The Mysterious Hartley House Short Story

The Mysterious Hartley House
It was a blustery fall day in Dublin, Ireland. Margaux Roberts glanced out the rain-spotted window at the countryside. Even though her and her family had only spent one day in Ireland, Margaux already hated it there. She wished that she could have just stayed at home in Colorado where all her friends were. Margaux had never been a very outgoing person and she preferred to read books and listen to her music rather than go to parties and hang out with people. Making friends was very hard for her and she was concerned that she wouldn’t make any friends and that she would be all alone. She had been sitting in the moving van for hours sandwiched between her father, mother, and brother in the uncomfortable bench seat and she couldn’t wait to get out. …show more content…
Finally, the van came to a stop in front of a giant stone building. It was a marvelous structure with two stone towers on each side of the house, two large pillars on either side of the door, and a shield painted with a family crest hanging above the entrance. What Margaux’s father had purchased could hardly be called a house as it had the size and character of a small castle. Margaux’s jaw dropped and she pulled out her ear buds staring at the marvelous structure in front of her that was to become her new home. She climbed past her mom and brother and pushed open the door so that she could take a better look at the place. There were ornate decorations on the two turrets and the door was made of stained oak with a golden lion’s head door knocker positioned in the middle. She smiled at the grand beauty of her new house and turned to see that the rest of her family had similar expressions on their faces. She looked at them and smiled knowing that this was going to be the most awesome house she was ever going to live in in her entire life. She went back to the car to see if her parents were ready to go inside. Margaux was anxious to take a look at the inside so she went over to her father and asked him for the key to the house. “Hey Dad, do you mind if I open up the house and pick out my new room?” He replied, “I better go with you just in case we happen to come across any animals inside. This house has been empty for a long time you know.” Margaux nodded in approval as they started out towards the door. She took the key from her father and examined it as she walked. The key looked different than most house keys it was bulkier and more ornate than any key she had ever seen before. She approached the door and inserted the fancy key into the equally fancy lock. As the bolt clicked held her breath hoping that what she saw inside was as equally as beautiful as the outside. As the door opened, she couldn’t believe her eyes. The house was still fully furnished and the furniture inside looked like it was meant for a king. The odd thing about the inside was that there was no dust anywhere as far as they both could see. “I thought you said that this house hadn’t been lived in for a very long time.” Margaux stated sounding concerned “Well, that’s what I thought the realtor said.” He replied They both thought it rather strange, but after looking the house over they found that the house was completely fine and they brought the rest of their family inside to look around and to pick out their rooms. Once Margaux had looked around the house, she went up the red velvet carpeted stairs to choose her new room. Her favorite room in the house was the left turret because it had a beautiful stained glass window that could be opened up to reveal a beautiful view of the Irish countryside. The room was large and circular and it was furnished with a large four-poster bed and it even had its own fireplace. She went over to