Main St

Chapter 1

We were finally getting away; away from my wretched, old grandparents. We’ve all had enough of their crude remarks and criticisms. We may still be going to live in the same town, but really, anything is better than living there. Don’t get me wrong, they were nice…at times.  They let us live with them, and that takes a lot of will power to let four people live with you in a small home.

                I really loved that neighborhood. I met a lot of people. This was around the time I started getting bullied, though. The bullying was unnecessary; I was nice to everyone and laughed at everyone’s jokes. I was a good person. Now I have learned that being nice doesn’t really get you far in life. You need to earn respect. I’m still having difficulty trying to earn my self-confidence back. All the bullying made me into a shy girl in the corner; that’s not who I want to be.

                Allow me to explain my little family. I’ll start with my grandparents. My grandpa is a marine. He has slicked back, black hair and droopy eyes.  He’s a nice man, but just like my grandma, he’s a bit of an asshole. I remember when I was little and I’d see him at family gatherings. I didn’t like talking to him, but at the end of those meets, he’d hand me and my sister two five dollar bills and he would kiss us on the cheek. My entire cheek was dripping.

                Next, I’ll tell you about my grandma. This lady is quite the lady. She’s nothing special, really. She’s an alcoholic and that pretty much sums it up. She will always have something rude to say, even if it’s your wedding day, or your prom. She’ll be there to criticize you on EVERYTHING.

                I moved in with my mother, older sister, and little brother. At the time I moved it, I was around 11 years old. I was excited when we first moved in. I would be starting a new school; but you know how that played out. I used to live in another town that I grew up in. It was sad to leave my friends and the yard I learned to love. 

                I remember when we first moved there. My sister and I went through the woods in the back. There was a perfect path for us to walk through. We kept walking past little bits of farm equipment and tires. We reached the middle of the woods and I can remember it like I was just there a minute ago. There were big white poles in different areas and there was a giant tire. There were two different paths you could take. One path led to a gate; a gate blocking us from entering the horse farm. The other path led to a broken down chicken coop. When we walked towards it, there was a stench that smelled of rotting flesh.  We couldn’t get any closer unless we wanted to suffocate.

                I’ve always been a big fan of the paranormal. I loved horror movies and the stories I’d be told about witches and banshees. That house was normal, though. Other than the burnt down farm in the back, everything was good.

                I haven’t told you about my appearance yet, have I? At the time, I had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I was a bit tall for my age. I had four beautymarks on my face and I used to hate them. Everyone said they added to my beauty though. I wouldn’t say I was beautiful back then. My name is Zoella.

                My mom got a job finally and got enough money to move us into a two bedroom apartment in the village. I was so excited. The house was very old and was owned by a sailor in the late 1800’s. There’s nothing I love more than old houses and objects. There’s just something I adore about things with a big history. I try to imagine where something was before it became an antique; if it was touched by many, or just one. Old homes are even better. Those walls have such a big history. There was people living there for centuries and I find that amazing, but not all the history in this house was bright.

                I had to share a room with my sister. I didn’t like it, but it brought us closer. It was the first night in the house. There was a thunderstorm. I’ve never been afraid of storms, ever, but this time I was terrified. I could hear shuffling in the corner of my ear and knocks outside my door. My sister had already fallen asleep. I thought I was alone…I thought wrong. I tried to cover my ears with my pillow but the noises became more distinct. I thought I wouldn’t get any sleep until a minute passed and everything stopped. I couldn’t hear the noises anymore. It was quiet, but too quiet. It was like everything in the world had frozen.  I finally got some sleep.

 

                I didn’t tell anybody about the night before. I didn’t want to sound crazy. It was time to go to school. I had no idea where the bus was going to come. I stood at the corner for 20 minutes. I gave up and started walking back by myself. I felt a light brushing on my ear. I turned to see nothing but snow falling through the air. As I looked forward, there was a man standing at the end of the street where my house is. I figured he was just a neighbor taking a stroll. I’m not a big fan of introducing myself to neighbors…or even coming into contact with them. I got closer, and he didn’t move. He was glaring at me… I got close enough to see that his eyes were glazed over. It freaked me out and I quickly took a turn and started running towards my house. I looked back as I was running into my driveway to see that he wasn’t there anymore. There wasn’t even any footprints in the snow where he was standing.