Search the Stars: Episode 1 The Witching Hour

Search the Stars

Episode 1: The Witching Hour

It doesn't look as good as the picture in the ad. There's chipped paint on that shutter, the front door's knocker looks like something someone dug out of the nineteenth century, the lawn's blotchy and just look at that bent wind vane on top! Newly renovated my as- 

"Isn't it beautiful?" Yasmin whispers as we hang back from the real estate agent. 

"Yeah...lovely." I lie with a smile as we walk up the porch and through the front door.  

"There're three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, the basement is finished but the house doesn't come fully-furnished. If you'd just follow me we can go front to back?" The agent, Angela or Angelique or something, smiles widely at both of us before nodding to herself and going off the hall into the room to the left. The front door opens into a hallway that stretches the length of the entire house until it ends at the bottom of a staircase leading to the second floor.  

"Now, this is the living room." Ang-mumble-mumble, steps into the very center and turns to smile again at us. Is that smile permanent? It's already getting horror-film worthy. 

"So much space!" Yasmin says, rushing forward and taking in the entire room before exclaiming, "A fireplace! And look at this view!" 

"Of your neighbor's garden." I mutter, giving the room a much closer inspection than my sister. Already I spot a small crack up in the northeast corner. 

"Yes, well, the fireplace is gas, turns on with a switch. You don't have to get any firewood or do any kind of maintenance." The agent flips a switch and a fire roars. "The floors are all hardwood and right through that archway is our first bedroom." She moves briskly to the second room while Yasmin keeps staring out the window. I switch the fire off before following. 

"This could be a study or guest bedroom, if you'd like. The bookcases are attached to the walls, but you can always get them removed without much difficulty." It's just as large as the living room, and the bookcases are handsome with delicate little details. I would keep those, if I was Yasmin. 

Yasmin seems to be ignoring the agent as she stares out the new window, still with a view of the neighbor's backyard. "We'd have to put doors in if this was going to be a guest bedroom. The archway idea just wouldn't work as well. People need privacy."  

"Yes, that's true. But I kind of like the open floor plan." I respond before the agent can get her sales pitch in full swing. "What's through there?" I point at a closed door. 

"That's the half bathroom." The agent opens the door and I stick my head inside. It'll do. 

Yasmin turns away from the window and takes a breath to say something but then a glimpse of another room catches her eye. "Is the kitchen right there?" She rushes past the agent, across the hallway, and into a very large kitchen. 

"Yes, yes." The agent brushes off an invisible fleck of dust before hurrying after Yasmin, her smile a little off kilter since Yasmin pushed past her. "That's the kitchen. Gas stove, oven and there's enough space to keep an open entertaining area. You can use this half of the room as another living room and have the kitchen right here." 

"This'll work perfectly for our Monday nights." Yasmin shoots me a look, but I'm too busy noting that they missed a little in that corner when they were painting over the old color. 

"Yeah, perfect." I should have forced her to tell me the price before letting her drag me out here.  

"If you'd just follow me upstairs, I can show you the other two bedrooms and bathrooms. Each bedroom has its own bathroom and..." The agent keeps talking, but I'm no longer listening. I look at all of the little imperfections as we walk up and look at the bedrooms and their bathrooms. I try my best to stay on point, but it's a little dull trying to help someone else choose a house especially when they think everything is 'wonderful' or 'fantastic' or 'marvelous'. Yasmin needs some standards.