Afterlife - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,4

third floor in the attic which had been converted. There were other bedrooms in the house but this one definitely had the best view, as the window was on the side of the house with the clearing, so I had a personal view of my very own ocean of green. This was why she had picked it she had informed me as she watched Frank carry all my bags up the stairs one handed.

I surveyed my room and looked at all the effort my sister had gone to. It was amazing how well she knew me. There was a pine double bed with deep purple covers and a mountain of pillows to match. A bright purple lamp lay on the bedside table, which even had a copy of my favourite book on it waiting to be read. It had been a while since I had picked up Jane Eyre, but it was most definitely one of my favourites. I just loved the idea of dear plain Jane getting the rich and broody Mr Rochester above the beauty of the wealthy Blanch.

A lump started to form in the back of my throat as the emotion hit me. This was how I dealt with emotions now. Instead of crying I just held my arms tightly across my stomach, with fisted hands and concentrated on how to breathe. My sister had outdone herself and certainly achieved making me feel right at home, no matter how new this all was. At this point in my life, new was good but above all...

New was safe.

Shaking those thoughts from the dark crescent of my mind, I turned back to the room that had a definite charming, homely feel to it. There was even a framed family photo of the four of us. I remembered when it was taken and it took me back to happier times. It was Christmas and it was after we had opened all our presents. We were all excited because my dad had just surprised my mum with an amazing gift for the family, a trip to Florida.

The trip was the first time for all of us in America. It had turned out to be our best family vacation. We did all the usual stuff, Disney, Seaworld and Universal, but this wasn't the only reason for the fun. It was also down to how close we were as a family. We had always been a close family unit but when the stress of my father’s job started to put a strain on my parents’ marriage, we as children learned the true meaning of a happy family life.

Libby and I were sent to live at our grandparents’ house in the South of England for a while. This change was harder on Libby to accept because, of course being older, she understood all too well what this could mean.... the breakdown of that happiness.

I on the other hand, thought of it as a fun holiday by the sea. I loved staying with my grandparents and there were always lots of kids to play with. Cornwall has always been a popular seaside area, so I always looked forward to the summer vacations we spent there. As a family we would stay in my grandparents’ guest house situated at the bottom of their massive garden, but this time it was just Libby and myself, so we had to stay in the their house. We shared a room in the attic, which was cosy and had an old fashioned playroom feel to it. Situated in one corner was my grandmother’s old wooden rocking horse with a real leather saddle and reins. In the other was a beautifully ornate, pink doll’s house, which held tiny old looking furniture to match. We stayed all summer and although I missed my parents, I enjoyed the late nights and seaside treats, ice cream had always been a weakness of mine.

But Libby had never been herself the whole summer, and although my grandparents tried to put her at ease, it hadn't quite worked as well as it had on me, thanks to my sweet tooth and my ability to accept bribes. In the end of course, our parents had resolved their problems and come to get us. Soon after that my father had found a new job in advertising, which turned out to be the making of him. Our family was now back on track and stronger than ever, that was until the next breakdown, which was inadvertently caused by me.

“Well, I