Secondhand Shoes, A Novel: Another Entry: The House on Mendocino Street-Entry 2

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Another Entry: The House on Mendocino Street-Entry 2

For Halloween, I thought I ‘d write a short story based on a true story. Mine. Everyday, I will post as short an entry as possible. Hopefully, not over 300 words. Talk about discipline. NOTE: This is off the cuff so there will be mistakes. This is for fun. However, I will end up polishing it for publication eventually.

Hugs and chocolate to everyone,

Shelly

THE HOUSE ON MENDOCINO STREET

Niki made a straight dash toward an opening between a broken chain link fence. Moldy leaves covered the ground of the backyard. The pungent smell clung to the insides of her nostrils.

She stopped in the middle, lifting her head. A giant tree towered over the house. It canopied the entire back of it, including half the roof. A rope dangled from it, beckoning her to swing from it.

The hairs on the back of the little girls neck stood on end. A sudden chill rushed through her, and she shivered, looking around the musty smelling yard. She saw no one.

“Come on, Sylvia,” Niki said out loud to no one apparently there. Her mommy said Syivia was only imaginary, but she believed differently. Her friend went everywhere she did.

A gentle breeze whirled a few leaves up and around in the air. Niki didn’t give it a thought even though it had been a still, hot Florida summer.She reached for Sylivia’s small hand and tugged her toward the dangling rope. “I’ll swing you, if you swing me.”

Niki grabbed the rope, pulled herself up onto it, and wrapped her small legs around it. She dangled from it, waiting for her friend to push her. “I thought you were going to push me.”

The wind whipped up again all around her, but like the first time she gave it no thought. The temperature had dropped to an unusual chill. It made the skin on her arms break out in goose pimples while she waited for her imaginary friend to push her. “Come on, Sylvia.”

A large but firm, gentle hand touched her back, giving her one big push. “Hello, tiny miss,” a soft-spoken man said. “Does your mommy know where you are?”