Prompt: Forest in the Attic

Thanks to Hoang Pham for permission to use his beautiful image, “Forest in the Attic”!

Sarah sat on her bed and watched the frogs. Behind her pillows, bright green tree frogs nestled on blooming iris. They were her favorites. Dad used to say he’d take her hiking in California, but he never did. Past the edge of her old blanket covering the bed, pink water lilies and big leaf pads floated. A big, fat green frog rested on a leaf, half submerged.

The song she liked faded away on the tinny old radio, and she rolled the knob back and forth, trying to pick up the signal again. Suddenly, the green frog leaped from his lily pad and disappeared with a splash into the water. She leaned over and watched him swim to the bottom and hide under the rocks around her bed.

Her bother’s footsteps sounded up the stairs, step, step, bounce, step, step, bounce. He was obsessed with basketball, claiming to anyone who would listen that he was going to join the Harlem Globetrotters when he grew up.

She heard the swish of the ball through the air and reached up to catch it without looking. She tossed it into the armchair between her bed and the door.

“Aww,” Michael whined. He wouldn’t come in the room. “Sis, throw it back!”

She ignored him, lying back on her bed and turning the page on the book she had previously abandoned in favor of the frogs.

“Sarah! Give it back! Or I’m telling Mom,” his tone grew sly. “You know she won’t like all this water up here.

Sarah snapped her book shut, sliding it under the blanket, and sat up, glaring at her brother. She’d worked hard on the attic room, since their Mom said she could move up there this summer. Mom’s knees were too bad for her to hike up the stairs, so Sarah had the room to herself, except for Michael’s occasional forays.

“What do you want, Michael,” She said flatly.

He put his hands on his hips. “My ball, for one.”

Sarah pointed her finger at the ball and twirled it around. The ball rose up in the air, spinning slowly. She flicked her fingers toward Michael, and it shot straight at his face. He caught it with both hands and tossed it down the stairs without looking.

“What did you come up here for?” She shook her head. Little brothers were so annoying. Mom would probably notice if she turned him into a dog or something, though.

He looked around the room and turned his head to look down the stairs. “Forget it. I want you to teach me something.”

“Teach you what?”

“I dunno. Anything. Like you did with the ball. That would be cool!”

Sarah sighed loudly. Once Michael had an idea, he really was like a bull terrier about it. He wouldn’t quit threatening her with a Mom intervention if she didn’t give him something. She needed something simple. A frog croaked from under the window. She smiled as an idea came to her.

“That’s too hard. It took me a long time. Okay, I’ll teach you something, but you have to come in here.”

Dogs in house	Houdini
Music	My upbeat walk mix
Time writing	20 minutes
December word count	2,441