The house on Maple Street

2

Three years before...

I watched as the sky fell down changing from a pale blue to a vibrant pink, I guessed it was about 5:30. I could smell the food my mum was cooking, which instantly made my stomach rumble. I continued to sit at the window thinking about the day. I finished my classes and chores, which seemed to be all I did lately. I heard Mum call everyone and I got up and walked down the stairs.

I was the last one at the table, I sat next to Aric and across from Ivy and mum.

"Your a bit quiet today Eden, not feeling well?" I looked up to see mum looking me up and down, as if I looked like I was about to break.

"Ohhh give her a break Claire, she's been studying none stop" Ivy said looking at me with a smile on her face.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bit tired" I gave a slight smile. I looked down at my plate only to see the same thing, a pile of over cooked veggies, a small cut of steak and three potatoes. I looked over and saw Aric eating like a animal.

"Jeez when was the last time you ate" I said laughing.  Aric just looked at me and rolled his eyes trying not to laugh, as he had a mouth full of potato.

The table was finally quiet, as I was eating I turned to the window, which was oddly close to the table only to see the beautiful sunset I had seen through my bedroom window. Instead this time you could see the colours reflecting onto the lake, across from our house.

Before I could even think about what I was saying the words came out of my mouth.
"Hey mum, can I go out to the lake? I instantly felt regret as I saw Aric's eyes wide open looking at me.  Ivy was surprisingly unfazed by what I had just said. As my mum slowly raised her head I felt my palms begin to sweat.

"Eden you can't be serious honey" she started laughing as if I had said something funny.

"I just thought it would be nice to walk along the water..." I knew I might get punished but for some reason I just kept going.

"I'll go with her mum, she will be safe." Aric looked at me and it almost seemed as if he wanted to go outside as well.

"Okay, but only for an hour and stay at the lake, where I can see you " she continued to eat.

Ivy looked at both me and Aric and smiled as she saw the happiness on our faces. We helped take in our plates and then Aric and I left. Just as we shut the door, I heard mum talking to Ivy. I could of sworn I heard her say something about me being too curious. I didn't know what that meant but all anxieties went away when we stepped outside.