Glass balls Prompt Story

Ch.1 Rough Textures and Smooth glass

Hi, this is just part of a series of prompts. I'll keep writing this if enough people want me to. OR, you can write to this prompt and link me to your version! OR someone can write the next chapter and I'll choose which one will be the next chapter as a fun thing. I'll write every other chapter in that case. It would be interesting to see where the story goes. NO LESS THAN 500 words in that case, credit would be given!

Please comment down below, everything helps motivation. Thank you for reading. Point out any corrections if needed, thank you!

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The house's walls were so dry of color but moist of silence. It's rough texture felt course against my skin as my fingers ran through it's patterns. The wallpaper hadn't peeled yet but it was due for a change, enough of a necessary change as I was. I was so stuck in this house, the memories it held- that it could have had, that I felt distant but attached. It's hard to say but when I look at the hardwood floors, the mahogany door frames, and half finished rooms they seem more real than I am; because when I look in my bathroom mirror I see myself but it doesn't feel like I'm looking out of my own eyes.

Lazily I stepped through each room. Beige sheets still covered what was supposed to be worn out furniture. They felt unused and as sad as me. It's useless to cry. My eyes have worn out any water I once had. It's useless to keep praying and hoping that'll change. My house never moves yet I feel as though it breathes around me, like it tries to speak through old creaks and weathered spots needing to be fixed.

It's the afternoon in my house. Still, I wear last night's white gown that i'd slept in. What was the use of wearing anything else for appearances when no one would see it. Moving on, I counted my steps on each tile in the kitchen. That was the first finished part of the house. I loved to cook so we-he made sure it was finished. It stopped me, the thought.

I couldn't help but look around large rustic archways and beautifully carved decorations to accompany them. The bright sunny light whispered it's secrets over them ever so gently. It even mused a smile on my face. He would have loved to see how breathtakingly beautiful this place was if he had any patience. I look off into a wall with a distant look, remembering his laughs too good to be legal. His bright smile,it was infectious. I should have seen it coming. Of all the signs I should have known if he wouldn't be patient with such a behemoth of a house then he wouldn't be nearly as patient with what I could give. Absentmindedly my hand rubbed circles on a phantom stomach. The end result of these two projects ended up needing a lot more patience than maybe he thought he had. At least one would be finished, even if I had to do so alone. Two children should have come fast in his mind. His patience couldn't take how many times they left whilst in the position of waiting to become something more.

The house moaned with the whistling of wind. My head snapped to the sound. Another window might need to be sealed. Amply, I found the nearest caulking gun on the kitchen counter to fix the problem. This house and I had so much in common and after he left I knew we had even more to share. Just as I was, the house was as broken and empty as my stomach. It too wasn't able to keep many living souls to stay.

Each time I walked up to the second-no-third floor I was winded. This layer of the house was the tallest, besides the attic. It was long and stretched out with doors littered around each corner. Usually, in such a big house one would feel afraid as if someone was always staring from a corner behind. I never had that thought though. The house felt like home the moment I walked into its half ruined state. A few months ago, when we moved in, I could practically smell the family living esthetic. The house welcomed it. Even it kept it's esthetic as if urging me to try something I wasn't capable of.

Walking down the hall I stopped at a square in the ceiling. The attic, it had a window. It sounded like the whistling was the loudest up above so I assume that's where the noise was coming from. Oddly enough, the house had been completely explored- all except the attic. Well, lucky for me today was the day I'd see what secrets it holds.

I had to jump to reach the dangling ball in rope. When I landed the not-so-sturdy looking ladder shifted down. Verbally, I made an uneasy noise. This whole idea was feeling worse and worse. The earlier thought of the house not being scary was starting to fade for the first time. Biting my lip I took a step back, seeing as cool air whooshed back my hair in an eerie fashion. I changed my mind. I don't want to fix the whistling. Nearly turning I had the strongest pang in my chest. It was explainable. The halls in my mind, of what I pictured what was behind me, bent with disappointment, like an eager child. For some extremely hard to explain reason, I felt as if I was letting someone down by not venturing inside the attic. Before I knew it my hands pulled me up with newfound confidence. The ladder was actually sturdier than I had previously assumed. The guilt only sunk deeper in my stomach. Was I really not going to visit the last room of my house? How selfish of me. Coming in, it really wasn't that dark. The one window lit up the entirety of the room. Boxes, books, fancy bunched up curtains were just some of the things in here. I didn't say it out loud but mentally I gasped. I couldn't help but more interestingly observe the contents of the attic closer. Yes, there was a fine layer of dust over everything but all was preserved like a perfectly framed picture.

