Suddenly my hand went to the bell. I pressed the bell and then at once the door swung open and I can see and an old woman standing infront of me with a big smile. She started shouting “Oh my gosh, my sweetheart is back”. She pulled my hand and my legs were following her.
After a while, I found myself sat on the sofa. The room was really warm and she really makes me feel home. She seems terribly nice. I asked her “How much do you charge?”
She said “Four and sixpence a night, including breakfast”. I was shocked because it was really cheap and less than what I was willing to pay.
The ground floor is warm and clean with no other hats or coats. There are no umbrellas, no walking sticks-nothing. I can see stairs going to the first floor. There are two doors, one is the main door and the other is the kitchen. There is a lovely parrot and a sweet dachshund sleeping with its nose tucked into its belly. I can smell the scent of pickled walnut and kind of hospital. The landlady brought me a cup of tea with some biscuits on the side of the plate. It was really tasty.
She said “Well before you go to bed, would you be kind enough to sign the guest book? Because everyone has to do that as it is the law of the land.
“No problem, I’ll do it”.
“Oh thanks my dear”. She gave me a little wave of the hand and went quickly out of the room and closed the door.
I can see the guest book lying open on the piano. I took the pen and wrote down my name and address. I put my pen down and started reading the guest book. There are only three entries above mine on the page. It is strange. The last entry was five years before. For a while I was scared but by looking at the attitude of the landlady, she is obviously a kind and a generous soul.
I found out that the landlady is not at home so I quickly ran upstairs to the first floor. I can see that the bedspread has been taken off the bed and the bedclothes have been neatly turned back on one side. It was like all ready for me to get in. I can smell a sweet perfume all around the room. All I feel is to jump in my bed and have a long sleep. I don’t know why but as I see my room well-prepared, I thought the other rooms are more decorated and wonderful. So I opened the door of the other room.
As I opened the door, the room was really dirty and I saw the blood on my feet. I was shaking because I was scared. I saw the guests which were on the entry list tied up in a corner. They were three of them. All they said to me was “Run away from this house…..hurry up!” I wanted to move my legs out of the room but suddenly I started feeling dizzy. I fell down on the floor. I was losing my consciousness. The last thing I heard was the bell ring and I saw the landlady infront of me. I felt like someone was carrying me and I could feel the ropes around my hands and feet.
By – Gideon Gurung
Year – 9
Form - S
