Innocence (Chapter 2: Mishaps of a Clandestine Nature)

Chapter 2: Mishaps of a Clandestine Nature1

Anna lay awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was two in the morning, and it was too hot to sleep. The air conditioning had stopped working soon after Eliza had thrown her door-slamming tantrum. Though the four year old frequently had outbursts, they were never so violent, and when confronted she would always apologize and return to her merry self. Not tonight. She insisted that she had not slammed the door, and refused to go to her room. After several hours of intense debate between Eliza and her mother, the girl found herself nestled snugly in bed with her father and mother.2

It was so hot. Anna kicked her sheet to the floor and stood to her feet. She needed a glass of ice water to cool her off. As she walked through the dark house, her pajamas, damp with sweat, clung to her clammy skin. Her long brown hair was matted and stuck to her face.3

She reached the bottom of the stairs and began to make her way across the dark dining room to the kitchen.4

CREAK.5

Goosebumps rose on her arms, and the hair on her neck stood on end. She froze where she was, "Hello?" She brushed sweaty strands of hair from her face and looked around the room. Empty.6

Anna took a deep calming breath. The house was very old, and old houses make noise. There was no need to be afraid, so she stepped one step closer to the kitchen. Then, another. And another. If there was nothing to worry about, then why was she so unnerved? Surely it was Eliza's invisible people nonsense.7

She pushed the door to the kitchen open, and had to catch her breath. A blast of frigid air rushed through the door. The kitchen had to be at most fifty degrees. Apparently the air conditioning was working in this part of the house. Anna's once sweaty pajamas now caused her to shiver. She clenched her chattering teeth together as she switched on the light.8

When light illuminated the room, she became very irritated. Her father had a habit of leaving cupboard doors open, and it one of Anna's biggest pet peeves. Now, before her, sat a kitchen with the oven, microwave, refrigerator, cupboard doors, and drawers all open. With a sigh of disgust, she began putting the kitchen back in place, got a glass of ice water, went back to bed, and had no trouble sleeping.9

~~~10

The next morning, Carolyn made omelets and strawberry smoothies for breakfast. It was their first family meal in their new house. They sat at the bar in the kitchen as they ate.11

"Mike," Carolyn asked, "What were you looking for in the kitchen last night?"12

"Nothing. Why?"13

"Well, It must have been something," She said in a frustrated tone, "Every door in this kitchen was left open,"14

"I know," Anna said, "I came down in the middle of the night and had to shut everything in the kitchen."15

"In the middle of the night?" Carolyn was perplexed, "What time?"16

"About two-ish. I got some water."17

"Are you sure it was two? Because, I shut everything at about six this morning when I started breakfast," She turned to Mike, "Honey, what were you doing?"18

"I already told you. I didn't do anything in the kitchen last night. I was in bed, next to you, the whole time."19

"Mom," Anna asked, What's going on?"20

Her question was met with an uneasy silence that hung in the air.21

The silence was finally broken by Eliza, "I think they don't like our stuff in their cupboards." 22

Mike just shot her a scolding look, and confidently added, "It was probably just the wind." Despite his confident tone, there was no mistaking the unease making its way into his usually poised demeanor.23

"That's what you said about my room," Eliza said, "But you were wrong then too."24

Slightly unnerved, the Robinson family ate in silence. The only sound was that of chewing and forks on plates.25

Wuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.26

The blender suddenly turned on, wobbling side to side, bouncing along the countertop. It came to the edge, teetered and fell. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, spraying leftover smoothie all over.27

Everyone jumped. Eliza screamed.28

"I'll clean that up later," Carolyn said nervously, "Lets go out and get some fresh air. We can check out the new back yard."29

So, the whole Robinson family, slightly shaken, stood and left the kitchen. When they went into the back yard, Eliza played on an old tire swing. Anna, hung her feet off the dock and let the lake water lap at her toes. And Carolyn and Mike worked at building a fire pit near the shore.30

As the day went on, they forgot all about the strange mishaps in the kitchen. But when Carolyn returned to clean the mess, she found everything in the kitchen wide open, and it was quite chilly… (To be continued...)