Okay, this is a story I wrote a little while ago. For those of you reading Things Aren't Always As They Seem, I should be able to update soon. This story should only be about 3-4 chapters. The first chapter is a little short but the next ones should be longer. As always please tell me what you think.
She brushed the beads of perspiration from her face, and surveyed the scene in front of her. Boxes and chests littered the dusty floor, some stacked to the roof. Cobwebs were scattered in various corners and she reminded herself to watch for spiders. The climb up the rickety attic stairs had taken all the energy out of her and now she wasn't so sure she wanted to do this.
Maybe I should wait until he comes home.
" No Kate." she told herself "You can do this."
The old room had a musty smell about it and most of the contents looked ancient. She took a step forward which stirred up the filmy dust lying in layers on the barley visible wood floor. She coughed and waited for the dust to settle before she continued.
They should have done this years ago, but they kept putting it off, and now it was a problem. They had avoided the attic in all the years they lived here, because they didn't want to rekindle the past. They had buried their memories up here years ago, hoping to forget their dark pasts and live in the present. Some of the things were good memories but most of them still haunted her. She wondered how long it would take to clear this place out, hopefully they finished it before he was gone.
Her eyes misted slightly but she quickly dried them and bent down in front of the sole box in front of her. It was a plain box with nothing written on it. Kate opened it slowly as if she dreaded what was inside it. She reached in pulling out a tiny pink dress. Instantly a smile spread across her face. Rachel had worn this for her first birthday. How she missed those carefree, happy days. The rest of the box was filled with more baby clothes. Reluctantly Kate closed the box and sealed it with the packing tape in her pocket. With her flourishing handwriting she wrote "Rachel's baby clothing. Salvation Army." in big bold letters. One box done, a million more to go.
"See all the memories aren't bad." she said to herself
She pushed the box towards the door and moved on to the next one. Kate lingered longer on the next box. this one was full of pictures. Her smile was no longer bright, but pensive and sad. The one picture that caught her eye was the one of her family at the beach. Her, her husband, Rachel now 6, and the twins.
She remembered that trip, who could forget it. It was chaotic, adventurous and fun. So many things had happened. The little details were seared in her memory forever. Rachel begging her to build sandcastles, the twins eating everything they could find including sand, her and her husband watching the sun sink into the crashing waves. Kate stared at the younger her, she had changed so much in the past few years. Her hair was now shorter and a different color due to dying it. The kids of course looked different now older, but the person she noticed the most change in was her husband.
"Now's not the time to think about it.' she scolded herself
With great care she replaced the picture with the others and sealed up that batch of memories. She didn't understand how such a joyful trip could bring so much pain.
An hour later the small pile of sorted boxes had grown larger but were still dwarfed by the large stash undone. Kate's eyes were puffy from crying so much and she hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet. She looked at her watch and decided there was time for one more. She stood up and walked over to a large chest, ignoring the sharp pain in her lower back. She unlocked it trying to remember what was inside. After throwing the hinged lid open she wished she never had. Sitting on top of the large pile of stuff was a framed picture and a tiny toy airplane
