Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~2~

It was already getting dark when we arrived. It was a small, intimate town.

After we had collected the key from the real estate agent, we drove to our new house.

I only knew the new house from pictures, but I recognized it immediately and it looked even more beautiful than in the pictures.

The house was on a spacious street, with a row of trees between the sidewalk and the road. Like our old house, it had a garage attached to it, with a driveway of large tiles. The same tiles formed a path from the sidewalk to the front door, the rest of the front yard was grass.

Adjacent to the garage was a long row of tall shrubs that ran the length of the yard all the way to the curb. A path led to the backyard on the other side of the house.

The house looked inviting.

The moving vans weren't there yet.

We got out of the car a little stiff, both grabbed a bag and walked to the front door.

It was a red shiny door with a small window in the middle.

The house had been completely renovated before it was sold.

We stepped into the hall, a nice warm brown paint on the walls, a shiny wooden floor with large white skirting boards at the bottom and top of the walls, as well as the posts of the windows and doors were white. The hall was centrally located in the house. On either side was a passage to two rooms, decorated in the same style. Diagonally across the hall, on the left, was the staircase, made of the same gleaming wood as the floor. Next to the stairs was a passage to the kitchen.

We closed the door behind us and my father turned on the light. A beautiful chandelier hung in the center of the hall.

He looked at me expectantly. "It's beautiful Dad."

"I'm glad you like it. Come on, I'll go ahead of you."

My father had already visited the house before he agreed to the new house and his new job.

We walked to the right room from the hall.

"This will be the dining room, if it's alright with you?"

"I'm fine with it." I smiled at my father. He seemed relieved.

This was a spacious room with a large window to the front of the house. At the back of the room was a door. We walked through the door and came out in the kitchen. It was a beautiful country kitchen in light colours. To the right of the kitchen, in line with the dining room, were two doors. One door led us to the laundry room and through the laundry room we entered the garage. I saw that there was also a door in the garage towards the garden.

Behind the other door was a spacious toilet, tiled in beautiful shades of gray.

Back in the kitchen we continued to the left side of the house. That will probably be the living room, it runs the entire length of the house, with a large window at the front, just like in the dining room and at the back two French doors to the garden. It was too dim to see the garden well.

We walked through the kitchen back to the hall. Under the stairs was another door that led to the cellar, a large space spread over the entire surface of the house.

Via the stairs we reached the top of the landing and I saw three doors.

'This is my bedroom.' He stepped in the left door and I saw a nice spacious bedroom. The door opposite the stairs led us to the bathroom, in the same beautiful shades of gray as the downstairs toilet. A little further up the landing was the last door on the right. "I was thinking this should be your room."

We stepped into the room. Geez what a space. The room ran the entire length of the house. It had a view of the front yard and backyard. At the back of the room was another door that led to a balcony, through which you looked over the entire backyard. There was another door to the right of the door we entered. I looked at my father in surprise and he nodded.

I opened the door and there was another bathroom. A beautiful bathroom in warm, brown tones, with a separate shower and bath, even a toilet.

I looked at my father. "Are you sure I can have this room? It's the nicest room in the house," I said in surprise.

"Yes, of course honey, you'll enjoy it a lot more than I do."

"Thank you Dad!" I gave him a big hug.

While I was still admiring my room, I heard the moving vans arrive. Gosh, it was only this morning when we left the old house. It seemed much longer ago.

By the time everything was brought in, it was nearly midnight. The movers had put together our beds and closets with my father. Luckily we were still on vacation, so we had time to put all the other stuff in a place.

The next morning I was awakened by the autumn sun shining through my balcony door. I totally forgot to close the curtains last night. Surprisingly, I slept well.

I looked around my room. Gosh, it took some getting used to.

In my heart I knew it would get better. Everything in our old house brought back memories. Good but also bad. I still found it hard to believe, but I realized that I was happy that we had a fresh start. I got out of bed and felt my feet find their way into the deep pile caramel carpet. I walked to the balcony door and pushed it open.

I saw the backyard for the first time. It was a beautiful deep garden, which was well maintained.

From the patio doors in the living room you walked onto a tiled terrace. Then followed a path to the back of the garden, to a gazebo. Around the path were beautiful flowers and trees.

There was a fence at the end of the garden. I saw that behind it was a small park. A man was running in one of those shiny shorts and a woman was walking her dog.

Despite the sun there was a chilly wind. I quickly went back inside. I went to the bathroom and still found it unreal that it was all to myself. I freshened up and got dressed.

I walked downstairs. "Dad?"

"I'm in the kitchen, honey."

I stepped down from the last step and turned left towards the kitchen, as I looked around the dining room I saw her standing there. Her face and clothes covered in blood, a look of terror in her eyes.

