Prompt — First Sentence: “When she arrived at the gate, she found it ajar.”
Goal: 200-500 Words
When she arrived at the gate, she found it ajar. Considering the residence had been vacant for the past two weeks, it was strange. The old lady who had passed on didn’t have any friends or family and no one has been by the house since her body was discovered. And the only reason her body was found was because the mailman noticed she wasn’t retrieving her daily bills.
The house was old and now abandoned. No one wanted it as it was in terrible shape (the old lady was unable to properly care for her, let alone the entire house). However, the house was a historical landmark in the town. The old lady was the longest living woman in the entire town and that made her house famous. But now that a dead body lay there for a few days, who would want to buy it?
Now Mary, the real estate agent, was here to look at it. She needed to fix it up in order to make it suitable to sell. But seeing as the gate was unlocked and opened a small crack, it seemed as though someone else had already allowed themselves into the house.
Mary pushed the iron gate open some more for her chubby thighs to fit through. It squeaked a god-awful noise that made her wince. She hoped no one heard that; especially if whoever let them in earlier was still there. Yet she continued to stroll along the cobblestone path that lead up to the front door. Gripping her clipboard tightly in her right hand, Mary pulled the house key out of her pocket and brought it closer to the door when she suddenly noticed that the door was open a small crack, as well.
“H-Hello?” Mary pushed the door open just a little. Whoever tampered with this house had no right to be there. However, who could tell what sort of person was in the house? Was it a punk teenager dared by his friends to spend a night in an abandoned house? Or was it the ghost of the old lady claiming her territory? But this just so happened to be Mary’s first job as a real estate agent. There was no way that she was going to go back to her boss and tell her she was too afraid to do her job.
“Yes?”
Mary froze in the doorway after one final push that caused the door to open all the way. Her eyes bugged out of her head and her face flushed once she heard a male voice.
Male? Wasn’t the person who passed away a female?
“Who are you?” Mary called out. “I’m the real estate agent. I’m supposed to be here. You’re not.” She looked around, but couldn’t find anyone.
“Oh, I think I am.” A tall, lean man appeared from the other room. “I’m the old woman’s son. Disowned…but she was still my mother.”
Mary took a deep breath. Then she smiled at the young man.
Words: 500