21 December 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2958: the secret in the attic

Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews

“OK, if we are going to be living in Tinyville, in these three houses here, here's a list of upgrades we're going to need to get them up to snuff.”

Six-year-old Grayson Ludlow was not quite old enough to catch on that his eight-year-old sister Edwina probably shouldn't be redesigning the houses of their cousins the Lees and their friends the Trents next door to the Lees, and certainly not old enough to appreciate that one does not redesign a home one rents.

However, the budding master builder vetoed the whole thing on his own basis.

“Nope,” he said, looking through his sister's list. “These buildings weren't designed originally to have attics, so the roofs aren't set up right. Gables? Same problem.”

“But look, Grayson,” Edwina said, “in order to live like the cool kids in the books, you gotta have an attic so you can find the secret in the attic – treasure maps to other worlds, spell books, old history stuff – you also need a walk-in closet so you can go to places like Narnia, and also at least seven gables so you can be in a best-seller like that guy Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote.”

“Yeah, and you can also be in the news when your walls split and your ceilings cave in and your house slides off the foundation. No.”

“But we need these things to keep from living a boring, unfashionable life!”

“No.”

So Edwina plopped down and crossed her arms and stared at Grayson, and Grayson plopped down and crossed his arms and stared back.

“I'm six,” he said. “You can be mad and sit there as long as you want – you can get old because I'm younger than you and can outwait you. So you can stay mad, but no.”

“Well, I'm just going to sit here, because I'm between you and the Lego pile, and ain't nothing getting built until my stuff gets built!”

“OK. No.”

The children's grandfather, Capt. R.E. Ludlow, was discreetly observing and shaking his head.

“It was like watching the 'I'm gonna move the world' side of me argue with the responsible mature commander side of me,” he said to Mrs. Thalia Ludlow his wife later, “and knowing both sides were going to forget about it when you announced lunch.”

“Y'all do love a Caprese salad,” she said.

“All sides of my personality, both here and spread abroad in my poor grandchildren who had no choice in the matter, do love a tomato,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Instant unity of purpose: achieved! Let us hope my Army meatloaf for dinner can be as successful!”