The thick curtains were the first to be touched. So silky and curved with embroidered designs, I felt as if I was riding through each curve. The Persian details made each mental story unfurl into a version of myself where I road a steed through dunes of deserts. Just as my hand searched for more of the hidden texture, the adventurer in the desert went on fast just the desert hills went on forever in my mind. Even Though the cloth was cobalt with streaks of lightning yellow, it took me to an unexpected place. Next I very delicately opened a box, which opened up itself more and more. It was a jewelry box. Some of the items looked valuable, but that's not what caught my eyes. Plastic woven pieces, very colorful put together. It felt to sentimental to be worn. Clearly, it wasn't mine. The house my be mine but whoever left this left this knowing someone else made it for them. It felt wrong but nevertheless interesting to look at. I almost heard the laughs of children as they clumsily made the perfect piece of jewelry. There were books, mostly in foreign languages the more I looked through them. Not a single spider inhabited any of the goods.

Each object, each piece of something belonged to not one person. That's what it truly looked like. Was someone a collector of oddities? It boggles my mind why none of these important furnishings were left in a half destroyed house. Wait! Caulking gun- I came up here to caulk! Shaking my head I ran to the window and just caulked down the window seal for now. I was going to replace them later but I doubted I would open the one in the basement any time soon. Once I was done I looked out the window. The grass was as gold as wheat fields for miles to see. I didn't even notice I was smiling. It really was peaceful where I lived and I was very thankful for that. Squinting, my vision couldn't help but focus on my reflection. My hair, flat and long, reached down deep to my back in a strawberry mist color. Blue, eyes with a dullness to them blinked back. I had to look away. I told myself it was that I didn't do enough to my hair for it to be interesting and not the fact on how it hurt to see a reflection more so than a person in my eyes.

I heard the drop of rolling metal behind me. Jumping to the sound, I looked back up to the reflection. I silver dish was frozen in time above an english clunky chest. God, I hope rats didn't make that sound.....I paused watching it to see any furry creatures. Wait...was that bowl there before? The distant sound of the house creaking was dulled out behind me. It beckoned me to get closer. The silver bowl shined with that new tin look. It held dozens of marble sized glass balls. Each was textured with swirls or stippling. I don't know why but like everything else I had to touch it for the satisfaction of smoothness. Pale hands picked one up. I examined it by turning, lightly grazing it, and rubbing circles all with soft touch. My fingers were enjoying the sensation it gave. The glass was engraved with a name, Arhman. It was very well written, in tight cursive and minimal looping. The side of a note peaked out from the silver dish. My peripheral vision barely caught it. I picked it up from its corner wondering what it was. It was yellowed was unknown age, but the scent was potent and fresh.

All it red was -

" It's okay, you don't have to say sorry. I know you tried. It's not what you wanted but I know you're too determined to let things end where you thought it was over, so let me give you your new resolve."

The notes, scribbled but legible, weighed nothing in my hand. Of all the things, and hidden objects in the rooms, this single note felt the least foreign to hold.

*BINK*

My hand dropped the tiny marble, it happened so fast because of my horrible simple multitasking efforts. Glass meant shattering-jeez. Hopefully it was small enough to not br-

The muscle in my throat caught a lump of air stuck in the center. I couldn't move. Right where the marble was dropped sat a a tiny little person...six inches tall...on his ass...just staring at me in the same frozen fashion. His eyes were glued to me just as mine where to him. No one moved.

Tiny ragged, dirty white, shirt-tiny and tiner holes in slax, tiny roughed up dark hair, tiny shoes, tiny stare burning holes in my body- It was like my metal process to understand things was hit and destroyed by a mallet.

"Uh...Hi?" He said with a shaky smile and slowly raised hands.

I paused.

" NOPE NOPE, NOT GONNA DO IT. NOPE! I'm not going to get involved. This is happening outside of the line I drew today when I woke up! NOPE!" I could swear I heard just as confused and panicked tones from him as I got up and ran the hell out of there. Like it never happened, I quickly shoved up the ladder and closed the basement opening. I rubbed my eyes and ran to the end of the hall, ending in a jog. I wasn't down any set of stairs yet I was out of air. Sitting down, I held my head now watching the square in the distant ceiling.

One thing was for sure, I needed to either go to the hospital right now to check for a concussion I missed at some point....and check the attic again to see if I'm actually really crazy.