Where The Stars Shine...

「 t e n : "Sounds like you're explaining some kind of war strategy."」

"You know what I think?" Rose asked, running her hands through her short hair. "Remember that there are a few polaroids that our parents had taken? You can use them in the frame. You would have to change the format, but it would look good. Polaroids make good aesthetics."

"Hmm," Jake hummed, thinking about it. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe we can alter the frame idea a bit."

"Oh!" Katie jumped, snapping her fingers. "I know what we can do. Let's see-" she stopped and picked a stray piece of paper. Taking a pencil, she drew a square on it. "This will be where the main photo is. It can be a family photo." Then, she drew smaller squares on its side in a pattern. "And these will be the polaroids. It would look good. Whether it should be in a frame or not, we can decide later on," she explained.

Jake nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Sounds like you're explaining some kind of war strategy," River snorted and Katie shot him a look. He put his arms up. "It's good, though."

"Yep, but I think it would look messy in a frame," Rose said. She was talking a lot, more so than usual that she did around them. It was surprising.

"I guess so," Jake agreed. "We can use a bigger frame."

"As I said, a frame isn't the issue," Katie told them. He scowled at her bossy tone and she stuck out her tongue to him.

She continued, looking at Rose, "Do you know where the polaroids are, in the first place? Your parents may have them. Or maybe they are in our attic, I don't know."

"Even I don't know," River replied and shrugged. "I can text mum and ask about it if you want."

Katie nodded. "That would be cool."

Jake uncrossed his legs and flopped on his side, his arm supporting him. "You can do that, but I think a stash is dumped in our attic along with some books."

"Are you sure?" she questioned. "We'll go and look for them, I guess. Rose. come with me." At the sight of her whiny face, she rolled her eyes. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "Oh! That reminds me-" she looked at Rose, "the book you wanted is in the attic."

Rose's eyes widened, a smile forming on her lips. "Really?! That's great! Let's go right now and get it."

Katie narrowed her eyes at the red-haired girl, humour present in them. "Sure," she replied, shrugging. "We can look for the polaroids as well," she switched her tone into a high voice, "that is- if you permit me, Your Highness!"

"Permission granted. The book comes first, though," Rose uttered in faux solemnity. They both snickered at that, finding it amusing.

With that, the two girls stepped out of the room and went upstairs. Katie realised that they had a weird obsession with attics: wherever they both went, their first approach would be the attic. That was why they had chosen it in their lake-side house, too.

They entered the huge, dusty place. It was a pentagonal attic, high and wide. Cobwebs were woven in the corner of the walls. Sunlight entered through the window, hitting an old chair at a different angle, throwing all the attention towards it. The room was bright because of the rays, the flying particles of dust visible due to them. Most of the objects that were present were covered with heavy layers of dirt.

Katie looked around, regretting to not have brought a mask to cover her face. The result was seen right away, and she started sneezing uncontrollably. Her nose was sensitive to any sort of dust particles or harsh smells.

"Here, take this," Rose handed her a handkerchief. "Cover your mouth with it."

Three consecutive sneezes later, she straightened up. "Thank- achhoo!" she sneezed once again and took the piece of cloth, covering her nose. As the sneezes stopped, she wiped off the tears and her vision cleared.