Fresh Start?
By DAVEY L. STEPHENS
8th August 2031
The suburban family home looks so peaceful now but looks are deceiving. The shutters are standing still. The lights are off. The flowers in the window box smile in the sunlight. The only thing that makes it stand out from the other houses in the street is that it stands empty. The red and white striped tape on the door warns against entry. However, the warning came too late for us.
#lookscanbedeceiving #warnings #toolate
14th May 2031
My family and I just moved into this home. It’s supposed to be a brand new start since my husband died three months ago. My psychologist said I had to get out of the old place. It was driving me insane being there. I could still hear his voice echoing in the stairwell. I could still see his face when I looked in a mirror. I was told to get a fresh start with a new house, wardrobe, and hobby. The psych suggested writing this blog to make sense of my feelings so that’s what I’m doing.
It’s a downsize from our last house but it’ll do. The baby now has her own room, so my teenage daughter will stop complaining about her room being taken over by baby stuff. There’s no pool so there’s one less thing for me to care about. There’s an ALDI down the street which is so convenient for groceries and it’s still close to my work so I don’t have to worry about finding a new job. So far things are looking up.
#newbeginnings #freshstart #letsdothis
21st May 2031
It’s been a week now and the baby still isn’t sleeping properly in her room. And if she isn’t sleeping, I’m not sleeping! I’m so exhausted!! WebMD said it might take her a few days to adjust to the new place but she just keeps screaming! Every time I check on her she’s so cold and her room is freezing. I keep adding blankets and heaters to try and warm her up but nothing seems to work. I had this idea today to move her to the slightly warmer living room.
I grabbed the baby and thrust her into my daughter’s lap before trying to drag that stupidly heavy cot down the hall. My daughter and her school friend were watching some “streamer” called Pixelivy play some farming game I’d never heard of. It’s full of advertising but at least it’s PG. I set up the cot in the living room in front of the window so the sun on the glass might radiate some heat onto her. I tucked my baby in hoping she’d now sleep in a warmer room but then my daughter had the gall to start playing the TV again!! Do teenagers ever learn to be quiet around a sleeping baby!?!
#screamingbabies #freezing #teenagers
1st June 2031
Things have been really strange lately with my daughter. She’s having a toddler tantrum. She keeps stealing the baby's dummy and blankets to make the baby scream but when I ask her why she’s doing it she denies it all. Please tell me if any of your teenagers behave like this! I am desperate for any advice. Just today I found the dummy on her bed and yet she still denied ever taking it. Is she just desperate for my attention? I offered to take her shopping, just the two of us, but she went to the beach with her friends instead.
It’s not just the baby’s stuff though. Maybe I’m going insane? No! I know I didn’t drink that coffee. I left it on the bench while I changed the baby’s diaper. When I came back the mug was nearly empty. My daughter was in the dining room on her phone texting her friend.
“You know I don’t like you drinking coffee,” I said.
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t?” she said, still staring at her phone.
“Oh, so I guess ‘Mr Nobody’ drank my coffee?”
“What?” she turned to look at me. “I didn’t touch your coffee, I’ve been here talking to Emily since I got up.”
I walked over to her, crouched down and said, “What’s wrong hon? It’s not like you to keep lying like this.”
“I’m not lying!”
“Is someone bullying you at school?”
“No, if anything you’re bullying me now!” she stormed out of the room.
How do I get her to open up and talk to me?
#HELP! #teenagers #lying
16th June 2031
My daughter’s attitude has gotten worse! I don’t know what to do anymore! I’m at my wit’s end! The baby is screaming still, and my daughter is continuing to torment the baby and lying. And now she’s starting to draw on the walls!! It’s gotten so bad that I’ve had to confiscate her pens!
#attitude #teenagers #parentingtips
17th June 2031
Does anyone believe in ghosts? I didn’t but now I’m not so sure…
Last night I heard the baby start stirring so I got up to check on her. I walked into the living room and saw the silhouette of a person leaning over her crib. I quickly spun around to turn the light on and as soon as I looked back…no-one was there! I spent the rest of the night trying to explain why I saw someone. Outside we have a few small shrubs but nothing tall enough to cast a moonlit shadow into the room. Inside there’s the low-lying couch next to the crib directly opposite the door, the TV on its cabinet in the other corner on that same wall, and the bookshelves cover the wall to the left of the entry. Nothing.here.looks.like.a.person. I can’t think of what else it could have been other than…a ghost.
