The Lion House part one

 By Eden Romberg




"Emily?" There was a knock "yes?" I expected to see mom as I opened the door. She was the only
person I thought would be there in our small apartment at 6:30 in the morning . "Dad!" I gasped. I hadn't seen him since they divorced three years ago. He was big and burly, with a baby blue tuxedo and a tie with lipstick marks embroidered in it. It was not a good sight, especially first thing in the morning.

"Um, I , I mean you're mother is dead."

"What! Is this some kind of joke!" I shouted.

"No." he said sternly. "Now get dressed, We are going to the funeral in ten minutes."

When he was gone I flopped on my cot and sobbed. After I wiped away the last of my tears, I shoved on the ugly black dress that Dad provided me with. It had holes on the elbows and looked like it had been to for than it's fair share of funerals.

"Emily Smith!" My dad yelled. "Come down now!"

So I rushed down the stairs towards his bright yellow car and towards my new life.

                                 *                    *                    *                    *          

It took us two hours to get there. When I stepped out of the car and into a gloomy graveyard with about 50 gravestones a preacher was making a speech about mom and how she died in the car wreck, which Dad hadn't told me even when I asked how she died. It went on for a while. But suddenly I saw her in the woods, or at least I thought I did. But I noticed from the waist down she was a tornado of sand.

"Uh, Dad," I said softly. All he did was grunt. So I looked again. Staring at me blankly, she was heading into the forest. So when nobody was looking at me, I ran after her.