It seemed like everyone had a bit of trouble getting into first person perspective with this prompt. Here’s what I came up with

By Genevieve Clovis

I woke up to the sound of rain and the echo of voices moving down the hallway. I groaned half-heartedly and prayed I’d fall back to sleep. But after a few minutes of lying in the stiff scratchy sheets listening to the heavy patter of rain and the distant thunder, I knew it was a lost cause. In fact, I wondered how I’d been able to sleep at all in such an uncomfortable bed.

Getting up, I quickly changed into warmer clothes and glanced at the disused fireplace. In this day and age what kind of house didn’t have proper heating?

I rubbed my eyes, cracked my back, and put on a toque. This is what you get for owing someone with strange relatives a favour. When Rebecca had invited me to her aunt’s house in the country, she had said, “We’ll have to clean it up a bit but it’ll be a nice getaway.” She hadn’t reminded me of the favour I owed, or told me her aunt had passed away and we would have to clean her mansion-like house and get it ready for resale until we were a good two hours out of the city.

I walked down the cold hallway lined with paintings—mostly family portraits and landscapes—and paused at the top of the stairs.

I could hear Charles and Rebecca in their room. The one right next to mine. But if they were in there who had I heard going down the hall just a few minutes ago? I shivered and it had little to do with the cold.

A flash of lightening lit the house and thunder clapped right over us. I screamed.

I’ll put up with a lot of shit, but if Rebecca brought me to a haunted house our friendship is totally over.