CHAPTER 1: HALLOWEEN
Darkness. The inky black sky, the treacle silhouetted shadows. There’s so much out there that we can’t see: mysterious creatures of the nocturnal night; so much more to discover, in the world around us and, the shimmering stars above. We’ll never know it all though, no matter how long the Earth lives for, it constantly changes, they’ll always be so much more to discover. It’s amazing really, mind blowing, and that’s what Athena found most annoying of all.
Athena was a 13 year old girl with scruffy wavy hair past the shoulder; her eyes were like the golden brown of an eagle, her skin soft to the touch. She looked just like an ordinary teenage girl, but she was anything but ordinary, she had been through so much, it was shown on her face. All the pain and misery she had gone through, but each day she would get stronger.
It was the 31st of October, Halloween, and she was reminiscing on her dad, remembering the day he ‘died’. It was fresh in her mind, as if it were only yesterday, as clear as a freshly lit beacon in the midst of the autumn nightfall. Gazing out of the window, like her dad used to when he was in his study, researching things for the discovery at the museum. Of course all of his studies were confidential so Athena was never certain of what he was up to. She hadn’t been in his study since the day the police came to take a few things out of it for some sort of reason as to why the car or driver might have sped out of control.
Slowly, she allowed herself to fall into the memory. Closing her eyes, she could see the small circular room with deep red curtains limply hanging from the golden brass twisted rail, underneath this, the battered wooden window sill had been turned into a semi circled royal ruby seat, well just a few comfortable pillows really. Papers, files, boxes and old documents scattered the floor and desk like the crisp, dry, lifeless leaves of the autumn season. Her younger self was there now too, clutching a model aeroplane, that her dad had made, she watched in desperate horror as the policemen looked through documents and took out certain pages and placed them in a strange box. They were sealing other things into tight plastic transparent bags, including a model fighter plane, she and her dad had painted together , her and her dad giggling whilst painting it, and each other flashed through her mind. Her 10 year old self let a small tear roll from her eye as a policemen guided her out of the room, she had taken one last look and then pulled herself out of the memory.
She had never been in since, not out of cowardice, but because she didn’t want to remember, not in the place in the house that her dad had spent so much time in.
Hopping down from the window sill, she went to grab a snack, her mouth was dry and she didn’t feel like a full blown meal, she was full on memories and only grieved for her dad. Grabbing a sandwich out the fridge, her mum emerged into the room with some washing.
‘You should probably have more than a sandwich for dinner honey’ advised her mum, Hilary
‘I’m not hungry’ Athena claimed
‘I know things are hard, especially with it being your dad’s birthday tomorrow, but he wouldn’t want us to reminisce now would he?’ her mum stated.
‘ But he wouldn’t want us to forget either’ pointed out Athena, and with that she departed from the room leaving her mother astonished and silent. Athena walked weakly back to the window sill, setting her plate down on the little oak table beside her; she stared back out the window. It was six pm now and completely pitch black. A few trick-or-treaters came out of their houses, each one in costume.
‘So it begins’ muttered Athena to herself.
‘It’s not all doom and gloom though’ her mum reassured her all of a sudden, it made Athena jump slightly.
