Little Footsteps

From the shadows:

A couple of days later, the situation in the Parker's house improved a little, even the air that was breathed there seemed much lighter than before. The curtain of secrets that covered the house had fallen. Aunt Parker was no longer angry with Paula and she was not constantly watching her like she used to do before. It was as if she was relieved that Paula had discovered Uncle Parker's secret. The woman stopped putting sleeping pill on Paula's tea, although Paula rejected it anyway, claiming that tea caused her insomnia. The conversations that both women had were warmer, natural and without harshness.

Mr. Parker was also calmer and Paula had not heard him get up at night. At first, Paula thought that her aunt had told her husband that she had discovered his secret, but then discarded that idea. She discovered a padlock blocking the basement door.

Paula asked her aunt if she had placed the lock on the door, and when the woman said no, then Paula deduced that it was Mr. Parker who had locked the door. Anyway, the girl no longer had the need to get down there; she even thought that she never would. She was no longer afraid of her uncle; on the contrary, his story had moved her.

Since he no longer thought about the alleged kidnapped child, Paula was able to fall asleep. For two nights in a row Paula slept without any sudden noise waking her up making her startle. The boy did not exist and sincerely she was beginning to doubt whether he had really heard him or if she had imagined everything. She had never seen him and with respect to the sounds... well, the house was old and made of wood, maybe the wind made those strange noises.

The morning of the third day, after Paula discovered Mr. Parker's secret, Daiana, her dear friend, went to visit her. She knew that there was the rise of the Parkers calling the police, but that didn't matter to her, because Paula had left her very worried about what she told her last time What if something bad happened to her friend? So she decided to go through the small forest until he reached Paula's house.

Fortunately, Paula opened the door, not Mrs. Parker.

"Daiana!" Paula exclaimed with great joy to see her. She had been bored, with nothing to do.

"Paula! I was worried about you. Can we talk?" she asked nervously.

The girl looked inside the house, hoping to see Mrs. Parker at any moment.

"Of course," said her friend and left the house. They both walked to the tree, where they felt safe from Mrs. Parker's curiosity.

Paula thought she saw her aunt's face peeking through a window, but when she looked again, she didn't see it again. She sensed that maybe the woman would go out angry at the front door, screaming hysterically, but that didn't happen. Then Paula supposed that maybe Aunt Parker had accepted her friendship with Daiana.

"I was very worried about everything you told me, Paula."

Paula doubted for a few seconds. Should she tell her friend or not about her uncle's secret? It was a very personal matter.

"I went down to the basement..."

"Ah! And what happened there?" Daiana asked, surprised. She was not expected that news.

"There was nothing there," Paula finally decided not to tell anything about her uncle's secret.

"Wow!"

Daiana got a huge surprise, because she had been convinced that the Parkers hid something in the basement.

"But... what about that boy you heard at night?"

"I don't know... maybe it was just my imagination," Paula replied with a shrug, blushing a little.

The two girls were talking about it for a long time. Paula was convinced that everything had been a misunderstanding and Daiana believed that the Parkers hid something in their house. Her friend, nervous for not being able to tell the truth, decided to cut Daiana's curiosity.