I was sitting in my room, reading my all time favourite book, The Secret Garden. I had always loved this book through my childhood, continuously reading it over and over again until I memorised it all. My mother called me through one of those old pipe systems, because my room was near the top, and she was down in the living room. I got off of my bed after I bookmarked the page I was on. I headed down the immense flights of stairs, and soon made it to the living room, out of breath. “Don’t worry dear, your father is working on that elevator.” I nodded, but was inwardly groaning. “Do you want to go out into the courtyard and watch your siblings for us? Put on your coat, it’s cold out there.” I nodded my head, and left grabbing my coat. I got out there to see that they were making something out of the fresh mud. We just had a fresh late winter early spring rain, so there was plenty of mud. “What are you two doing?” They looked up. “We’re making a mud pie for mum!” I scoffed. “She won’t let it into the house, and you know this.” They frowned. “You always know everything Ophi. Step off your high throne.” I frowned myself. “I know because I am older than you, and I've done it before!” They giggled. “Ok Ms. I Know Everything!” I blew them a raspberry, and they did it too. “Play nice you three.” Our father scolded, and brought the construction crew to the respected areas that they need to be in order to install the elevator to make reaching each floor easier. “I don’t want to play with you.” Ezanias hissed, and Theodore giggled. “Ugh! Why are you boys so complicated!” They both frowned, and spoke at the same time. “We aren’t complicated. We’re gonna go tell mother you called us complicated.” They stood, brushed themselves off, and stomped away. I was quick to follow them. “Well, you are complicated!” Theodore folded his arms when we got in front of mother. “She called us complicated because we are boys and she didn’t get the sister she wanted.” I frowned. “They were going to bring a mud pie into the house! And you said no mud in the house to me, so I told them that and they got all mad.” Ezanias frowned. “You blew a raspberry.” I crossed my arms, defiant. “You called me names.” Theodore was about to say something, but mother stopped us all.
“How about you three stay inside the house. You boys play in the playroom, and Ophelia, you can go and read your book. And I want all of you in the house. No going outside. And don’t get in the way of the men, you’ll get hurt.” We all nodded, because we had to obey our mother's rules. She was the queen of the house after all. And I knew that. I made my long trudge up each flight of stairs, and shut my bedroom door. I picked up my book again, but something on the top of the door moulding caught my attention. I walked over to the door, and I obviously couldn’t reach it. I dragged a chair to the door, and tried reaching it that way. I still couldn’t reach, despite me being 5’1”. I knew that because I went to the doctor exactly two days ago. The chair was 19 inches in height. I also knew that because I measured it with a ruler when I got bored earlier this morning. 19 inches plus my height would make me in total 6 feet and 6 inches. I knew this because I was a very smart 7th grader. I knew I was very smart because I had all A’s in my classes, and my parents and teachers tell me that I'm smart. But, they don’t gas me up every day like some kids.
Plus, I know that I'm smart because I go to a private school. See? I know everything. I could tell that if I piled some things up, that I could definitely reach that key. I picked some good sturdy books, and piled them on the bare seat of the chair. Not on the cushion, because it would be unstable. I stood on the books, and I was finally able to reach that key. I smiled, and got off that chair. I put all my books away again, and soon flopped back on my bed. I had reached the chapter where Mary gets the key from the robbin, and so I thought that it was a mere coincidence that it happened in real life. I looked at it. It did seem to be very old. I knew this because it was covered in a very thick layer of dust. I continued reading, but I got a little bored. I realised that I’ve never seen the rest of the place before, and since I had read this book for so long, it wouldn’t hurt to explore the house instead of reading. I got up, and opened the door quietly.
I knew that we were supposed to stay in our hallway, but there were other hallways. I’d first make my way down a few flights of stairs. After grabbing a flashlight and some batteries in case the other parts of the house didn’t have electricity, and also in case the electricity goes out, I have light. I went back up, but I went up an extra flight of stairs. I looked down each side of the corridor, and frowned. Which way? I could start at the left, and work my way to the right, and then back to the middle. And if I find something interesting, I can put it in my room quickly. I decided that it was a great idea to do. I knew I'd always come up with great ideas! I turned left and skipped down the corridor, stopping at every door to test them. They opened every time, but I peaked in. I wanted to save going in them unless I found them really interesting. I opened one door on the very far end of the corridor, and gave off a small gasp. The room had pretty tapestry, and was staged to be like a picnic. I walked in, and looked around. The ceiling had the daylight theme with occasional clouds. The sun was a very old looking bulb that was installed a very long time ago. I didn’t want to flip the old looking light switch in case the bulb would burst and start a fire. I knew that fires were very very bad, and that we would be homeless. I looked around. The tea set was empty, but there were other things in the room. There was a cute teddy bear, and some invitational cards. I looked at the pretty pictures on the cards, but dared not open them. I took the teddy with me though, for it shall keep me company.
I soon made my way back to the middle, and went to the right side. Nothing was interesting in any of those rooms, so I went up another flight of stairs. I made my way through the left and right, finding nothing interesting. It was a few more flights of stairs before I found really interesting rooms. I opened one door on the left side, and it was a ladies drawing room. I looked around, and saw so many pretty things. Those little embroidery things were sitting on one of the chairs, and the golden accents on the writing set were glimmering in the sunlight. I looked around, careful not to touch or step on anything. It was pretty, but I soon left it. I went to the next one to see that it was a girls nursery, and the room next to it was a girls bedroom. I looked around the room, and noticed something that made me curious. The wallpaper was peeling off in the area next to the tall wardrobe, and was revealing a door. I went over to the door cautiously, trying not to disturb the quietness of the room. I looked at the key, the door, and the key. It had to fit. I put it into the keyhole, and gave it a twist. It took a small firm tug of the door handle inorder for the door to open, but it opened easily. I looked through, and there was nothing. I turned on the flashlight to see that it seemed to lead into another part of the house.
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