The Hollow Woods

• Georgia Volakakis, Grade 5, Carnegie Primary School
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

When I turned 10 years old my father, James died. My father’s death had a profound impact on the family. It was really hard for my younger twin sisters, Ella and Stella, my mum, Rebecca and I to keep the house without our father’s help. We lived in a little cottage by the ocean and life outside was very peaceful but my mother couldn’t cope with the loss of her husband. My mother never recovered from his sudden death.
When I turned 11 and Ella and Stella had turned 9, our mother got sick. We tried everything to keep her alive, but her illness became worse and she decided to send us to boarding school. She didn’t want us to see her in such a bad state. It was eight months into boarding school when my mother passed away. My mother’s sister, Aunt Maria was our only living relative and she had to take care of us when we took holidays from boarding school.
My Aunt lived in a house at the end of the village near, Misty Green Forest. When I stepped into her house for the first time it felt like someone was watching me everywhere I went. It was an eerie house and not very bright. Aunt Maria had blonde, curly hair, always wore makeup, was very selfish and didn’t care about anything but parties. She was also very mean to children. One day, instead of sending us back to school, she had my sisters and I stay with her to do all her chores, while she sat down and sun-tanned all day, every day.
I couldn’t stay another day with Aunt Maria. It was hard leaving my sisters behind but life became unbearable; I packed my bags and left without a single word. I ran into the forest and kept running. As I was running, I looked behind me. All I saw was a bundle of trees and the blinding sun. I continued running and came across a large treehouse. It had wide brown timber panels and a shed like roof with a rotten, wooden door. It had no windows and only one room and a ladder to climb to the top. I remembered a story my mum used to tell us of the time Aunt Maria got lost in the forest and lived in a treehouse to survive. I assumed it was Aunt Maria’s and stayed there for the night.
The next morning I was wandering through the forest when I came across a path. I decided to follow it. It led me to a house deep in the forest. I took a few steps closer and stumbled upon a grave. On it was carved “Greg, my only husband and favourite hero, your beloved Maria.” I thought for a moment and wondered if Aunt Maria ever had a husband. I walked inside the house. It was beautiful but I was confused. There were pictures of Aunt Maria and her family on the walls. I wondered if this was Aunt Maria’s real house and where she really lived. Maybe that’s why Aunt Maria was jealous and mean because she lost her own family and her husband. She didn’t even help her own sister when her husband died.
I followed a path back to Aunt Maria’s original house. When Aunt Maria saw me she dragged me to the bedroom and locked me up. I tried to tell her about the grave but Aunt Maria wouldn’t listen. But when I announced “Greg,” Aunt Maria froze. She slowly turned around and unlocked the door and asked “How do you know?” I told her about the treehouse, the house and the grave. Aunt Maria demanded I show her where it was. I showed Aunt Maria and the twins the way. When Aunt Maria saw the house and the grave she burst into tears and repeated “I am deeply sorry for everything.” Then she gave all three of us a hug and promised to take better care of us.