I froze, my hand still on the railing. No, I didn't want this. I blinked my eyes and she was gone.

I really had to stop that. Sometimes at certain moments I suddenly saw her standing there and then saw how I had last seen her alive.

"Honey, are you okay?" my father called from the kitchen.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to get the image out of my mind. I had to do my best to move my legs again, they were like lead. Still with my heart beating in my throat, I continued to the kitchen.

The kitchen was lit by the morning sun. My father was sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee and going through some papers.

"Good morning honey. What's going on, you look so white?"

"Slept badly, I think." I tried to smile and gave him a kiss. Daddy didn't know that I saw Mommy occasionally. Anyway, I think I'm going to hurt him a lot with that. While I was making a cup of tea, I tried with all my might to get the image of Mom out of my head. It had been a long time since this had happened, most recently at her memorial service. Maybe it was because yesterday in the old house I saw the room where it all happened.

"Where are you with your thoughts?" Dad asked.

"Oh just, at the new house and what I'm going to do today."

“I have to stop by at the station today to fill out some paperwork. You know, all the necessary stuff. But maybe we can take a tour around the neighborhood afterwards?'

"That sounds nice dad, but I'll get some groceries first, because we don't have anything in the house."

"I'll get some on the way home when I get off the station."

"Fine, then I'll start unpacking."

My father worked as a detective at the local police station. He was lucky that someone was retiring so he could be transferred internally.

I walked up the stairs to my room with my cup of tea, trying not to look into the dining room.

I shouldn't be afraid of this dining room either. This is a new beginning, I need to stop these thoughts

The first thing I looked up was mine speaker. I hooked it up and turned on the rock music chapter. So I could put my mind to something else for a while. I was busy all morning unpacking my things and putting them in a place. I had to say, I had come a long way already.

Suddenly I felt my phone vibrate in the back pocket of my jeans.

On the display I saw that it was Daddy. "Hi Dad."

"Hi sweetie, I just wanted to let you know that it will be a while here at the station. I hope you don't mind doing the shopping yourself. The debit card and money are in the kitchen drawer next to the dishwasher."

"Oh, um… no, I'll get something to eat. What time do you think you will be home?"

"I can't say that. As soon as I know something I'll let you know. See you later, sweetheart."

"See you later, Dad."

I sat on the edge of my bed, still holding my cell phone. This couldn't be true. Not already. After Mommy was buried, he'd focused on work, that was the only way to get his mind off things. He had promised to slow down here so that he would be home more often.

He wasn't the only one having a hard time with it. Disappointed, I got up and went to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. I saw the sad look in my eyes I've had since Mama passed away. Slowly I ran my fingers along the scar on my throat. I had this left over from the day Mom died. Fortunately, the scar was not very noticeable. It was right on the line where my throat passed to the bottom of my jaw.

I put on some make-up, changed my clothes and grabbed my bag.

As I descended the stairs, I forced myself to look into the dining room.

Nothing.

Carefully I walked into the dining room. Only the dining table with its matching chairs and the large sideboard were in it, the rest of the room was empty.

Good thing, too.

I walked to the kitchen and took the debit card out of the drawer.

My bike was neatly parked in the garage.

I pressed the button next to the door and the garage door rolled open.

It was already dusk yesterday when we arrived, but I remembered that we didn't pass any shops. I got on my bike and cycled in the opposite direction from where we came from yesterday.

After five minutes of cycling, I had actually come no further than houses. Further on I saw a boy walking a dog.

"Sorry, can I ask something?"

The boy looked at me, he had tangled brown hair. He wasn't small, but he wasn't terribly tall either. He had a handsome face. On his faded jeans he wore a brown leather jacket that had been worn many times. His dog was a rottweiler. I always thought that was one of those beautiful, tough beasts.

He looked at me for a moment before answering.

"Yes, of course," he said gently.

I smiled at him.

"Where can I find the nearest supermarket?"

"New here?"

"Yes indeed."

"I know the feeling. If you turn left at the end of this street and continue for a while, you will find a supermarket on your right. And if you drive down that street you come to a small shopping street."

"Thank you!"

After a few minutes of cycling I did indeed arrive at the supermarket, I did the few necessary groceries and got back on the bike.

The rest of the day I was busy tidying up, clearing out and cleaning.

In the week before school started again, my father and I had started to familiarize ourselves with the town. I had cycled to school a few times so I wouldn't get lost on my first day.

I could have done a lot in that week, on Sunday I was satisfied with the house. Everything had its own place. Papa hadn't been able to help me often, because he had already started work. He was supposed to start at the same time when school started, but unfortunately he did not. Hopefully he was going to keep his promise not to just be busy with his work. Luckily I could just go into the dining room without seeing Mom, that hadn't happened after that first day.

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