was still with Jessica, playing at the playground. And most importantly, she wishes she was normal. She now knew that she obviously wasn’t normal, and that was normally bad.

 The only person that didn’t care that she was different, and even taught her some sign language was Jessica. She had always had a way to include Days-E in games, she had taught her and herself sign language, just so that they could talk more, they would draw together, have races, play with toys together. And it didn’t ever feel like Days-E was a ghost that couldn’t talk to her. It felt like she could finally communicate with people. Even half the kids at the playground would play with them sometimes, without judging Days-E at all. She felt normal.

 But now she was ripped away from that, and Jessica probably thinks that she ran away. Days-E no longer felt normal. She felt like she was an alien. Her mom didn’t really help either. She tried to help, but it sometimes felt like her mom was trying to teach a dog, or that she was feeding an animal some peanuts while trying to make her do a cool trick. It never felt real.

 When they got to the kitchen, Days-E’s mom tapped her shoulder.

“Oh yeah, since this house only had one bedroom, you have to choose to sleep in the attic, or the basement, you can choose, but I recommend the attic.” She smiled, then went around explaining the sink, dishwasher, oven, ect. Days-E looked calm on the inside, but she was fuming with anger. They bought this big house, and she only got one bedroom. One. Bedroom. How could she do this? All Days-E has ever done was be mute. Not murder someone then rob the body. What did she do to have to live in the attic or the basement? What did she do? Her mom noticed her being angry, it was subtle, but she could tell.

“Stop being ungrateful. I give you the choice to have your room, wherever you want and this is how you repay me? I sold our old house and bought this new one for you. I did this all for you to get a good education. To be able to socialize with people like you. And this is how you repay me?” She grabs her shoulder, Days-E felt her sharp nails digging in her skin through her shirt. 

“Listen here. Stop pouting over the fact that you don’t get everything you want. Because that's just life. It's not my fault that you don’t get everything we want. Because if we did, I would have gotten so much money. You're 7 years old. You should have learned, years ago, that we don’t get everything we want. You should have learned not to be a brat. Now. Let's go to the basement.” She let go of Days-Es shoulder, leaving small crescents indented in her skin. 

“Well come on.” Her mom said sternly. Days-E hopped behind her. 

“Stop overreacting. All it is, is a little cut. Walk normally.” Days-E tried to walk normally, when her mom looked away, she continued hopping. She felt like she was going to cry. ‘I let you choose whatever room you wanted’. She gave her the choice of the basement or an attic. That's not much of a choice. She continued down the stairs to the basement with her mom. She had a bad feeling about it. But it's not like she had a choice. 

(AUTHORS NOTE, IM NOT GOING TO BE DRAW THAT MUCH FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER SINCE I HAVE REALLY BAD ART BLOCK RN- ALSO HOLY SHIT 1178 WORDS-)