The Attic.

The Attic.

Miles and Erin crouched over the hatch, staring at it in bewilderment. They never expected to find something like this when they were sent up to clean out the attic.“It’s unlike anything I ever imagined,” Miles coughed. Dust particles were still dancing in the stale air from when they pried open the door of this mystery opening. A whole set of radio broadcasting equipment, right up here in Erin’s grandpa’s attic.

Erin reached over to a metal slate, what looked like a sign, and wiped the muck off of it. There, in faded lettering, read: Amateur Radio Station. “I can’t wait to tell my mother about this,” she laughed gleefully.

As if,

she thought,

this has been up here the whole time all of us have been alive, and no one thought to mention it?

She reached over to one of the discarded wires on the ground, what looked like an aux cord, and went to plug it into a port. Miles huffed at her, knocking her hand away, “That shouldn’t go there.”Erin side-eyed him as she watched him plug the cord into a jack that faintly read ‘Phones.’ As he did, the device shifted slightly, and a faint flutter could be heard from behind it. Erin squinted at the space between the old machine and the wall.“Can you move a bit, to the left?” she couldn’t get to the bottom of this with his arm brushing against hers so close.“Yes…” he muttered reluctantly. Erin reached out and shifted the equipment over and as she did, dozens of old, yellowing letter tumbled out of the gap.Both of them had fallen on their backsides at this point, astonished at all the old correspondence that had fallen out this already hidden treasure.Erin picked up one of the letters, afraid that even the oils in her fingers may disintegrate it instantly. As she narrowed her eyes to read the first few lines of the letter, she gasped, “Look at that!”

***

This is part of my creative writing series, Shorts. This is another piece from the #SRSummerSchool: Don't Be a Writer, Be a Storyteller. Find out more about the course on Laura's website or sign up to alerts here.

And of course, to catch up on my previous shorts, click here.