Annabelle's Secret-Prologue

Annabelle felt the cool breeze blow gently on her face. She climbed higher up into the tree she was safely hidden in, hoping to glimpse a glance at the new next-door neighbors, who were just moving in.

A little girl about six-years-old was jumping onto her mother who was carrying a large box. She pushed the child away and disappeared inside. The lady came in and out of the house, carrying boxes with markings like: CLAIRE or FAMILY ROOM or BASEMENT.

Annabelle wondered if the family had any other kids besides the six-year-old. Were they her age?

She then suddenly heard piercing scream, that broke her away from her thoughts. Annabelle was so startled that she had almost fallen off the tree but luckily, she had grabbed onto the branch just as she slipped. Her arms and hands had cuts in them, but that was better then having a broken neck.

Annabelle gripped onto a low branch and tried to see what had screamed. She glimpsed ahead of her, and saw the little girl with a pale face, pointing to the ground. She was horrified.

Annabelle couldn't see what the little girl was pointing at, but she could hear the lady shriek “hairy bug” and “big spider”. Then Annabelle knew what it was. It was her twin brother's pet tarantula!

Annabelle swung herself out of the tree and scurried to the neighbor's house. She slowed down and pretended to act like she was taking a walk.

“Oh, hello! Are you guys the new neighbors?” she asked casually. The lady and the child un-froze themselves and looked up at Annabelle.

“Hi! Thanks for dropping by. Where do you live?” asked the lady, showing her toothpaste commercial smile. “I'm Mary, and this is my daughter Claire.” Mary pointed to the little girl.

Annabelle remembered her manners. “Nice to meet you! I'm Annabelle, and I live right next door to you.”

Then Claire cried out again. “Mommy, it's gonna get me!” Claire pointed at the spider again.

Annabelle sighed as if she was annoyed with something. “Oh Simon,” she said. “How did you get out of your cage this time?”

She bent over and picked up Simon. “Don't worry. Simon's my twin brother's pet tarantula. He won't hurt you.” She let Claire pet the furry spider.

“Oh, it tickles!” Claire giggled a tinkling laugh.

Annabelle smiled and started to leave when a boy about her age crashed into her. He was wearing a over-sized football helmet and wore a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt.

“Sorry,” he said in a low-ish voice. “Are you okay?”

Annabelle wriggled from his grasp. “I'm fine.” she said as she brushed off some grass and dirt. She looked around desperately. “Where's Simon?”

The boy looked puzzled. “Who's Simon?”

Annabelle sighed. Now she was really annoyed. “Simon is my twin brother's tarantula. He's harmless, but if I can't recover him before my brother gets home from soccer practice, I'll be dead.”

Mary and Clarie ran over. “Apparently you have met my son, Ethan.” Mary looked at Ethan in a mother-kind of way. “Ethan, what are you thinking, crashing into girls?! Why aren't you practicing football drills in the backyard? Or helping us un-pack?”

Ethan took off his helmet. “Sorry Mom,” He turned and looked at Annabelle. “Sorry I crashed into you. I wasn't thinking.”

Annabelle shrugged.”It's okay. I guess we haven't officially met . I'm Annabelle.” She held out her hand.

“I'm Ethan, as you probably know,” Ethan shook Annabelle's hand. “Where do you live?”

Annabelle pointed to her house. “Right next door to you.”

Ethan nodded. “Cool.” He smiled a perfectly white smile.

Then it hit her. Annabelle really liked Ethan. His perfect wavy hair formed around his head and there was a small scar below his chin. He was handsome.

Ethan suddenly broke Annabelle out of her train of thought. “I found Simon,” He held Simon and handed him to her.

“Thanks,” Annabelle said dreamily. Her eyes were locked in Ethan's. Then she heard her twin brother Alex nosily burst through the back door.

“Annabelle!” he called out angrily. “Where's Simon?!”

Annabelle shook herself and ran towards her house. “I have to go,” she called. “Bye!”

She could barely hear Ethan's reply. “See you later!”

Annabelle smiled. She definitely had a crush on Ethan. She knew if she told anyone, they would surely blab it out to the whole world. And that meant she now had a secret. The best secret she could ever imagine.