C1 Chapter 1

The rain poured heaviy, lightenning and thundering adding up to the moment.It has been raining for hours now and it looks like it was going to stop anytime soon.

"It really is a heavy downpour just like the weatherman said",said Chin staring out the window

"Yes it is",replied a masculine voice,"do you feel cold"...Chin nodded

"A cup of tea would help"

"Sure",she drew her blanket closer to herself,"Grandpa have you heard from dad".

"Yes....spoke with him yesterday,he is on a busimess trip"

"You know the holidays would soon be over,i was wondering how you lived in this house all by yourself-don't it get lonely"

"To you child-but not to me--I am not alone,i have my beloved wife right here with me".

Chin looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.."You're talkimg about the statue in your room"

"Yes-----oh!,before i forget about the tea...."

"Oh!,yes please,plus dinner.Am hungry"

"You should be,go wake up your brothers so they too would eat"

"Wait,food is ready!"

"Yes it is---"

The door opened,Matthew walked in yawning.

"Heard my name,so i came down right away",he said.

"Nobody called you,really!"..Chin looked at her brother with a half grin

"Hmmn..i think i percieved something delicious",he said sniffing around.

Chin laughed and so did grandpa..

"What?----am hungry"

"Then you have to go wake up little Peter",replied Old Parker

They had dinner,Chin always wondered why grandpa always made the table for five,when it was only the four of them that sit at the table to eat,so tonight she decided to ask him

Pausing her meal,she fixed her gaze on him,"Granda--"

"yes my dear"

"you always make the table for five while we are just four."

"We are five child,me,you,your two brothers and grandma--".

"but she is long dead",said Matthew.

"Oh!,is she?".Old Parker had a mysterious look in his eyes whenever he talks about his wife,which seemed to frighten Chin sometimes.

"So you mean....grandma's ghost is living in this house".

He smiled,"why don't you just eat your food Chin...It delicious right".

"It sure is",said Matthew with a mouthful of spaghetti.

Hours later,Old Parker made sure that the children were all asleep before he went up to his bedroom.Chin wasn't asleep,she rolled from one end of the bed to the other when falling asleep became hopeless,she decided to walk down to the sitting but first she had to check if grandpa was asleep.As she approached the entrance door of his bedroom,she heard voices coming from the room.One which belonged to her grandfather and the other which she couldn't recognise.So she eaves dropped for a while....

"It sad,you know",said Old Parker

"what is sad?"

"Sad that they divorcosed"

"Oh!,i never knew."

"Yeap,he doesn't want the kids to know that why he brought them here.."

"They would,You know eventually find out."

"That is why i said 'it is sad'"

"Yes--i cann't believe they haven't been married up to ours and they dissolved it"

"Ours was pure love you know."

"Yes--but sometimes i feel betrayed."

"It wasn't my fault"

"Kind of,let say 'yes and no.'"

"My love,you look beautiful everyday."

"Now you're changing the subject,typical Parker.You haven't changed and you're taking good care of the kids"

"Yes i am--remember i'm their father too."

"A father indeed"

Chin opened the door a little,the room was dimly lit She strained her eyes to see,when her eyes finally adjusted to the dim light,she held herself from gasping out loud.The reason was that grandpa had a table made and his guest was the statue of his wife.To her suprise,it was seated on the chair opposite his.

"One of them is still awake"

"You're talking about Chin then...she looks just like you"

"And she is eavesdropping righ now"

At the mention of her name Chin hurried back to her bedroom

"And she also has my footstep too.I did that when i was a child too"

"Obviously,we all did naughty things as children"

The sun rose,morning came,washing away the effect of the rainny night.Twerks of sunlight peered into the windows.Chin laid eyes open on her bed.It seems like her memory has been altered.She remenbered that she was eaves dropping on grandpa----

"Just a dream",she concluded and got out of bed.

She met her grandpa on the stairs."Good morning grandpa"

"Good morning my dear, how was your night"

"Fine----so where are you off to"

"I want to do a bit of weeding,the grasses have grown---go wake up your brothers,and good news your parent are coming in two days time to vist"

"Yep!okay"she raced for her brothers room

The day was humid and hot,Chin walked round the living room doing clean up, dusting funitures and mopping the floors while her brothers played soccer outside.A soft karioke played from the sterio.

She reached the door to her grandpa room,she had to clean that as well.She opened the door,it was a little dark inside,windows closed,curtains shut.The air was suffocating inside.Although everything was neatly arranged,books on the shelves,clothes all hanged.

*Grandpa is surely a neat freak*,she thought.

Old parker's bedroom was a relinquish of his youthful days.During those days,he was athletic and good

at sport.Chin had to notice the wallpaper,though it is now faded but it still had a glimpse of the image on it.The image of a witch.She walked toward the bed it was laid properly as was everything in the room.On

a second thought,she had a feeling that her grandfather must have had something to do with magic or maybe it was her grandmother.She never can tell but all she knew

was that she would be in there a little longer than expected,check for old stuff she could take,look at pictures

if any and enter a little into his privacy.She carefully sat on the bed,it was large for a single person to sleep all by themselves.The bed frame is made from red maghony,

painted a shed of red with the top carved to form the shape of an eagle with an outstreched wings.The foam was comfortably soft covered with a thick black fur.On the wall hung a picture of a woman wearing red velvet dress.Chin guessed that must be her late grandmother.She walked ro the wardrobe,boxes were on top of it.One looked like it was filled with pictures.

She reached for a stool close to a table which had a books on it.As she climbed the stoll,

she felt a hand touch on her shoulder.She turned to look at it and fell off the stool,scream-ed and ran out of the room.

It was the statue that frightened her but it wasn't just that...It moved..