Burrow

Home?

As I walked through the door, which was made of rotting wood and falling off its hinges, I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The entrance room was a skeleton of a beautiful mansion. It surely used to be lovely and spectacular, a warm welcome for fancy guests wearing gold and diamonds.

But it had fallen into disrepair. A couch that was molding sat in the corner. A chandelier lay on the floor, which had quite a few holes in it.

Then came the kitchen. It wasn't as awful. It was perfectly bare, with nothing but an oven and a broken light switch. I flicked it three times and gave up when there wasn't any light.

"Why did we buy this place? There's no electricity!" I protested. Dad shook his head.

"It has character, can't you appreciate that, Nell? Trust me, once you see your rooms, kids, your gonna love it!" I doubted his words. The proof was in the pudding, and this pudding freaking sucked.

The stairs to the rooms were no better. The creaked every step I took. I've always wanted to slide down a banister, but these weren't fit to hold, much less ride.

Oliver's room was first. It was small, but not bad at all, and his Star Wars themed bed already sat in the middle. The moving truck must had been here already. The walls were plain and white, but they were at least fixable.

"I want to sleep now!" He cried in delight. We let him nap peacefully in his decorative bed.

Now we went to Jims room. His black comforter sat on his bed, but that was the best part of the whole place. A birds nest sat in the exposed rafters. There was a desk, but it was split in two choppy pieces and laying on the dirty tiles. The look on Jims face said all I needed to know.

"This is where I'm sleeping?! It looks condemned. Not to mention creepy. I have to spend my summer, maybe even more time here?" Said an outraged Jim. Well, I had to admit it, mom and dad were right about the character. The worst kind you could think of, that is.

"Of course you are. We bought the place already, Jim. Have a better attitude, young man. Isn't this a great place to find Wood Sprites? So convenient, being right next to the woods!" Mom chirped.

"No, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather stay." I said sarcastically. Luckily, no one picked up on it.

"Let's go to your room, Nell, aren't you excited?" Asked my dad.

"Um, totally. Where is it, though?"

"You have your own floor! Isn't that just wonderful? No boys bothering you, your own space to stretch out and make your own, Nell! Cool, huh?" Dad told me.

In all honestly, I based on the way the house had been so far, I wasn't exactly excited to see the mess my bedroom would probably be. I was dreading it, sure, but I would be sleeping in it. I would have look at it sooner or later. Sure I preferred later, but as we treated up another flight of creaky steps, I saw the enthusiasm in Dad's face, a face I did trust, and for a moment I believed that I would have a fabulous room.

"Here it is, Nell! Do you like it?" Dad asked. My jaw went slack.

It was a creepy room, but the Creepy Attic Room Of My Dreams. Boxes of costumes lay on the floor. My bed and my small drawers were here and they threatened to collapse the floor.

"Thank you, Dad." I wrapped him in a hug.
"This house may be pretty out of shape, but this room really has somethings that are gonna make this place bearable. Well, amazing, actually." I said.

A hole was in the ceiling, and a large one at that, but there was a lovely bookshelf filled to the brim. I skimmed some of the titles. Huckleberry Fin, The Lord of The Rings, Pride and Prejudice, and best of all, Twilight was no where in sight. I picked up a tattered old copy of Pride and Prejudice, plopped down on my bed, and lost myself in the book for a while.
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KNOCK! KNOCK!

I was interrupted from my book with a loud noise. I shook myself back into reality, and realized some one was knocking at the door. Probably a welcoming food gift. We'd moved so many times that I was sick of those casseroles. I knew they meant well, but it was always a casserole.

I reluctantly heaved myself up to answer this nosy neighbor, probably an elderly busybody who knew all of our business before we knew it ourselves. The crotchety one that sat and knitted scarves all day.

I nearly tripped and died on the stairs, but I caught myself just in time. I regained composure to thank this senior citizen neighbor, and swung the door open.

To my surprise, I saw a boy, about my age, with sandy blond hair that was flipped to the side and a blue skateboard. He had a dimple in the side of his cheek, just one, and was grinning. He was really cute.

"Hey," he said, "I brought cookies. Heard you moved into the old Jenkersom house. Pretty scary, right?" He said. I just gaped. He handed me the cookies.

"So, what's your name? I'm Mark." He offered. I didn't want to freak him out, so I somehow answered.

"Nelly. Nelly Karter. But everyone calls me Nell. Thanks for the cookies, Mark. That's, uh, really nice of you." His eyes were so blue. So. Blue.

"Nelly. Cool. Do you want me to introduce you guys to the neighborhood? You can take your family along. I'm a good guy, promise." I felt comfortable going with this Mark if my family was coming.

"Sure, I'll go get them right now. Um, just be warned... They're not exactly ordinary. They um, like ghosts and stuff. So do not get freaked out." I warned him. He just smiled gently.

"Oh, trust me, you haven't seen my family yet." He chuckled. I liked the sound of his voice. It was deep, yet kind, but in perfect harmony with itself, if that even made sense.

I yelled for my family to get down here and meet Mark, and they scampered down.

"Is Mark your boyfriend?" Asked Jim.

"We met five seconds ago, dummy. He's just a neighbor." I told Jim.

"Whatever." He grumbled in disbelief.
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There wasn't much to the neighborhood. Just a few houses, the woods, and a hardware and grocery store, and a park.

"The next school isn't for twenty five miles." Mark informed me.

"Wow, I thought Connecticut was completely suburban!" I said. I cursed myself for being so ignorant. Now Mark had to think I was dumb.

"Hey, do you want to see the river?" Mark said.

"Sure!" I replied.

We hiked as a large group towards the river, over a few hills and brambles until we finally reached the water.

It was totally amazing. A raccoon bathed in the clear waters, and fish paddled around. Birds chirped, and the grass was green.

"Thanks, Mark." I told him. I smiled at him. He smiled at me. And I knew we were going to be friends.