Belladonna Manor

• Ella Arpino, Grade 6, Mowbray Public School
• Short Story
• 2017

Excellence Award in the 'Spread The Word 2017' competition

I stood at the door, trembling with fear as I rang the doorbell. Three days ago, I wouldn’t have dared to even step onto the creaky, old porch. Now, my whole life has changed, so a scary porch isn’t so bad. My name is Ivy Willows and this is my story.
It all started yesterday, at my boring house on 99 Florescent Crescent. My full name is Ivynessa Harrieta Felicity Isabella Vanessa Willows. As you can see, it is a ridiculous name. I’m 13 years old. My mother’s first name is Genevieve, but her full name is even longer than mine so we won’t go there. My dad’s name is Robert Marcus Willows and his is the shortest by far. I have 3 sisters named Alexis, America and Araceli or for short, Lexi, Amy and Ara. They are triplets and 15. Their full names are very long so once again, we won’t go into that. I have a cute cavoodle named Holly and two bunnies named Honey Bunny and Dora. Where did they get normal names? Not that I want to be called Honey Bunny, but still!
My house is huge. It has several windows, 15 balconies, 15 bedrooms (each with an ensuite) and an indoor Olympic pool/spa. Did I mention we were rich? That’s why we have ridiculous names. My bedroom walls are painted soft pink and there is a soft pink shag rug in the centre of the room. I wanted a bunk bed, but my mum said it wasn’t lady-like and had a canopy bed put in there. The sheets are cream and the canopy is soft pink. Did I mention I like pink? Blue is actually my favourite colour, but dad said I needed a lady-like colour to love. Right now that colour is pink. My sister’s rooms look the same, except Lexi’s is hot pink themed, Amy’s is lilac themed and Ara’s is purple themed.
That morning nothing was happening – it was a normal day. I woke up and put on my school uniform. I suddenly thought about my neighbour, a middle-aged lady named Belladonna. In fact, her name was also the name of her house, Belladonna Manor.
It was an old house with creaky floorboards. I’d never been there, so I wanted to go. Suddenly, my alarm clock rang and I was dropped off to school.
That night, I went for a walk on the street. I was just passing the Hatfield’s house, when a man knocked me out and shoved me in a sack. When I regained consciousness, I found myself in a damp cellar. The man walked into the room and laughed. “You’ll never escape. You are foolish enough to think a rich girl like you can walk alone on a street at night.” I screamed loudly for help and as if my call was answered, Belladonna came crashing through the window. She karate-chopped the man and lock him in the cupboard. She squeezed my hand. “It’s going to be alright,” she whispered gently.
After that, everything seemed okay. I returned home and my doting parents hugged me for an hour. I made up my mind that I wanted to say thank you to Belladonna.
The next afternoon, I went next door and up the stairs. I stepped onto the old porch and rang the doorbell. That’s where I am now, waiting for a reply.