Wanderlust

Curious

C H A P T E R 2: Curious

A tense, heavenly atmosphere entered the house like a chilling fog. Wow, all I could think is wow. The house was eighty per cent wood, ten per cen stone and ten per cent electricity.

"Amazing isn't it?" My father chuckled. I nodded without saying a word. Mother came in speechless surprised by how alluring the house was.

  "Lets take a tour of the house, shall we?" Father said breaking the silence.

Mother and I followed him.

"This is the living room" He said speaking proudly we walked around gobsmacked by this place, he lead us from the living room to the kitchen, to the dining room, to the bathrooms, bedrooms, and lastly the garden.

"This is a wonderful house, Clinton." Mother said giving Father a kiss on the cheek. I winced.

"What about the attic?" I questioned.

An awkward silence so deadly occurred that you could hear a fly sneeze.

"Why do we need to go to the attic? We don't even need it." Father yawned.

I scrutinized him for at least five seconds.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to stare?" Father snapped, beaming his eyes at me. Hypocrite.

"Sorry..." I uttered, I've never seen him like that, I looked down to see Oreo wandering around my ankle, I stroked his soft fur and he looked into my eyes like he was trying to say something.

"Who wants dinner?" Mother interrupted.

"That would be excellent." Father answered.

And we headed back into the house. As we arrived at the kitchen I felt like I was in a fairy tale. Everything in the room was sculpted so well. I sat at the table reading a magazine which was left here a while ago. Typical "fashion" magazines which had horrible fashion but high end couture, I'm not saying I know what fashion is but it's certainly not that. Pencil skinny models wearing dresses so tight at the top then very puffy below, one even was wearing a very tiny fish net dress which exposed her bosoms. I gave a 'who-on-Earth-would-ever-wear-that' look

"Dinners ready!" Mother called out. She put a roasted fish on a plate and some vegetables on the side.

All I could think of doing is throwing up. I grabbed my knife and fork began to cut small pieces of this foul fish. I stabbed my fork into it and took a bite. Ugh, this was revolting. But it was all I could eat. As mother and Father began to talk about how they would grow their fruits and vegetables in the garden, I mushed my food with my fork to look like I ate a lot.

"Finished!" I said giving a false attempt of a smile ever. But she believed me. It really paid off doing drama classes. I headed up to my room and saw Oreo across the hallway, staring at me like I just ate his food.

"Hey, Oreo." I giggled coming towards him giving a slow massage around his ears. And then he ran off.

Alone again. Naturally.

It was 10pm I went to the bathroom and washed humming to a rhythm I made up. After I finished I dried myself off and changed into my pajamas.

"Good night, Mother. Good night, Father." I called out. They returned it in a less satisfying manner. Mother's was more cheerful than Father's.

My room was pretty decent it had timber walls going diagonally into each other, comfy looking bed sheets, a window by my side and a painting of a mystical forest framed above my bed to the right.

The evening was a warm welcome on my skin, but that quickly cooled off when I got into my bed sheets. Cool, calm and crisp. I closed my eyes and before I knew it I was still wide awake. After two fruitless hours of tossing and turning and counting everything from sheep to ring tailed lemurs, I gave in and sat up. And there was Oreo, on my checkered bed sheets, giving me a long cold stare straight into my soul.

"Oreo?" I questioned, "How could you get in here?" I yawned.

His paw prodded my hands and he shook his head to my bedroom door. Was he telling me to follow him? I got up and decided to attend to him, he kept walking through the hallway and pointed up to the ceiling where the attic door was.

"Oreo, we're not allowed to go up there." I said, frowning.

Suddenly he leaped majestically and pulled the door open, and the stairs slithered down. I looked at him in pure rheumatism, I didn't know my cat was an elite gymnast. Oreo ambled up the stairs while I looked to see if the hallway was clear, then I staggered behind Oreo.

As I got up I heaved myself inside, something Oreo had no trouble with. How could Father not want this to be hidden, it was just plain and dull, nothing special. I glanced around seeing the occasional boxes and unneeded furniture as I trotted behind Oreo, I kept whispering,

"Oreo, we need to go now..." but he ignored me. He was a cat, anyway, how would he understand me?

Then I saw it, a Mirror which had a beautiful pattern framing it, it was the most abnormal thing I've seen in the house. The words 'Wanderlust' on the top as if it was some type of banner.

Oreo circled it and hopped into it casually.

"Oreo! No!" I couldn't just leave him there so I had to make I quick decision, I looked at Oreo free falling and I closed my eyes, took some deep breaths, and jumped in.