Gone Home✔️

Chapter 02: One More Adventure

Okay, obviously there had to be a key around here somewhere.

But where?

Then a thought sparked in my head: Sam's room. Although Sam did like to squirrel things away, she might have left the key in her room. I turned away from the trapdoor and the red Christmas lights and retraced my steps back to Sam's room. As I approached, I paid more attention to the cork-board I'd only glanced at in passing previously. It was hung on the wall right next to her door and there were a few memos attached to it.

Daniel called was overlapped by Daniel called again. He wants his Nintendo Games back. It was written in dad's clear, slightly stylish handwriting. Oh, Daniel...I hadn't thought about him in a long time. Below these two sticky notes, I saw a rectangular piece of white paper pinned with a thumbtack that read:

Sam:
Stop leaving every damn light in the house on!
You're as bad as your sister!

That was mom. She had the flat, blocky handwriting.

But most interesting of all was a big piece of folded paper torn out of a spiral notebook, clearly written by my sister.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I, Samantha Greenbriar, am SEVENTEEN years
old, and am therefore an independent, fully
functional human being.
The fact that you still forbid me from going
into the city on my own is, frankly, absurd.
Compare with Katie, who is only three (3)
years older than me and yet you allowed
her to go ALL AWAY ACROSS AN OCEAN
TO ANOTHER CONTINENET on her own.
I just want to spend an evening in a normal
totally safe city ON MY OWN like a HUMAN
BEING and since you may also remember that
I have my own car now, you CAN'T
REALLY STOP ME.

Warmest regards,
your daughter. Samantha

I felt a twinge of guilt reading it. Sam was right. I had always had more free reign than she ever did in my parent's eyes. I don't really know why...or did I? I kind of felt like maybe I did know, or I had once known, and I had forgot it. It was a really weird feeling. I had always thought I was more mature, and maybe I was. Although we both had hissy fits and tantrums growing up, Sam definitely had a lot more, and although I had grown out of them, (you know, for the most part...), it was clear from this note that Sam still had a bit of a temper.

But was she wrong to have that temper?

Mom and dad had always been harder on her and I never really could figure out why.

Well, it was time to check out my little sister's new room. I turned and reached out, but the second my hand touched the door knob, a sharp, booming crack of thunder exploded somewhere overhead and rattled the whole house, it also dimmed the lights momentarily. I let out a small yell of surprise, feeling my heart leap into my throat.

I let go of the door and looked around, to the left and behind me, down the long hallways made of old wood.

Suddenly, it occurred to me how creepy this place was. And I was totally alone here...all at once, I wanted to be back downstairs, where it was brighter and more open. I realized that I'd left my bags in the entryway...maybe I should bring them up to the guest bedroom. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea. I turned fully around and quickly made my way back the way I'd come from. As I went back down the stairs, I didn't like the way the left side of the room was bathed in shadows. I noticed a lamp sitting on a dresser right next to the door I'd come in through. I hurried over to it and turned it on with a click. Bright light filled out the rest of the entryway.

As I looked at the dresser, (why was there this squat dresser in the entryway?), I saw one of the drawers was partially open. My curiosity came back at once as I saw a note in there. I reached down in and fished it out. It was a hastily drawn map and some directions. I realized it must be directions to mom's job.