The Room Long Forgotten

• Clare O'brien, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

“Race you there!” shouted Laura, running through the wood. Lilly and Charlie followed behind, winding their way through trees and jumping over logs in their path.
Laura and her family, the Littles, were moving into a new house. It was a red-brick, two storey house which lay in Pilgrim Wood, not far from town. The children had not yet seen the house, and were eager to get there immediately so they could explore.
There were three children in the Little family. There was Lilly, the oldest at the age of twelve with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Then there was Laura. She was ten with dark blonde hair and blue eyes as well. The youngest was Charlie, who was turning nine that month. He had hazel eyes with dark blonde hair like the girls.
The sun was shining brightly through the trees, making the wood look magical. Birds were chirping merrily, creating such a wonderful song that Lilly felt like dancing to it.
After much running and jumping over logs, the little cottage came into view.
“That must be it.” said Charlie, coming to a halt.
“Let’s sit down on this log while we wait for Mother. She has the key,” said Lilly. After a few minutes of waiting, Mother came.
“Is that our new house?” asked Charlie.
“Yes, darling, that’s the one.” answered Mother.
Once they had put their belongings away, the three children began exploring the house. First they scrutinized downstairs, examining every inch of it. They then progressed on to the second floor, again examining every inch.
Just as they thought they had inspected all the rooms, and were walking down the stairs to have tea, Laura saw a door out of the corner of her eye. It was hidden, which is the reason why none of the children had noticed it till then.
“Lilly, Charlie! I think I found another room!” shouted Laura. The other two children raced back up the stairs towards where Laura was standing.
“I wonder what’s behind it,” said Charlie inquisitively.
“Let’s open it,” said Laura excitedly.
“Yes, let’s.” replied Lilly.
The door was stiff. It seemed like it hadn't been opened for years. Laura pushed hard on it. The door gave a creak and slowly opened to reveal a very dark, almost empty, room. There was a broken skylight on the ceiling, creating a small patch of sunlight in one corner of the room. Near a broken window was a wardrobe that had a door broken off its hinges. But what caught the childrens’ eyes the most was a statue opposite the sunlit corner. The statue took the shape of a rearing pegacorn. It was very dusty, so Charlie walked towards it and reached out his hand to dust the pegacorn, but alas, as soon as he touched it, he vanished.