The Clock in the Cellar – Prologue – 4th Draft
"Are we there yet?" This must have been the tenth time Taner asked.
Taner Hart was a twelve-year old boy with a head of fair, golden brown hair and green dusty eyes. An only child, he had a hard-working dad and a house-laboring mom. They were moving from New York to Cincinnati because of his dad's "stupid" job.
"For the last time, Taner, I'll tell you when we get there." Mr. Hart growled.
Taner gave off a "harrumph" and returned to staring out the window. He watched the trees, the signs, the fields, the other cars; all go by in a blur. Taner was about to spit out another "Are we there yet?" but Mr. Hart rounded a corner and crowed, "Here we are!"
The house was old; 153 years old, to be exact. It had been modified and renovated in some spots; otherwise it looked as old as dirt to Taner.
"Jeez, Dad, I still don't see why we couldn't move into a better house." Taner complained.
"Because, Taner, we won't be staying here for too long." Mr. Hart replied, trying to be patient with his son.
"Taner, why don't you please go and unpack in your new room?" Mrs. Hart somewhat pleaded.
Taner roughly grabbed his duffel bag from out of the car and stormed into the house. "More like my old room." He muttered under his breath as he stomped up the wooden stairs to his quarters. Taner threw the bag onto the floor and looked around at his new room.
It was bigger than his old room, at least. There was a shaggy, rough carpet with wooden board walls, one window, small closet, and a bed mattress without a frame.
Taner zipped open his luggage and began taking clothes out. 'Shirts, done. Pants, done. Socks and underwear, done.' Taner thought as he looked inside his duffel bag to see if anything else was still there. The bag was empty. 'Time to take a look around.'
'Okay, I've seen the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and dining room, what else? Oh yeah, the basement!' Taner took to steps down the stairs, and already he was bored out of his skull. Taner rushed down the stairs and flicked on the lights. It was a pretty spacious place, with a couch and television at the end of the room. To the right was a doorway, and Taner walked over and flicked on the light switch over there.
Something in the corner of the room made a noise. Crrreeeeeeaaaaaaak. Taner whipped his head in the direction of the anonymous sound and saw the door to a grandfather clock close with a click. Trembling, Taner was about to open up that latch, when Mrs. Hart called from upstairs, "Taner! Dinner!"