Saturday, 9 February 2013

Obsession, Part One


Hey everyone! This week I decided to write a story without using prompts. Midway through writing it however I realised that it was too long for our standard entries so I shall be splitting this story into two parts. This is the first part- hope you enjoy. Please read & review!

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I never imagined that my life would change so abruptly. I thought my life was going nowhere- I was stuck in a place where I was constantly shunned, where I had no friends, and no company at all. I kept being told that things would get better, but nothing seemed to be changing- I really thought that that was it. I was going to be stuck in a depressing life.

But that all changed when my parents surprisingly bought a new home in the countryside and forced us to uproot our entire life to settle into a new place. It was easy for me of course, but I could tell that it was stressful for Mum and Dad. It definitely wasn’t easy for them having to change jobs and everything, but I was grateful that they were still willing to do this for me.

It was a huge estate that Dad had bought with his hard earned money. It was a small town where everybody knew everyone, so I was quite nervous about not fitting in- but that all went away when I met my friends. Plus, there was all this greenery and space for me to roam around during the day, so I could also occupy my time exploring my wonderful new home.

I had a great time, and my life could not have been better. Every day there was a new place to explore. One day, I decided to silence my fears and went into the basement which had always creeped me out. It must have been from the stories I’ve read and movies I’ve watched, but I was not going to let this irrational fear take over me.

I’ve never understood the purpose of basements. If you had such a huge estate you could easily build a shed to store your belongings. But upon entering this basement, I started to see why. This wasn’t just a basement to store tools; it was where the previous tenants had kept their precious belongings.

How long have this been here? I wondered as I leafed through all their belongings. All I knew about them was what Dad had told me- that a family used to live here, until their son died in an accident and they decided to leave town and move elsewhere. The house was abandoned for many years, until now. Beyond that, I knew nothing.

My attention was brought back to my surroundings when I spotted a diary. Blowing the dust off the cover I saw that it belonged to a Jack Coleman. I flipped to the first page. After a few pages I gasped. This was the boy who died!

Saturday, January 15, 1978

I can’t believe Papa and Mama moved us here. I hate that Papa got the job offer. Why does he need to bring all of us here anyway? I have no friends here, and everyone seems to already know each other in school. Just today I thought I had a friend in Colin, but he was clearly not interested. What else can I do? Just spend my time here I guess. Every day I run around this estate, exploring every nook and cranny. But one very interesting idea came to me today. I want to research and understand the previous family who lived here, and why they left. After all, what else is there for me to do?

‘Honey, time for supper!’ my Mum yelled, which brought me back to reality.

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That night, I spent the entire night reading Jack’s diary.

Monday, April 5, 1978

I found it! I have been at the library almost daily trying to find records of who used to live in our estate. I now know that it is called the Beck Estate, after the Beck family. The entire family died here, but I could not find any information on that. Tomorrow, I will search for more. But I wonder what would cause an entire family’s death. I hope it isn’t a murder, that would be awfully bone chilling and I would have some sleepless nights for sure.

I can now proudly tell others that Stanley Beck used to be the owner of this house, with his wife Maria, and his kids Nicholas, Isabella and Maxwell. Not much is written about the family; it appears that they were quite reclusive. All I know so far is that Mr Beck was in the farming business, and that this huge estate used to be a corn farm. 

From old school records, I have also gathered that Maxwell was quite the scholar. He may be the youngest, but he is definitely the brightest. He’s won everything from the local math competition to the spelling bee contest. I think I would have gotten along with him well.

My next research target would be the basement. I have always feared the basement a little, but I think it is now time to finally venture there. It says that the family kept their most prized possessions there, and I overheard Father saying that he might want to clear it out soon.

I wonder where this obsession with the Becks would lead.

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I could not believe myself. I had stumbled upon something historical and monumental! This is amazing. I found that I could not stop reading Jack’s journal. The more I read, the more I understood. Maxwell had died of some disease that was common back then, but he had also infected the whole family. It was quite a sad tale- an entire family perishing just like that.

The more I read, the more absorbed I became. What happened to Jack and his family? Did he die of some disease too? I wonder where this obsession with the Colemans would lead…

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(to be continued)

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