(copy) The monster of the attic

THE MONSTER OF THE ATTIC

by Nora

A family with two children was moving into an old house. The fourteen-year-old boy Nick and his eight-year-old younger sister Ylvie were not happy about it. Before that they lived in the city, they had friends there and they both played soccer. And now they should live somewhere in the woods, far away from their friends. But when they saw the house, they became curious. It looked like a witch house and the rustling leaves, and the darkness of the approaching night made it a bit spooky. It was a cold, clear night, so Nick felt good about being in the warm house. While the parents were unpacking boxes, the children should go to bed.

“Nick?”, asked Ylvie, “I have seen stairs. Maybe there is an attic. Come on, let’s go and see”. “But we should go to bed!” he answered. But Ylvie didn’t give up. So, she said:” If you don’t want to come, I’m going to explore this place alone.” Nick was curious too (even if he didn’t want to show it), so a minute later they both went up the stairs.

The old stairs were creaking under their footsteps. And on top there was a wooden door. Nick was feeling bad about tiptoeing out of bed and exploring the attic. What if something happened? What if the old floorboards were breaking under his or Ylvie's weight? But when he watched Ylvie he noticed that she didn't look worried or scared. Ylvie was excited and she found it funny to walk around in an old house with her brother.

“Hurry up and help me open the door!”, Ylvie said and just a moment later he tried to open the door. They worked together and needed all their strenghts, and so suddenly the door opened and Nick fell down a few steps.

The air in the room was freezing cold and fresh, not like the moldy smell that they expected. It was pitch dark and the children could hear the wind howling outside. Somewhere there had to be an open window! “Take your mobile-phone out and we will see if we find a light switch”, Ylvie said completely fearless. Nick agreed, but he had left his phone downstairs. So, it was still absolutely dark, and Nick imagined the most dangerous monsters in the darkness. He was trembling and not just because of the cold. Nick said with a fearful voice: “Come on Ylvie, let's go to bed and explore the attic tomorrow.” He wanted to take her hand, but she wasn’t standing next to him anymore.

Where did she go? Maybe she is hurt! “Where are you?” Nick asked a bit too loud. Suddenly there was a bang behind him. This was the door that had fallen shut because of the wind Nick realized.

Now he was really scared. The open door behind Nick had given him a bit of safety even if the boy would never leave this place without his sister. In this moment Nick heard his sister's voice. “Hey Nick! I have found the window”, she said excitedly and then a bit scared she entered: “Come here!” Relieved the boy followed his sister’s voice.

Soon Nick found Ylvie and now he really took her hand. With the other hand the boy wanted to close the window, but it was too old and rusty. Both of them wanted to go out of this attic as fast as possible, so they left the window open. Nick was quite sure of the direction the door was, but before they could start walking, they suddenly heard a noise. It was not loud, just a rustling, but it was enough to freeze the children in their moving. “What’s there?”, Ylvie whispered. Nick had no answer, he was thinking about monsters again

The siblings stood in the darkness, looking into the direction the noise had come from. All of the sudden the thing moved and then something touched Nick’s hair. He screamed and threw his hands up, but the thing already flew against the wall and then it found the window and flew out in the night.
At this moment Ylvie started to laugh. Her older brother looked at her very stupidly, but she already started to explain. “This was just a pigeon that had its nest in here!”, Ylvie laugh, “You are scared of pigeons!”. Nick didn’t answer. His heart was beating fast after this experience. But he had no time to breathe a bit more slowly because Ylvie was already on the way out.