The Basement
“Christy, who are you talking to?” asked her mom. Diane stood at the top of the stairs, calling down to her daughter, who was in the basement. “Your voice is very loud. It carries upstairs.”
“I’m not talking to anyone, Mom. Brad is at his friend Ethan’s house, and I was just hanging out in the basement.”
Twelve-year-old Christy, her sixteen-year-old brother, Brad, and their mother, Diane Ramsey all had flaming red hair and big, blue, sparkling eyes.
Christy, Brad and Diane had just moved into a huge, house over 100 years old. The house sat on top of a mountain which sprawled downward to the Pacific Ocean.
The Ramsey’s had moved back from Pennsylvania to La Jolla, California to be closer to Diane’s parents: General Max Mumps, Commander of Fort Cheyenne, and his wife, Frieda.
Christy and Brad’s dad had died in a car crash when Christy was a baby. Brad, being the oldest, had always tried to be a protective big brother for Christy.
“I need you to get a screwdriver for me in the garage. The silverware drawer fell apart again. Your dog is barking and driving me crazy. Come and get her!” yelled Diane.
“Okay, Mom, I’ll be right up.”
“You were making a lot of noise downstairs,” commented Diane, when Christy handed her the screwdriver.
