Night At Home

• Sancia Holden, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2008

Rebecca strode into the lounge room and turned on the news with curiosity. She settled herself on the couch and rested her eyes on the television. Rebecca loved being home alone because she was able to watch whatever she wanted on the television. Her parents had gone out to Bondi Beach for the night. She suspected that they would be home late because her parents always walked up to the cliffs at Bondi to see the ocean view. They told her how they loved the fresh breeze in their faces on a summer night.

Rebecca focused back onto the television screen as an outstandingly lage headline flashed across the screen. Rebecca leered close to the wide screen and studied the text bolting across the screen. It read, “A women and man found dead after falling from Bondi Beach cliff point. Detectives found a gruesome death of a middle-aged man and women on the ocean edge of Bondi’s rocks.”

Rebecca suddenly felt fear run across her body. Bondi Beach point….Gruesome death……middle-aged adults. It couldn’t be her parents, could it? Rebecca tried to relax; it was only 7:00pm. She considered for a moment and then laid back, pressing her shoulders deep into the couch, positive that the death was not of her parents. But even know she wouldn’t admit it, Rebecca still felt a tiny bit of fear twisting and turning inside her.

Having had enough of the news Rebecca begun to browse through the television guide. Finally finding a decent show on the ABC channel. As Rebecca went to stretch her legs out on the couch, something caught her eye on the television. Another large headline moved across the screen explaining the death of two adults.

‘Just relax’ she thought. ‘It’s not my parents.’ But she couldn’t relax. That feeling started coming back, that feeling of fear and anxiety, and she couldn’t stop it. Rebecca walked over to the telephone and quickly dialled her mums mobile. She waited for an answer but nothing came.

Rebecca immediately starting dialling her dad’s number. Just then she heard a distant ring coming from the kitchen. She rushed over to the kitchen and found her fathers phone. Rebecca felt a shiver down her spine. It was a sign of panic. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t contact any of her parents. Should she call the police?

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Someone was walking along the deck, they were coming for Rebecca. It was the detectives, they were coming to tell her that her parents were dead, she knew it. Rebecca ran over to the corner of the kitchen, crouched down and burst into tears. She didn’t want it to be real. The footsteps were coming closer, the doorknob twisted and the door swung open…
‘Rebecca, where are you? Mum and I are home.’
Rebecca couldn’t believe it was mum and dad. She ran over and hugged them.
‘Hi Rebecca, you seem happy. What happened?’
‘No, nothing happened, I’m just glad to see you.’