I almost didn’t do today’s prompt. It was posted a little late and I started working on my WIP. I worked on that for quite a while then went to my torture session, aka physical therapy. While waiting to pick up my daughter from school I had an idea for the prompt, so even though it’s evening and I already posted two other things today, here is my story

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The Attic

Six year old Marissa didn’t fear the attic. Though young, she wasn’t foolish enough to think it was anything other than a storage space. Still, she refused to go up there. No, she wasn’t afraid of silly attic.

The stairs were another story. They were a monster ready to devour you, a demon trying to steal your soul. A cursed deathtrap. She would not fall victim to its evil intentions. She particularly distrusted the fifth step from the top. The way it creaked proved it was dangerous. Every time her mother went up to the attic Marissa held her breath until that step was conquered. Her parents thought it was foolish but nothing would convince her to put one foot on them.

She would never forget how when she was five her uncle tumbled down those stairs after slipping on the fifth step. He screamed blasphemy, damning them all the way down and claimed they were bedeviled when he got to the bottom. He made her promise she wouldn’t tell her mother because he didn’t want to be accused of being drunk, whatever that meant.

No her mother and father would never understand. She couldn’t explain how Uncle Jeff cursed the stairs because she was a good girl and kept her word. Besides, she didn’t used that kind of language.

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The Prompt

Before she knew it, she was just another set of eyes in a dusty attic, waiting for the stairs to creak.

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I didn’t precisely stick with the prompt but since my story was inspired by it I’m happy with the result. Sorry for the triple post today!

Rough draft 220