In the Attic

I love to write. At Eagleridge, in our composition class, we have been writing lots of stories. Here is one of them I wrote. It is called "In the Attic."
One day I was reading the book Caddie Woodlawn when I got to a chapter where Caddie went into her attic and found some breeches and clogs. I wondered if there was anything in our attic and what it was. I decided to go find out.

Once I had the ladder set below the trap door in our bathroom, I was ready to climb it. I started climbing. Once I was at the top, I pushed open the trap door. It was big and heavy, but I was able to open it. I then climbed inside. It was very dusty inside and hard to breathe in, but I just covered my mouth and nose with my shirt and started walking forward. It was strangely quiet, but then I thought, "How loud should it be in an attic?" Finally I saw a few piles of boxes all pushed aside in a corner. I also saw some tables, chairs, and other types of furniture by the boxes. I went over to one box and peeked into it. Inside was some pretty, exotic fabric pieces. I went over to a table. On it was a deck of playing cards, an old 1950's black-and-white movie, a basket of old Christmas cards, a board game, and a small, pink diary with a bejeweled butterfly on it. Then I went over to a dresser. On it was a few toiletry bags, a hand-held mirror, and a pair of torn-up slippers. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a drawer slightly open and I opened it all the way. I took out the only item in the drawer: a box about big enough to hold a cat. I took the box with me as I went to go sit in an old, dusty armchair. I opened the box. Inside was a library book, a broken name badge, a library card, a bag of German money, and a picture of a teenage girl at a library. I wondered what all of these things were here for, so I left the attic to go ask my mother.

Once I had safely gotten down the ladder, I put it back in the garage and went back inside to show my mom this stuff. I found her checking her e-mail on the computer. When I showed her the items, she was surprised to see them. I asked her whose they were and why they were in the attic. "Oh, these are just some of the things they gave me while working at a German library," she said. "You got a broken name badge for working at a German library?" I said, astonished. My mom laughed. "No, no," she said, " That was the name badge I used while working at a library in Germany." " They gave you a library book also?" I asked. She nodded, "A library card also," she added. "This is the money they paid you with," I guessed. She nodded. "Is that you in this picture?" I asked. "Yes," she said, "that picture was taken by one of my friends in Germany, by the way, where did you find this stuff?" I blushed. "In the attic," I said. She laughed. "Go return it to the attic and don't go up there again without my permission," she said. I smiled and ran to go get the ladder.


While writing this story, I kept asking my mom questions some of which were not included in the story. It is true that my mom worked in a German library back when she lived in Germany when she was a teenager. She told me that she never wore a name badge though. Oops! I wouldn't be able to find that stuff in our attic though because ours is an "unfinished" attic meaning it doesn't have a floor. I hope you enjoyed my non-fiction/fiction story "In the Attic." What's in your attic?