The Locked Door

Part 1

Jaya Hughes unlocked the front door of her grandmother’s old house and was hit with a musty smell and a million memories. As kids, she and her sisters had visited their grandmother on their school holidays. She could still picture the diminutive old lady walking slowly ahead of her after she had let her in, leading the way to the kitchen which was where she spent most of her time. A twinge of pain squeezed Jaya’s heart as she walked down the dark empty hall way. It had been five months since her grandmother had passed away but still it hurt. Jaya’s mother felt it even more. She could not even tackle going through her mother’s belongings which was why Jaya was there. Someone had to do it so the house could be sold and with no partner or children, unlike her older sister’s, and time off work owed to her, Jaya was the obvious choice. She was happy to do it.  

Jaya blinked to stop tears forming in her dark blue eyes and she shivered. The house was cold and dark and it held a sad, depressing air. It was almost a creepy sensation. But at the age of thirty three, too old to spook easily and nothing if not practical, Jaya shrugged it off. She knew that once she got the curtains and windows opened letting the sunlight in and airing out the house it would feel very different. So after putting her bag down in the bedroom she always used when she stayed there, this is what she did. 

Within minutes Jaya had changed the feeling in the house completely. After opening as many windows as she could, flooding the rooms with light and fresh air, Jaya plugged in her ipod and speakers and music filled the house. Then tying up her long brown hair she wrapped her grandmother’s old apron around her curvaceous form. Now she could get to work.