MOM

The last bell of the school day had just rang. But this ring was special, it was signaling that it was time for the weekend to start. It was finally time for me to go home. It's not like I'm going to do anything exciting when I get home, though. Actually, I'm probably just going to take a nap. I haven't been getting alot of sleep lately due to the crazy thunderstorms we've been having here in Seattle.

The bus dropped me off in front of my house. I mean, I would be taking a car because I just turned 16, but I still don't have my license. So it's the bus for me.

I opened the door of my two story, green house and kicked off my Converse. The house was still dark, so I believed that my mom was still at work. I went around the house turning on all of the lights and lamps. I just hated the dark. It made me feel cold and somewhat depressed. But because it was just me and my mom living here, we kept the lights off while we were out.

As every teenager my age did, I went straight to the fridge. I found half a slice of pizza and a bottle of orange juice. While walking up the stairs toward my room, I noticed that my mom's bedroom door was wide, which normally she kept closed. As I walked up to the door I felt a gush of cold air hit me from behind. I spun around on my heels, but there was nothing behind me. I just shrugged it off and closed the door to my mom's bedroom.

I got to my room at the end of the hall, and turned on my stereo. At the moment, my favorite artist is Ed Sheeran. After about a ten minute dance party, I decided to take a shower. Rid my body of school work and gym sweat. I peeled off my clothes and jumped into the shower.

After getting into my nice, warm pajamas and blow-drying my hair, I felt like I deserved a nice nap. I'd have plenty of time to do my homework on Saturday or Sunday, but not Friday. No. I get the rest of Friday to myself. I looked at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was 4:05 PM. And at that moment, I fell asleep to the sound of light rain pattering against the window.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of thunder and saw a flash of lightning through my window. I looked to my nightstand and saw that my clock flashed 12:00 AM. The power had gone out while I was sleeping. So I got up and went to the bathroom to check the battery powered clock. It was already 6:18 PM. I heard a loud thud against the wall that lead to my mom's bedroom. I was so relieved that she was home. No matter how old I am, I'll always be slightly scared during thunderstorms. But as I am about to turn the doorknob to my mom's bedroom, I hear the front door open downstairs.

"Grace darling, I'm home from work!" my mother's voice calls from downstairs, probably in the kitchen. I hoped that she bought Chinese! I go to close my bedroom door and shut the bathroom light off. Then I start to descend the stairs. I'm about halfway down when I hear a voice call out from upstairs, in my mom's bedroom.

"Grace, don't go downstairs. I heard her, too." Said a voice that sounded exactly like my mom's.