The Mouse House
Peanut Butter and Fluff
Eleven
The Mouse House
(First Place Winner, Coastal Journal Scary Story Contest)
Eight-year-old Molly heard the brakes squeak as her school bus drove away. She pushed open the front door of the big old house her family had just moved into.
“I’m home,” Molly yelled. But her older brother’s usual response, “big deal!” didn’t come. She hated him for always ignoring her, and she hated this damp, smelly house that creaked. Still, she had no choice but to be there with Billy after school, until Dad and Mom got home.
Dumb old house that her parents intended to fix up. It had four stories of dark-paneled rooms, and each room led out to a long narrow spooky hallway.
Molly dropped her backpack to the floor in the huge entrance hall with its twenty-foot high ceiling. She looked up: the glass chandelier was covered with layers of dust and cobwebs.
Molly listened for a minute for the sound of Billy’s stereo, or the TV. Silence. “Hey, Billy, I’m home,” she now yelled louder, starting to get a creepy feeling that something went wrong with the usual plan for Billy to beat her home. Was she stuck in this scary house all alone? It was a ten-minute walk to the nearest neighbor, with only woods and swampland between them. continued
Peanut Butter and Fluff
“Oh, Mom, do we have to?” I asked, carrying my new Frisbee and trailing mom to the car. “I want to go home and play Frisbee!”
“Now, Allison,” Mom began with that wicked serious voice. I tried covering my ears, but my Frisbee slipped and fell onto the pavement in the parking lot. Some other kids and their parents were getting out of their cars, and as I reached down to pick up my Frisbee I crouched low while mom lectured at me like I was a little kid or something.
“...just what you wanted to do, so now you come with me to do my errand. Then we’ll go home,” she was saying.
With my free hand, I tugged at the side of my overalls and kicked at the tire of our car. “Can’t we just go home?” I tried once more.
“No,” Mom said with that snarl in her voice that I knew meant I needed to stop bugging her or she’d ground me.
I climbed into the back seat of the car and slammed the door.
“Keep that up, and I’ll ground you,” Mom said, peering at me in the rear view mirror as she drove out of the parking lot. No one spoke.
Mom drove behind the row of stores we’d just come from, pulled into a side street, and parked the car. What kind of errand was this, I thought, seeing only a smelly old gas station and a tiny pet store. An errand for mom here?
“I have a present to buy,” said Mom. “Do you want to wait in the car or come in?”
She knew I couldn’t be bribed with all the ice cream in the world to stay out of a pet store. But who was the present for? A boa constrictor for Grandma, I thought to myself, giggling out loud.
“Well, you sound like you’re a bit chippier,” Mom said, “So you’re coming in?” She smiled at me, but didn’t wait for my answer, turning instead toward the store and going inside. continued
Jay
I bounced the ball three times, then leaned toward the basket and fired.
Off the rim. I backed up to get the rebound, ready to get it in next
time. But it got away from me and rolled across the street. I ran and
grabbed it, just as a car approached.
As I waited for the car to pass, I wiped a drop of sweat from my nose with the back of my free hand, bouncing the basketball with my other. I looked toward John’s house. No lights on yet. No one to shoot hoops with. I’d just keep hitting them alone.
The car slowed and turned into my driveway, fortunately not parking too close to the basket. Oh yeah, my Mom’s friends are coming over, I remembered, returning to the hoop. Big deal. Still no one to play with. I resumed my game, going out to mid-court with a pretend pass to Shaq and a return pass to me as I wove my way forward and waited under the basket for the pass. I tipped it in. Score, Jay! Home team’s ahead!
“Hey, Jay,” called my Mom, busting up my triumph. “Come say hello.”
I hugged the ball and twisted my body toward them. Mom kissed some lady I didn’t know. A little kid leaned against the car, sucking on a lollipop. Someone inside the car began to climb out. Looked like an older kid, but I couldn’t tell. Hmmm, someone to shoot with?
I took a few steps forward to peek at the kid. Noticing that it was a girl, I turned back to the hoop. Darn it. A girl. continued