It was the last day of school before the summer holidays and Samantha was all ready for it. Hopping out of bed, she never hopped out of bed on a school day, she went straight to the bathroom. 'What am I going to wear today?' Samantha thought, smiling at her image in the mirror. Sticking her toothbrush in her mouth, she wondered what the next three months of freedom would be like. Then her face turned a little sour. 'What kind a assignments are we going to get this holiday?' She looked into the mirror again. 'Nothing is going to spoil the beginning of what will be the best holiday ever.'
She shrugged and put that last distasteful thought out of her mind. Homework could wait till the last day of the summer; it always did. For now, or at least after today, she was simply going to go out with her friends, watch tons of television, and maybe even stay home and do nothing, just because she could. She finished washing her face, cleansed, toned and moisturized, and dried it off on the towel on the rack. She skipped back to her room, thinking again about what she was going to wear. There were few things that pleased fourteen year old girls more than the last day of school. She looked through her wardrobe and picked out the brightest thing she could find, which was incidentally a cyan blue dress with deep yellow sunflowers all over it. She looked at herself, happy that her clothes reflected her mood and walked briskly down for breakfast. She heard the sizzling of bacon on the grille, and inhaled the smell of it deeply into her lungs. She had gotten up early today because she wanted to take her time at breakfast, and wanted to take her time going to school as well. She was surprised at the strong smell that came from the kitchen because her mother, who worked part time as a secretary, was supposed to be on duty that day. Every time her mother was home, her brother and her had luxury of having a home cooked breakfast at the dining table. If she was not, they simply poured themselves some cereal and got on their way.
Today her brother had left early to warm up for his athletics tryout thing, which she was not quite sure of. Not really caring the only thing she knew was that that moment more of the glorious smelling bacon for her. All this passed through her head as she walked down the stairs, whistling a little tune, the hem of her dress rippling as she did. She had expected to find her mother in the kitchen at the table reading the papers like she usually did. 'Mom are you there?' She tilted her head into the kitchen. Mildly disappointed at not finding her mother, though not enough to dampen her spirits, she walked over to the microwave to see what her mother had left her. The smell of freshly cooked breakfast was almost overwhelming and she was sure that there was some morsel of gastronomical delight hidden inside the microwave. She opened it with anticipation, almost salivating from the wondrous smell emanating from it. But found nothing.
She looked all around the kitchen and wondered where the smell was coming from. She knew it was not her neighbor's house because all the doors and windows were closed. Her family did that whenever everyone was out or when the only person in was sleeping. It was a safety precaution. So unless the smell of her mother's cooking had decided to linger in the kitchen for the past hour or so, something very weird was going on. But she just shrugged and reached for the cereal box and a bowl. She heard a tiny buzzing sound come from outside in the garden but ignored it. The sound became louder as she opened the refrigerator to take out the milk. This was when she looked up and wondered what it was. Walking to the window to look outside, she realized that the buzzing noise was actually a group of people talking. She leaned outside her window after opening it and looked outside, trying to see who was talking in the garden. When she leaned back in, she realized something.
The sound had gotten louder after she closed the window again. This meant only one thing: that the voices were coming from inside the house. She stood rooted to the ground, unsure of what to do. She heard the clear deep voice of a man, and several other voices which were not so defined. The man was laughing while the others chatted away. Feeling confused, knowing that intruders did not simply chat to their heart's content, she reached into the utensil drawer all the same. She was still facing the window while she probed the drawer's contents for something she could use. Finding the biggest knife she could, she picked it up and turned around to defend herself. What she saw frightened her. She was so shocked that she dropped the very knife she had taken out to defend herself. She could not believe what she saw in front of her. At the dining table, at her family's dining table, sat an entire family whom she did not know.
