Darkness Drops Again

Part One

She stood in the attic doorway. This was the last room of her childhood home that needed to be cleared. Tracks of light fell across piles of boxes and trunks, a few things covered in white sheets. Audrey sighed, leaning against the doorway. Untying the bandana from her head, she used it to wipe the sweat off her neck. She'd been working all day with what was left downstairs, not realizing how much was still upstairs.

Damn her mother for disappearing.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she ignored the ball of guilt that knotted in her chest at the thought. Her mother disappeared well over a year ago and Audrey couldn't afford to hang onto the house any longer on top of the rent at her own place. Running her hands over her face, she pushed her straw-colored hair back and tied it again in a tiny ponytail.

A few steps in she pulled the chain and a dim yellow light illuminated the small attic space further. The dust was thick and covered everything. Audrey wandered around and took in the boxes. Her mother's curly handwriting covered the corners of boxes. Swiping dust off of one, she opened it and marveled at the old dresses stuffed inside: stuff she'd never seen her mother wear. The silks and furs looked well worn, dresses from a different time. She shoved them back in and closed the box.

She wasn't sure what she should keep. Was her mother coming back? She had no idea, but she didn't have the room for all the stuff. Audrey picked up a box and headed down the stairs. Below, the house she grew up in was empty. She still saw where everything once was. Scrapes on the hardwood denoted the spot where their two-person kitchen table sat. The blank spot where the rug left the wood a darker shade than the rest of the room. She sighed.

A breeze bustled in through the screen door. It was a relief compared to the stifling attic. In front of the small house, a mostly full moving truck sat half on the lawn. The screen door slammed behind her after she shouldered through and the truck creaked as she entered. Stuff that she was going to try and keep she put on the left and the for sell/donation went on the right. The right side towered over the left and she dumped the box of dresses on that side.

When she turned to head back into the house, she noticed Mrs. Parker sitting like a lump in her rocking chair on the porch. She raised her hand in greeting, but the old woman just looked away. Letting her hand drop, Audrey shook her head. Mrs. Parker never did like them, though she couldn't say exactly why. Maybe it was because she never had a dad around. Maybe it was because of the charms her mother used to hang all over the place (and occasionally sneak into the neighbor's yard). The floor moaned when she entered and Audrey trudged up to the attic. The back and forth continued for an hour.

With a glass of water, she sunk down in the almost empty attic. The sun just squint over the horizon, but none found its way into the attic. The only light was the dim bulb, rocking against a cool breeze. Taking a sip of the water, she stared at the remaining stuff and wondered where it all came from. Growing up, she never saw her mother buy much - food for the house, presents for winter solstice. That was about it, but all the boxes spoke of things she didn't know and probably wouldn't ever.

Gulping down the water, she set it by the door and stretched her back. Something caught her eye and she turned to it, puzzled. There was a door.

It stood hidden behind the remaining boxes, at about knee height. If she hadn't seen the silver doorknob, it wouldn't have gone unnoticed. The wall, she knew, went to outside and she never noticed a door on the outside anywhere. The box nearest to the door had on it trails in the dust, three long streaks. Moonlight peered up over the bottom of the round window, glinting off the silver.

Audrey squat down in front of it. Surely it didn't open, or if it did... dropped out into the yard. But why did she suddenly feel so nervous? Shaking her head and letting out a shaky laugh, she put her hand on the doorknob. Nothing to worry about, it was just a small door! Turning the knob, expecting it not to move, she startled back when it did. Grass stretched in through the crack and she pushed it further out. From the other side of the door poured light.