#ghostsarereal #shadows #creepy
12th July 2031
My boss showed up on the doorstep today with my favourite chocolates. He said he was here to console me but I get the feeling there was more to it than that. Or maybe I’m just so lonely that I’m seeing things that aren’t there. He was just so thoughtful, came in and offered to help with washing the dishes and folding the laundry. He kept throwing compliments my way which was strange but I kinda liked it. Is that bad? Am I just becoming self-centred being a single parent? Do I like him or do I just like having another adult around who notices what I struggle through each day and helps around the house, unlike my children?
I get the feeling that he’s a bit clumsy but it made him amusing. When he was folding the washing he somehow managed to knock over the entire clothes horse. He even managed to make my grumpy teenager laugh when he tripped on the kitchen rug when drying the dishes and whacked himself in the face with the plate. Maybe he’s not so bad to have around after all if he can cheer her up, he didn’t seem too upset at all for being laughed at by her, it didn’t phase him at all actually. But I don’t think I’m ready for anything, I mean my husband died only a year ago. One year is too soon, isn’t it?
#isheflirting #clumsyfool #happykids
28th July 2031
The ghost is back. It seems to not like my boss at all. It slammed the bathroom door while he was in there locking him in. Why would a ghost do that? I’ve been watching a lot of ghost documentaries lately and researching to try and work out what it might want. Is this ghost trying to warn us of something?
My boss and I were enjoying a lovely meal, just the two of us. My daughter is having a sleepover at her friend's house and the baby is asleep. My boss cooked “Cassoulet” and it tasted amazing! The meal was going so well until the candlestick fell onto his plate splattering sauce all over his suit. I grabbed him a napkin to clean up a little but then his chair was pulled out from beneath him. He reached for the table as he fell, only managing to grab the tablecloth pulling both plates and the glasses of wine onto himself. He stood up taking his shirt off to rinse it in the sink revealing well-toned abs. I noticed that I began to stare, I couldn’t take my eyes off his pecs. Does he work out? How does he find the time to go to the gym, run the company and help me out with the housework? He’s amazing! I started to drool a little but then the lights flickered and exploded above the dining table. It was insane, there was glass everywhere, and I had tiny cuts all over my arms. The fuse box must have blown as all the power in the house went out. Was this the ghost again? Why does it not like my boss?
#rendezvous #nopower #totalhottie
7th August 2031
Fire! It spread so quickly. I am a terrible mother!!! I was just so scared of the flames I ran from there as fast as I could. I forgot the girls were still in there asleep! What have I done?! The Firies turned up in their trucks and said that they’d get my daughters but they were useless men!! They said they couldn’t find them even though I told them where their beds were but they wouldn’t let me go in and save my girls. They continued to douse the flames until the house was just a burnt-out shell. Eventually, I was allowed back into the smouldering wreck and ran straight to my daughter's room. I could see the charred pile of ashes that was her bed but there was no body. Surely there is supposed to be a body right? There was in Pompeii wasn’t there? I quickly ran to the cot in the living room, and rummaged through the sooty remains of my baby's mattress but again, no body. What’s happened to them? I didn’t see them come out the front. I darted into the backyard screaming out their names but no response. I know I tucked them both in before reading my book in bed. But then I remember smelling the smoke. I got up and saw the flames on the couch. Was the baby in her cot then? She must have been, right? What is happening? Where are they??
#fires #wherearethey #mygirls
8th August 2031
To think that it all looks so peaceful now. The shutters are standing still although somewhat burnt. The lights are off. The flowers in the window box smile in the sunlight. It stands an empty burnt shell of a home. The red and white striped tape on the door warns against entry. I even see my husband’s face through the burnt glass of the window. My psych heard about the fire on the news and came over to see how I was doing.
“So much for a new start,” I said
“How are you feeling about it all?”
“I just wish I knew where my girls were and if they were ok.”
“What girls?”
I was a little confused by this question, I talked so much with my psych about my baby girl and teenage daughter. “My daughters.”
“Your daughters are sleeping remember?”
“No, they were sleeping” I was starting to get angry at this point. “But they couldn’t find their corpses in the fire. That means they’re out there somewhere and they need their mother!”
“Your daughters died in February along with your husband. You were all bushwalking and stopped to have a photo taken by someone else walking by. You all stumbled. You were hanging
from the top of the cliff, and your daughters were found on different ledges down the cliffside. Your husband fell into the ocean below. Remember? The authorities scoured the beaches for months looking for his body but never found it. Some even said that maybe he survived the fall.”
I turned back towards the house but my husband’s face had gone. What’s happening?
#whatthe? #mygirls #remember
Davey L. Stephens is a current creative writing student at Macquarie University. His love of writing fantasy, crime and sci-fi stories started as a child. He longs to be a published author so others can enjoy the same love of his stories that he and his medical support dog (pictured) have.