They sat there, their breakfast in front of them, talking and laughing. There was a man, a woman and three children there. They were all dressed in clothes from an era she could not identify, but the colors were generally drab and dark browns, and the woman wore a large white hat on her head. They looked like the photograph she had seen in her history books: of a family of American pioneers. She was totally and completely dumbfounded as she observed the whole scene: the family eating off metal plates and drinking from their ceramic mugs. The children, two boys and one girl, who seemed to the be the youngest, thanked their mother as she took their plates away to the sink. This was when Samantha started to panic. Once the lady finished collecting everything, she would have to come into the kitchen area to wash everything up. Common sense told her that. She had the funny feeling that none of them would see her but she did not want any of them to come close to her. She was scared out of her mind and the thought of the woman accidentally brushing up against her frightened her even more, because it would make everything all too real.
She picked up her feet and aimed for the back door. She screamed as she stepped onto the kitchen knife and left little drops of blood on the linoleum floor. Not caring at the moment, she simply lifted the latch and sped out of the place, not looking back. Her face was a deadly sheet of white, and a concerned young lady on the sidewalk actually asked her whether she was alright, if she was sick and needed to be brought to a doctor. Samantha smiled weakly and replied that everything was fine. She limped to the place where she waited for the bus and took off her sandal to look for her bleeding foot. She had not even taken her school bag with her when she ran from the house. She would have to do something about her foot the minute she reached school. She thought about whether she would go to the field and search for her brother when she got to school, to tell him about what had happened. Better not, she thought. Some things were better left unsaid.
She looked all around the kitchen and wondered where the smell was coming from. She knew it was not her neighbor's house because all the doors and windows were closed. Her family did that whenever everyone was out or when the only person in was sleeping. It was a safety precaution. So unless the smell of her mother's cooking had decided to linger in the kitchen for the past hour or so, something very weird was going on. But she just shrugged and reached for the cereal box and a bowl. She heard a tiny buzzing sound come from outside in the garden but ignored it. The sound became louder as she opened the refrigerator to take out the milk. This was when she looked up and wondered what it was. Walking to the window to look outside, she realized that the buzzing noise was actually a group of people talking. She leaned outside her window after opening it and looked outside, trying to see who was talking in the garden. When she leaned back in, she realized something.
The sound had gotten louder after she closed the window again. This meant only one thing: that the voices were coming from inside the house. She stood rooted to the ground, unsure of what to do. She heard the clear deep voice of a man, and several other voices which were not so defined. The man was laughing while the others chatted away. Feeling confused, knowing that intruders did not simply chat to their heart's content, she reached into the utensil drawer all the same. She was still facing the window while she probed the drawer's contents for something she could use. Finding the biggest knife she could, she picked it up and turned around to defend herself. What she saw frightened her. She was so shocked that she dropped the very knife she had taken out to defend herself. She could not believe what she saw in front of her. At the dining table, at her family's dining table, sat an entire family whom she did not know.
They sat there, their breakfast in front of them, talking and laughing. There was a man, a woman and three children there. They were all dressed in clothes from an era she could not identify, but the colors were generally drab and dark browns, and the woman wore a large white hat on her head. They looked like the photograph she had seen in her history books: of a family of American pioneers. She was totally and completely dumbfounded as she observed the whole scene: the family eating off metal plates and drinking from their ceramic mugs. The children, two boys and one girl, who seemed to the be the youngest, thanked their mother as she took their plates away to the sink. This was when Samantha started to panic. Once the lady finished collecting everything, she would have to come into the kitchen area to wash everything up. Common sense told her that. She had the funny feeling that none of them would see her but she did not want any of them to come close to her. She was scared out of her mind and the thought of the woman accidentally brushing up against her frightened her even more, because it would make everything all too real.
She picked up her feet and aimed for the back door. She screamed as she stepped onto the kitchen knife and left little drops of blood on the linoleum floor. Not caring at the moment, she simply lifted the latch and sped out of the place, not looking back. Her face was a deadly sheet of white, and a concerned young lady on the sidewalk actually asked her whether she was alright, if she was sick and needed to be brought to a doctor. Samantha smiled weakly and replied that everything was fine. She limped to the place where she waited for the bus and took off her sandal to look for her bleeding foot. She had not even taken her school bag with her when she ran from the house. She would have to do something about her foot the minute she reached school. She thought about whether she would go to the field and search for her brother when she got to school, to tell him about what had happened. Better not, she thought. Some things were better left unsaid.
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