The Safe House

Chapter 1

I had just gotten home from the grocery store. My dad was in the office doing paperwork. After I put the groceries away, I knocked on the office door and said," I got stuff to make chicken parmesan for dinner." I knew that he was stressed out by the way he was acting, so I wanted to make his favorite dinner to help him feel better.

He said," Thanks sweetie but I'm swamped. Why don't you make yourself something and we can have chicken parmesan tomorrow night?"

I sighed and said "Okay". I didn't want to argue with him, but he has been "swamped" so much lately it's like I never see him. I went back into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. Honestly, I didn't really feel like cooking tonight anyway. I took it upstairs to my room and got on my laptop to scroll through Facebook. At 10:30 I decided to go to bed.

The next morning I woke up around eight a.m. "Ugh, why do I have to wake up so early?" I mumbled to myself. I could hear dad downstairs. He always got up really early, even if he got the chance to sleep in. So, I trudged to the shower. After I got dressed, I went downstairs and he was back in his office. Again. I started to get really frustrated, but I have to remind myself that he is a single parent and he is trying to keep us afloat. My mom died two years ago and I was their only child. My dad has done an amazing job as a single parent, even though it is challenging to pay the bills with only one income. I tried to tell him I could get a job, but he refused. He said," I should live while I was young." I took babysitting jobs without him knowing. Then I had some money of my own and I didn't have to ask for his.

I decided to take the day to watch Netflix. I went upstairs and got ready for my all-day Netflix watching binge. At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I heard a loud BANG! It sounded like the front door being slammed open.