The Attic

She was a stranger to her own home. The house wasn't the same to her anymore. Not without her mother. Among her mothers possessions, she found a picture of a group of people her mom had belonged to. A shattered mirror, candles, and a list of names. Half the names on the list have already been crossed off.

Someone must have seen her up in the atticattic because the neighbor was at the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked answering. It was a woman probably in her late 50's to mid 60's her hair cases short curly and a whitish grey. She looked like she hadn't slept for the past few weeks. Maria had recognized her from the picture she had just found.

"I'm sorry, my name is Delain Lawrence. I just wanted to say that your mother was a very special person. Full of spirit and hope. I'm sorry for your loss."

It was just a week ago when Miria had got the call saying her mom had killed herself, leaving no warning, no note and no explanation.

"Well clearly she wasn't" Maria said, her voice cracking as she tried to refrain from crying and closed the door. Maria immediately felt bad for being so rude to the old woman.

"That was weird, she hesitated for the kignest time before knocking." She'd thought.

It was a hard fight to keep her mind moving off the subject of her mother. In the end, she grabbed her oval shaped necklace with a silver horse and sparkly purple background her mom gave her when she was six, and cried back up in the attic.

Maria had recently turned sixteen back in May. It was mid July and she had planned to go to collage a few hours away from where she lived in Tillamook Washington. Now, she was going to live with her aunt Lorret in Corvallis Oregon.

Her aunt was never really a huge part of her life, but she would be now. She'd met Lorret a few times when she was younger but the last time she saw her, Maria was only twelve. Maria had nothing against her aunt but she was nervous to start in a new school. She was never the popular girl, nor was she a main friend in her friend group so she was also glad to get out of there. But to restart in a whole new state without her mother? That would be hard.

Nows when she wished more than anything she'd met her dad. He died of heart failure when she was three, almost four. Maria doesn't have a memory with him but occasionally there will be short glimpses of him if she thinks about it hard enough. Her aunt is from her dads side of the family, her mom didn't have a sister and her dad wasn't close with his sister.

Snapping back to reality, she grabbed the list of names and started reading them. she didn't really recognize any though. Maybe they had something to do with her mom? And just maybe... she'd do a little detective work to find out what really happened and why she did it.