You know those nightmares that make you wake up and immediately sit up straight and look around your dark room? The ones that make your heart beat rapidly? The ones that make you sweat?

Yeah. I had one of those. Now I'm writing a story based on it to calm myself down! *happy face* So I guess you could say this is a first-hand experience? I mean, I technically lived through it if you think about it...

Anyways! Here it is!

The car ride was annoying enough. I honestly thought it couldn't get any worse. Although, when you say stuff like that, it always gets worse.

"Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!" My baby sister yelled as she placed her hands together. Mom laughed at her and joined in on the annoying clapping. Dad kept driving. You would think you couldn't be annoying with both hands on the wheel, but my dad found a way. He would interrupt the clapping every twenty minutes to give everyone the history of something we really didn't care about. My baby sister was too young to even know what he was ranting on about. My big sister was the least annoying one and seemed to be in the same boat as me. She had two ear buds in her ears, listening to music to block out the noises around her, but I don't think it was working. I could hear her music and she still seemed to be able to hear them.

When dad decided to give us a history lesson on a blade of grass (a war was fought there or something. I'm not sure.), I decided it was time to fall asleep. It was the only way out of the reality of the car. I fell asleep to the sound of dad's voice as his lecture droned on and on.

When I woke up, my vision was blurred. All I saw were globs of color. I rubbed my eyes until I could see my surroundings. I was still in the car. My family, however, was gone. I looked out the window and saw a small neighborhood. The ground was dirt. No roads, no sidewalks, but dirt. The houses were tiny and looked old. One house was in a tall tree that looked like its trunk had been twisted. A spiral staircase wrapped around the tree. I got out of the car and looked at the tree house. I walked to it slowly, wondering who could possibly live up there. A wizard? A witch? Some one who rants about the world ending?

An old man with big eyes and a long "mountain man" beard rushed up and grabbed the railing that made a square around his house. "You blasted kids! Get off my lawn!" He screamed in a voice people usually use to mimic an old man.

"We aren't on your lawn!" A kid screamed. He was surrounded by three other boys who were playing basketball behind a house.

"Dang kids!" The old man yelled again before walking back into his house slowly. I sighed. He's just an old man. Not a wizard, or a witch, or a person who rants about the world ending. He's just an old man. As I walked past the tree, I could hear his voice mumbling something. "New...girl...house...why...dead..." I looked at his house again, now curious. What was he mumbling about? I heard my name being called from another house.

"Lily!" I turned around and looked at my mom who was standing on the porch of a nearby house. "Our new house is right over here. Why don't you pick a room?" She asked. I took one more look at the old man's house and ran to the house. My suitcases and boxes were sitting on the floor, waiting to be unpacked. I grabbed them and made my way up the stairs to the porch, and through the door.

The inside of the house was as dirty and old as the outside. Things were rusted and broken, the oven's door fell off, revealing a thick layer of dust and dirt that caked the inside of the oven. The walls were brown and covered in dirt. Some of the floorboards were falling and creaking. The floor had a few holes in it, making me wonder what was under the house. Although, I don't think I want to know what's down there. My mom's voice echoed through the house. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" She asked with a smile.

There were so many things I wanted to say. "Are you insane?!" "Don't you smell all the dirt?!" "Hope you like cooking in a broken, dusty oven." Instead, I decided to agree with her. I gave her a nod and bit my lip. I walked upstairs and carefully maneuvered through the hallway, hoping the floorboards don't break and send me falling down to the first floor. I picked a room at the end of the hall, across from my older sister's room. The bed looked like someone tried to tie-dye it with dirt and the blankets had holes in it. The metal bed frame and some of the springs that were sticking out were rusted. My mom must be insane. I dropped my stuff near the door, not planning on unpacking. I went across the hall and knocked on my sister's door.

"Come in!" She yelled. I opened the door with a loud creaking sound that tore my ears apart and looked at her room. It looked no better than mine. Even with all of her belongings decorating the room. "What is it, Lily?" She asked.

"Uh...Do you...like this house?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's like my dream house!" She happily stated. I took another look around her room. It still looked like a room made of dirt, wood, and everything she owned. Is she crazy too?

"O...kay..." I mumbled, touching the dusty doorknob again.

"Why? You don't like it?" She asked.

"No...I like it." I muttered. She gave me a look. "Come on, Penny! I told you I liked it!" I tried to give her a convincing smile. She stared at me for a good minute before turning her head away from me. I left her room and looked out a window at the end of the hall. The numerous windows spread around the house were probably the worst thing about this house for me. They mocked me with the freshness of the outdoors while I was stuck exploring a dirty, old house. I walked back to my room. I noticed the two windows gave me a perfect view of our neighbor's flower patch full of colorful, bloomed flowers. I covered the windows with duct tape (every problem can be fixed with duct tape and realized that my room was almost pitch black now. Are the windows my only light source? I looked at a light switch and flipped it. Of course, the light directly in the center of the ceiling did nothing. I looked back at the taped windows, thinking about uncovering them.

I left them alone, not wanting to be teased about the outside world. I hate this house...

Don't worry. This isn't the creepy part of it. It's just the beginning. The beginning of a story isn't usually creepy, right? Right.