Heart House

• Lola Lemon, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2021

My worn-out sneakers touched the rotten planks of HH, when I was sure it wouldn’t fail me, I cautiously moved forward. The ancient bones of the house creaked as I scurried forward like a mouse, I entered a room that had just enough surviving objects to tell me this dump used to be the jewel of the city. Something brushed my cheek. I whipped round, nothing, but I still unsheathed my dagger, I couldn’t take any chances. Someone chuckled behind me, there sitting casually on a rotten chair was Samiya. I growled in my throat, but someone forced my dagger out of my hands and bound my hands together, I screamed in pain as he smeared a cool ointment on my arm.
“You really thought I would just come here alone? Actually, you thought I wouldn’t come at all didn’t you eh?” Samiya laughed then he focused his attention to the man who was holding me, “metterla fuori combattimento!”
All I remembered was the air rushing as a wooden plank made its way to my head, then everything went dark.
A droning throb sprang up in my head and when I tried to move my sight fogged up and pain flared up spreading from my calves up. When my senses cleared, I could hear voices, a potato sack was over my head, a car refresher smell wafted into my nose (obviously I was not in the HH and god knows why there was duct tape on my chapped lips. Samiya’s voice found it’s way to my ears, I hissed angrily although it came out as a pathetic gurgle. The voices stopped abruptly, and heavy footfalls became louder as whoever approached me.
“Ahh Lia, you STUPID little girl!” Samiya muttered, “Why did you go to the Heart- HH?”
So, the HH was actually called the “heart house”! But why was Samiya so careful not to call it it’s real name? But I didn’t have time to ponder over it because I head something smash and a body fall to the floor with a THUMP, someone ripped the sack off my head. Before me stood a beautiful woman about 35 or so, she offered her hand to help me up, she looked harmless so I gripped it as she hauled me to my feet.
“I am Phebe Leviona,” Phebe muttered.
That hit me like a dagger in my gut, I felt like crumbling to the floor like so many of my defeated enemies but alas I could not. That name, that was my mother’s maiden name. Memories flashed in front of my eyes, my mother… wait no Phebe when she was much younger was crying as she put me reluctantly down on the doorstep of a house I had gotten so used to. Samiya suddenly appeared at my mother’s side peering down at me then grabbed Phebe’s tensed shoulder pulling her backwards, I have had this memory before but never in so much detail. Never with any people.
I stumbled back, “No, no, NO!” I screamed trembling so much I had to focus to keep my firmly feet on the ground. This was not just surprising but terrifying. This was the prophecy a man had given me, the prophecy of the bird…