"In everybody's life there are hidden chapters which they hope may never be known"

-Agatha Christie 

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As I turned the corner down onto my street I could see our family's car and another car that I've never seen before. A black Mercedes parked on the curb. Maybe that could be their friend they were mentioning. As my eyes gaze up to the windows I say to myself

"Looks like the lights are on inside. But that's very odd, mum and dad normally go to sleep at 7.00 ready for their morning jobs the next day. But now it's 8.00!" I walked up the stairs nearing the door and knocked three times.

I was expecting my mum to answer the door since she's the one who's normally awake double checking to see if everything is turned off before she goes to sleep. But low and behold out comes a very tall, skinny and scruffy man with smoke emulating from behind him.

"Um... Hello, I'm wondering if you would by any chance know if Bruce or Michelle Marshall is home? I'm their daughter Willow."

bUrp "Yeopa, there inside" he spoke with a very slurred and drunken toned voice making my insides double over

"Thank you very much" I said with a small curtsy

I walked through the once lovely hallway now slowly starting to litter with trash, trash slowly growing up the walls like spiders making their webs. The smell of smoke and the sound of plastic coins hitting the sides of something. Strolling into the living room, I could see a poker table, chips, and a roulette wheel and on top of that a cigar in both of my parents' mouths!

"What are you guys doing? What's all this stuff doing in our house?

"Hello darling! You're back from your walk, how was it?"my dad spoke while focusing on the game at hand.

"It was lovely, thank you Dad. But let's not change topics here. I want to know what's going on and who that man is who I met at the door."

"What a story we have for you our dear Willow" my mum spoke with a excite tone

"WE QUIT OUR JOBS!" my mum and dad both said as they jumped up from their chairs giving me a big hug.

"WHAT! YOU WHAT!"