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If there was one word to describe me, it would be “morbid”.

My mind is constantly burdened by thoughts of death; but I am certainly not suicidal. I would never dare hurt myself.

I live in a tiny house on a hill terribly overgrown with trees and various plant life. A habitat so lusciously green and beautiful, but I cannot step outside to admire it.

I live alone, but I prefer it that way. People bother me, and I tend to bother people.

Actually, people are scared of me.

People locked me in here.

I don't like people.


Anne


The rain went “pat-pat” against the window as I stared out with a gloomy expression on my face.

Mother never let me go outside on days like that.

My fingers drummed against the windowsill and I blew out a puff of air against the glass.

“Moping about won't get you outside any sooner, Anne,” I heard my mother's voice float out from the kitchen. “Or any of the treats I have planned for later.” The smells of dinner already hung in the air and my stomach growled in response.

“What else is there to do on rainy-days, then?” I muttered, my eyebrows furrowed together.

“You could always clean your room like I had asked earlier, you know...”

I tuned her out and kept staring out towards the trees swaying in the wind. “Anne? Anne, you're not listening to a word I'm saying are you...?”

Being cooped in had made me irritable enough that any little comment made towards me drove me slightly insane. I jumped up from my little, brown, wooden chair and grabbed my light blue rain coat.

“Anne! You're not going outside!” I opened the door, the whole time staring straight into her deep green eyes, a smirk on my face. “Anne, listen to me! I swear if you don't do what I-” The rest was caught off because I had already leaped outside, slamming the door shut behind me.

A wide grin spread across my face as I skipped outside, jumping into the puddles, spraying myself with more water than the sky was pouring onto my head.

I didn't dare look back, or else I would see mother in the doorway screaming at me to get back inside. I definitely wasn't getting any treats after dinner. That is, if I came back in time for dinner! My heart was singing!


The rain let up, and I found myself walking along the path up the Forbidden Hill. No one knows for sure why it's forbidden, just that it is. Of course, my classmates have made up every kind of story you could imagine.

Grace rocks back and forth in her chair happily and exclaims, “I hear there's a man-eating devil up on top of that hill in the little yellow house! If you step one foot onto his yard he'll snatch you up and eat you alive!”

But of course none of that could really be true....Could it? I shook my head. No, of course not!

Lindsay leans forward, closer to me, smiles deviously, and says, “No matter what you've heard about the Forbidden Hill, my story is obviously the truth.” She looks over her shoulder twice and leans back in. “The yard isn't just any ordinary yard, of course. The trees have poisonous apples growing on them, and sprouting in the garden are severed heads! Don't look at me like that. I'm serious! And inside the house are the restless souls of the dead. If you happen to stumble upon their home they'll take you away, and you'll have to live forever with them!”

And that couldn't possibly true either. I guess I was going to have to have a look for myself.

The hill wasn't scary at all so far. In fact, it was gorgeous. Long trees reached for the clearing sky with all their might, bright green leaves flourished. Among the trees were various assortments of flowers and bushes. So far I hadn't seen any severed heads or poisonous apples.

How had the tales gotten so far out of wack?

And then it appeared, the tiny yellow house, sitting pleasantly upon the ground. I stopped myself right outside of the yard. One step and it would prove if all of those tales were right.

Beads of sweat slid down my neck and ran across my chest. My heart was like a humming bird wings, and my hands were that of death, icy cold. Although I was frightened out of my mind, I felt a strange pull towards the quaint house, a sort of a magnetism.

So I took that fatal step and as I heard the crunch of dirt beneath my foot I cringed, not daring to open my eyes and see what was before me. When nothing happened, I slowly registered the fact that nothing bad had occurred. The tales were all lies!

No scary demons rushing out to eat me! No creepy ghouls and goblins ready to boil me alive! No ogres. No witches. No phantoms. No nothing. Not a soul.

A breeze swept through blowing my hair into my face. The faded yellow house stared back at me. It felt so empty here. Deserted.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, creeping along the side of the house. Untrimmed hedges grew every which way, and long blades of grass tickled my ankles. It was very green, so the house seemed a bit oddly placed, like a lion in a snowstorm.

Running my hand along the yellow siding that had vines winding up around it, I searched every inch of the yard. Nothing strange at all! Just an average yard! I came back around to the front of the house and went up the creaky steps onto the porch landing. The wood had rotted with time and seemed as if with every step it was on the brink of snapping beneath my feet.

The windows were boarded shut and looked as if someone had done it hastily, but with great care to make sure nothing could peek in...or out.

Now the door. The door was not boarded, and was a light brown color. I spent a long amount of time just staring at that very door, frozen into place by the uncertainty of it. Why would the windows be boarded so tightly, but the door left by itself?

The only thing I could think was that this was some type of trap! As soon as my hand turned that silver doorknob, a spotlight would be aimed directly at me, and I would turn towards it and grin sheepishly. I could just picture it, shamefully bowing my bright red face. Everyone would be asking me questions of the Forbidden Hill! Or maybe they would lock me up in a cage and feed me to wild creatures!

Although my imagination was wild and frightening, I knew if I didn't open that door right now, I would never have the courage to climb this hill again. I would never know the mysteries that were hidden behind.

I swallowed noisily and reached out for the doorknob.