Jem

 “**B**ang!”
 * THE ATTIC OF THE SUMMER HOUSE **

Suddenly a loud noise invaded the silence of the dark attic. She jumped up and look around but to her atonishment no one was there. Just her, her mother and Uncle Henry in the old rusty summer house. Never her father. She has never seen her father with her own eyes, just pictures that her mother kept. Always pictures. Never a single word about her father. Her mother forbade her neither to talk about her father nor to look for him and his possessions. To her, her father is a mystery that could never be solved by anyone. Until now. She has found traces of her father all across the house. His possessions, his pictures, his clothes, his riffles, even his books. Everything was stored in the attic. She was like a little ant, collecting small pieces together, build it up and put it away for the right time to use.

“Jenni? Jenni, where are you? Jenni? JENNI? If you don’t come out right now to this spot, I promise that you will wish that you would have come out before I have to go searching for you.”

She sighed. Her mother always scolded her for disappearing out of her mother’s sight and not telling her where she went. Everytime she always has some place to tell her mother where she has gone, but not this time. Her mind is completely blanked.

“I’m in the attic Mom. Is there anything else you need me to do? Because I’ve done the washing-up and the laundry.”

That’s true. She has done her chores for the day and now it's her free time.

“Get out of the attic immediately. You shouldn’t be in the attic nor even open its door. You haven’t touch anything in there, have you?”

Yes, she has. She has touched the books, the pens and pencils, the clothes and the riffles. But by her mother’s tone, she shouldn’t say yes.

“No, I haven’t touched anything. I’m just taking a look around the house. Why?”

She was curious. Why shouldn’t she touched anything? And why she shouldn’t be in the attic? It is the most harmless place. There is nothing here that could harm her. The riffles contain no bullets in. If only she knew what had happened when she touched it. But she should get moving. When her mother wanted something to be done, she must have it done. So she get out of the attic and close its doors. She went to her mother who was downstairs.

“There you are, you naughty one. Don’t you dare disappearing from my sight again. This time I will watch you like a hawk.”

But her mother didn’t answer her question.

“Why shouldn’t I touch anything in the attic Mom?”

She wanted the answer for her question. Desperately.

Her mother totally ignored her.

“It’s lunchtime now. Jenni, go and prepare the table for me please. Uncle Henry will have lunch with us.”

Lunch went all quiet and normal – except she kept asking Uncle Henry about the house. Once, accidentally Uncle Henry mention her father’s name without noticing what he was saying and he instantly get a scowl from her mother and became quiet. Het mother still refused to talk about why she didn’t want Jenni touch anything in the attic. Dinner is the same. They avoided mentioning about her father as much as possible.

At night, when she curled up to her mother in the bed, she heard some strange noises. Noises sounded like someone was practicing shooting. It could be winds blowing wildly through trees and the empty yard, she reassured herself. She tried to get some sleep…

…Then she was shaken to wakefulness. Her mother was looking at her nervously.

“You have touched the riffles, right? Just tell me the truth. When you went into the attic, did you touch the riffles? Tell me!”

She didn’t know how her mother found out the truth. But at this point, she could lie to her mother no more.

“Yes, I did. Why?”

Her mother's eyes was filled with terror.

“Then we must leave. Your father is coming back to haunt the house or even worse….he could kill us. Jenni, go and wake Uncle Henry up and tell him to pack up his stuff and prepare the car. We must leave here before midnight. I guess I keep the secret from you too long. Oh if only I haven’t. But there is no time for explanation. I’ll tell you later when we are safe, far away from here.”

She knew that her mother wasn’t joking. So she made a haste and ran as fast as she could to Uncle Henry’s room and wake him up, tell him what to do. They only have 65 minutes left before midnight. They must hurry up.

20 minutes passed away, her and her mother’s clothes were packed up into the bag. Uncle Henry’s stuffs has been packed up too.

28 minutes passed, the car has been prepared and ready for the road. Uncle Henry helped them load the luggages and bags into the back of the car. They have over half an hour left. They looked around the house for anything that they wanted to carry away with them and put it into the car.

"Oh my....!"

It was Jenni who seen the ghost, the ghost of her father. The ghost turned back and shot her. But the bullet didn’t hit her because Uncle Henry has pulled her away into the car. Then he tried to start the engine as fast as possible and drove away. The ghost angrily shot the riffles at them but none of them were injured.

Then the summer house were out of sight. The ghost can go no further out of the yard. They are safe. At least.