Her hand shook as she reached up the grasp the doorknob. Slowly she turned the handle and pushed feeling resistance from the wooden door she had had no problem opening this morning. Her heartbeats increased as she moved inside, the light fading as she crossed the threshold. She brushed through a cobweb that was blocking the hallway tripped over a pile of dust, how had it gotten so bad so fast?

She managed to fumble her way to the bottom of the staircase where the beautiful orange rug she had helped her mother chose was in tatters. Breathing heavily she ascended avoiding the creaky step and onto the landing where the only light emanated from her mothers room where the door stood slightly ajar. The room was the last on the landing closest to the window looking out over the garden. It was a place she had avoided ever since her mother had passed but now she felt drawn to it.

She could feel her goosebumps rising and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Time seemed to have stopped as she inched along the floor. Her breath fogged the air in front of her. She could hear the sounds of laughter and memories flooded back of her mother singing her to sleep. Tears started leaking out of her eyes as finally she reached the door and entered...