Home Sweet Home

What am I doing here? she mused to herself, already second-guessing her decision.

A pinched to her arm woke her up from woolgathering. Yes, she's a few meters away from her house. The car parked in front of Marie's and Hugh's. Picturing out possible scenarios in her mind, she doesn't want to bump into unpleasant people.

"Alright, I'll check on Marie first." she happily decided and took her phone. Stealthy, she needs to be stealthy to avoid being seen by her neighbours. Who knows, maybe that drunkard is around and she's not ready to meet him yet. He was usually up and about around noon.

Sneaking, she hopped down the car and dash towards the door and ring the doorbell quickly.

In her nervousness, she checks from side to side for any unwanted creature around her. Just the thought of bumping into her drunkard neighbour gives her the chills.

She rings the bell again and looks around Marie's picket fence. Seems like no one is home. Are they out for a date again?

She looks back at her car. From this distance, she got a clear vantage point of her neighbour's house. Ringing the bell again when no one responded, she looked around once more and ended up diving for the picket fence.

Shit! Shit!

Those are the words repeating in her head as she army crawled for her safety. The drunkard neighbour! She peeks through the gaps of the fence and her eyes went wide when she saw the man heading in her direction.

Crawling extra fast now, she was heaving in exhaustion with the short distance she covered. If she ever gets out of this alive, she'll sign up for some gym class.

Damn it, what did she ever do wrong for her to experience such hardships? To add more spice to it, she needs to be in her home thirty minutes from now for her teaching materials.

She would've gladly stayed in her mom's house for a few more weeks if not for that material. She was forced to go back because of it and where did it lead her? Yes, crawling in the grass like some mental escapee.

Well, Grandma did ask her to go back since they got sick of her pretty fast. She stayed for more than a month in her childhood home. They told her to wear big girls shoes and faced the problem. Mom said all good since there are no police visits so far. That heartless family of hers, she gritted

Shaking her head in annoyance, she continued crawling, almost reaching Marie's backyard. This is definitely another law-breaking action. She's trespassing at someone else's property! It might be her friend's house but this is still wrong. Where did things go wrong?!

Sweat covers her forehead as she neared a healthy bush of evergreens. One of Marie's backdoor windows is open, which is stupid of her kind neighbour to do. What if burglars saw it and took a chance? She stood up and intend to close the door when the loud buzzing sound echoed through the house. The sound reaches her since the window is open and her heart jumped in her throat when she heard that deep voice bellowing from the front yard.

Again, she dives for the evergreens the second time and hides. Why the fuck is she so unlucky? She fist pumps in irritation. She just got back in this neighbourhood and this is what happens? It is a bad omen, just like the titanic.

"Anybody home?" the drunkard said once more and she squeezes herself more within the lush bush of evergreens. A few moments later, she heard nothing and was ready to leave the bush when she heard footsteps close to the bush.

"That's weird, there's a car in front." she stopped breathing when she heard it. The feeling of the Bermuda grass tickling her ear and her raven locks tangled in the small branches of the bush made her more anxious. A tingling sensation starts to crawl up her body with her staying still. She'll have a cramp if this stays longer.

Damn it get out of here right now or I'll make you take a shortcut to hell!

If the idiot man could read minds, he'll be terrified with her thoughts right now. Why is she even hiding in the first place?

She can't see what he is doing through the thick bush but she heard a clicking sound. Fading footsteps soon followed.

"Yes, so you guys are out... you forgot to lock your backdoor window... There's a car upfront... Alright."

She heard the one-sided conversation before he was completely gone. Wanting to make sure everything is all clear, she peeks through the bush and positive the drunkard's no longer around. Now that it's safe for her to venture out, the problem now is the timing. From what she heard, the dastard thought she's a burglar! He'll be definitely on standby and why the hell is that guy at Marie's place? Years of her observing the neighbourhood, she never saw the drunkard man ever greet Marie or other neighbours at that.

A good exit plan should be around here. Probing her surroundings, she crawled out of the bush and made sure to stay out of plain sight.

She needs to think fast! Thirty minutes is almost over and the more she litters aimlessly around Marie's backyard, the more she'll be running out of time for her class activity.

Hands akimbo, there's a thing she can do. Light bulb. Grabbing her phone behind her jeans back pocket, she dialled Marie's number. She will let the kind woman know about her situation.

Marie picks up her call in one ring. The background noise is telling her that the old woman is indeed out and about. Giggles upon giggles assaulted her ear as she explains the problem. She paces back and forth as she explains about the car in front too and told her not to tell the drunkard that it is hers.

"Aye sweetie, you can exit at the back gate. Key hanging on the lemon tree beside it." Another giggle.

"Thanks, Marie." Grinning wide and acting like it's a mission impossible, she creeps to the gate. Easily spotting the lemon tree. The key glinting as the rays of the sun reflects from it. Not really an ideal place to hide the key. She thumps her head in annoyance, she doesn't have time for trivial thoughts.

In a flash, she ran from house to house until she reaches the vacant lot facing her home. Good thing, the dogs in that neighbourhood was familiar with her. They weren't barking crazily at her idiocy right now.

Almost there, she risks a glance across the street and saw no one around. With no more seconds to waste, she dashes for it. She's taking the route leading in the back of her home so she followed the brook and runs to the back gate. She unlatches the door lock and rushes in. Finally, she did it. Success!

Feeling a lot better now, she went inside her home and does a little victory dance. The sweat running down her face and wheezing for some much-needed air was worth it! She'll definitely make sure to add a gym class to her to-do list.

She twirled around giddy and all when she remembered the class activity and her laptop. Stopping mid-twirl, she stumbled and dropped at the floor knee first. Hissing in pain she rolled around while rubbing her sore knee.

"I'm so, so fucked." she stood up, limping as she approaches the door. Breathing deep and loud, "Oh to hell with it!" she exits her home using the front door this time and ran towards the gate. Still not seeing anyone around her, she zooms past the houses and went straight for her car. Grabbing her bags full of books and her laptop, she runs back in the direction of her house. The books were heavy but she perseveres.

She stopped in front of her gate to catch her breath and was about to enter when she stopped dead in her tracks. Something's wrong here, she looks at the gate and tries to understand what's making her anxious.

Yes, there's something wrong around her house. She enters and slowly walks this time. Her book bag sagging in her shoulder as she looks around the area that she had missed for months. After thorough checking the place with her keen eyes, her laptop almost follows her book bag on the ground with her books scattered all over her form. She gripped her laptop close to her chest and took a step forward.

She's turning her head from side to side and the fine hair on her nape stood up in attention. She purses her lips to stop it from its quivering. A gasp left her lips as she tries her best not to cry. She's trying so hard not to cry that her throat hurts.

A few minutes passed, her legs felt like jelly and weren't able to support her anymore so the next thing she did was sat down on the grass if she doesn't want to fall like a rotten tree. Looking at her trembling hands, she carefully set her laptop atop one of her scattered books. Took a deep breath and cave into her emotion and silently cries in happiness. The day was not that bad.