Silver beads

"Ugh! C'mon, Lindsey! Wake up!" DAD was waking up me up! That meant only one thing: a visit to Great Aunt Donna.

Great Aunt Donna is one of those annoying relatives who pinches cheeks and embarrasses the daylight out of you. All my aunt does is sit, chat, and drink tea all day.

It was my December visit to her house. My breath was white as my leather boots clomped along the stone path leading to the door. I rang the doorbell while my father and mother eyed me uncomfortably. The door opened to Donna's unpleasant face.

My aunt nonchalantly rolled her eyes and motioned us Parkers to come into her well furnished home. My parents sat down on the red couch that awaited us while I was pushed and locked out of the room which they always did. I might as well explore!

So I did. I looked into doorways as I creaked on the wooden floorboards down the hallway. One door was shut. The golden skeleton key was stupidly dropped in front of it. As a curious teenage girl I was, I fit it into the lock that clearly stood out behind the white paint of the door as it creaked open to a library. A library that I've never seen before that smelled musty and old.