I love visiting my grandparents. I love their house, actually, I should say mansion. Their house was humongous! I love the sweet smell of my grandma’s cooking (Indian sweets), the beautiful crystal chandelier that hangs from the ceiling of the living room, and the faint whiff of smoke from the kitchen. But I loved going up the stairs even more. 

My parents had always warned me not to run up the stairs, because the game room was off-limits. But I would never listen to them. Besides, it’s not like I would fall off the stairs or something. I decided to wait until night time so I could finally run up the stairs and discover what was in the mysterious room.

After dinner, my mom came into my room to tuck me in bed for the night. But as soon as she stepped out of the room, I pushed my blankets away, and climbed out of the bed. Everyone was already in their rooms, so I tiptoed over to the staircase in the dark. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew my grandparents’ house like the back of my hand. However, I ran into a problem almost right away. . .

The Problem

When I had reached the staircase in the living room, just before I was about to step on the stairs, I heard a CLICK, and the lights went on, then I heard footsteps. It sounded like the footsteps were coming towards me. I quickly scanned the room to see if anyone was there. Just then, standing in the doorway of her bedroom, was my grandma. 

“ What are you doing up here?” she questioned.

“ I..Uhh.. um, I was j-just umm..I was just getting a snack,” I stammered.

“ Oh, well you’re going the wrong way.” She pointed towards the kitchen, “the kitchen’s that way,”  

“ Right, I forgot,” I lied.

  I waited until she was gone, and then scanned the room to check if anyone else was there. There wasn’t, so I dashed up the stairs, taking them one at a time, but my mind was wandering about the game room, and how much fun I would have without anyone to tell me to stop.. . .

The Accident

I wasn’t paying attention to where I was stepping, and I was only on the sixth step when.. CRASH! My foot slipped from under me, and I fell, hitting the stairs with a thud. I could feel the tears coming, and BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! I went rolling down every single step, my body ached from all the pressure, and my cheeks were bruised from hitting down on the stairs so hard, I was screaming, laying on the bottom of the stairs, with every inch of my body so beaten up, I couldn’t even move. 

Then suddenly, I heard a familiar CLICK and the lights flickered on. 

This time, the footsteps sounded like huge feet banging down on the floor. They were coming closer, and closer. 

Suddenly,  “Sagarika!” my grandma exclaimed, picking me up from off the freezing floor ever so gently, “ What happened sweetie?!” 

I couldn’t talk, I was too much in shock of what had just happened, so I just cried and buried my face into her dress. 

She carried me over to my mom who yelled, “What happened? Are you ok?” 

So I finally stopped crying, and told her how I wanted to see what was in the game room, so I had disobeyed her by trying to run up the stairs.

After I was finished, she hugged me, pulled me close and whispered,

“Well, did you learn your lesson?”

I had indeed learned my lesson, so I promised I would always listen to my parents. I had also learned that some things should stay a mystery. . .