An Ariella Story

Small Talk, Makeup, And The Meadow

I was woken up the next morning to Lynn screaming through my intercom.

"Get up, you lazy brat! You're going to be late for school! I don't want those teachers thinking I'm a bad guardian!"

With an animalistic groan, I climbed out of bed and pressed the respond button. 

"I'm sick." I lied. Then I pretended to cough, just for good measure.

"Whatever. You may get to skip school, but just because you're sick doesn't mean you don't have to do your chores!"

And with that, the conversation ended.

Thanks to Lynn I was fully awake. There was no going back to bed. So instead, I showered and worked on homework that was going to be due soon. When I finished my assignments, I left my room and made my way across the driveway and into the house.

Without Tiffany or Lynn, the place was really quiet.

Harvey was reading the newspaper in the kitchen when I walked in. He seemed surprised to see me and raised an eyebrow at my presence.

"Miss Ariella?"

"I'm sick."

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he saw through my lie. He didn't say anything else, but continued reading the sports section.

I went to sweep the floor, but couldn't seem to find the broom. The darn object wasn't in any of the closets where it was supposed to be. I finally gave up looking.

"Harvey, do you know where the broom and dustpan are?" I asked.

"Nope, but there should be another set in the basement." he said without looking up from his paper.

Great. The basement was one of my least favorite places in the house. It came in second right after Lynn's bedroom.

The wooden door creaked when I opened it and I blindly felt around for the lightswitch. My fingers made contact and I flipped the tiny lever. A single lightbulb illuminated the staircase leading down and I slowly gazed around in disgust. A musty smell met my nose and for a moment I worried about my safety.

People that went in the creepy basement usually ended up dead in horror flicks.

I took short breaths as I made my way down the stairs, trying to keep the smell out of my nostrils. How was it that Lynn wanted every room in the house nice and neat, but she didn't have an ounce of care for the basement?

My feet hit solid ground and I looked around, trying to find anything that resembled a mop or broom.

"Here, broomstick. Where are you, broomstick?" I said as I searched around.

Finally, after about five minutes, I found it hidden in the corner farthest from the stairs. I couldn't say the same for the dustpan though. That thing is still missing.

I was about five feet from the stairs when I noticed a box with my name on it. The new looking box was stacked up on an old shelf. Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to check it out.

Cameras. All of my cameras.

A smile formed on my face as I shuffled through my possessions, the broom momentarily forgotten. Some of the lenses were cracked from Tiffany's manhandling, but other than that they were still perfect!

I breathed a sigh of relief, only to inhale more of the basement stench.

Thinking back to the camera that Jessi had saved for me, I remembered that I was all out of film. How was I supposed to take pictures without film?