The Disaster
What happened?
Where was I?
How did I get here?
A million questions swirled inside me. My head felt too heavy for me to hold and my tongue felt thick.
Suddenly, I felt a flash of pain. Everything came back. The telephone call. The Chief Man of Execution. Everything cleared and was back to normal.
I got up and went to the kitchen.
“Mother?” I tried. “Mother?”
“Yes, dear? Can you just wait a minute, the food is almost ready! Can you help me with the laundry while waiting?” A familiar voice called from behind the laundry machine.
Phew! I thought, slipping into the laundry room. That was just a dream, I guess. Funny dreaming about waking up.
Just then, a ‘RIIINGGG’ disrupted our ordinary household chores.
“Ugh, dear, go get the telephone please!” Mother told me. I did, and moments later I came back, my face full of joy.
“Mother! The Chief Man of Execution says that he needs to talk to Father! He’s getting a promotion!” I cried.
There was silence. Then, a loud thud came from the laundry room. What’s going on? I thought to myself and hurried over to the kitchen. Did she hurt herself or something?
“Are you okay?” I called and peeked into the laundry room.
Oh. My. God.
Okay, CUT!
I know I’m in the middle of telling you my tragic story, but this is just a scene that I’d prefer not to tell.
Don’t scream at me! I’ll tell you if you stop.
RESUME!
I reeled in shock. The floor was covered in both dirty and clean clothes. Mother had dropped the laundry basket and was standing there with a dazed look on her face, mouth agape. Her face was ghostly pale.
“Alice. Black.” She spluttered, some colour coming back into her cheeks as she recovered, “What did you just say?”
“Errr.. oh, the Chief Man of Execution said that Father was getting a promotion! That’s good, right? Right, Mother?”
“That’s great, dear. Simply great.” Mother forced a smile. “Actually, I just remembered about my deal with the, um, housing agency. We’re going to move to a smaller house, but we’ll get more money out of the deal.”
What?! Did she just pull out of nowhere that we were going to move?!
“Mother, we’re going to move?” I hoped that she would laugh and tell me she was kidding. I mean, if we were really going to move, she could at least inform me beforehand!
“Yes, dear. Now, go pack your luggage. We’re leaving in a few hours.” Mother turned her back on me and stomped up the stairs. Boy, was Mother pissed by my words.
There.
That’s why I moved.
And no, don’t ask me why my mother acted like that. Oh well. I have more important things to worry about now. For instance, the first day at Savant Academy! Wish me good luck!
The bus is stopping at the back gate of the school. I see crowds of students inside. Wow. It looks like this place has hundreds more students than Oakdale! Uh-oh. And they all look like they couldn’t care less about making friends with new students! (Not to mention their snobby rich-person expressions!) I’m getting off now. Cross your fingers for me! Please! With sugar and a cherry on top!